They are usually formal summative
tests that are not based on performance. You can tell this because the tests
are preplanned and to assess what the student has learned (formal). They are
used to see the progress of a student and how well a teacher is teaching
(summative). They also do not include anyone viewing the students performing a
skill.
These tests can reliably measure
what a student does and does not know, but they do not accurately assess what a
student really needs to know. These tests ask questions based on right or wrong
answers, they do not assess the students thinking strategies or thought
processes.
These tests might be inequitable to
the special education population because some sp. ed. students do not learn the
same way as general ed. students. Sp. ed. students might not be able to read as
well as others, and might not have enough time to even finish the test.
Your comment about special education students is very interesting. Do they take that into consideration when scoring the test in any way?
ReplyDeleteI like how you mentioned that thinking strategies and thought processes are important. Are you thinking of primarily multiple choice tests? There are some standardized tests that do have a writing portion (the SAT for example), so those might get more into what a student is thinking when they give a certain answer.
ReplyDeleteYou said that the tests are formal summative tests, and it sounded like you do not agree that these are the best tests to measure a students learning. Do you believe that there are a certain type of test that would accurately measure a students learning that a formal summative test does not?
ReplyDeleteYou say that the tests are reliable (meaning that they would give the same result over and over again across students), but then say that the results would change based on certain populations. Does this mean they are unreliable?
ReplyDeleteAre you saying they are invalid as well.... (they do not measure what they intend to measure)? You say the CAN measure what students know, but do they? You noted that some students (even beyond special ed students--students who don't speak formal english at home may have a disadvantage in understanding the written questions) would be less able to perform on the test. That might mean the test is measuring something more than just the content in the questions (math, science, etc), but language comprehension or test taking skills. That would make it invalid, wouldnt it? What do you think?