Issues in Standardized Testing Blog Post 2

A typical standardized test is summative, because they usually test students' knowledge at the end of a unit or other period of time. Standardized tests give teachers feedback on how their students' are performing and how much information they have learned and acquired throughout a certain period of time. They are formal because they are pre-planned; the students know ahead of time that the assessment will occur, and they have time to prepare.

Assessments, such as standardized tests, can be reliable but have poor validity. If an assessment is reliable, the scores are consistent. Validity is how well an assessment actually measures what it is supposed to measure. Some tests may not be valid because the information or wording of questions is confusing or offensive to certain cultural groups. For instance, if a question on a test talks about a certain sport or game that is not familiar to a cultural or ethnic group, they may get the question wrong simply because they do not understand it, meaning the test is not valid.

Standardized tests are not really standardized. For example, students with disabilities might have a difficult time in completing a test in a certain amount of time or understanding the wording o f the questions. For this reason, standardized tests are actually not standardized.