There have always been tests, but there have never before
been so many! It’s natural for parents and concerned citizens
to wonder what is motivating this increase and to examine the
many reasons why.
Why test students?
Well, to start with because we need to know how children are doing in
school. Ever since there have been schools, teachers have used tests of
various kinds to find out how well students are learning and if their
instruction has been successful or not. But the reasons for testing don’t
stop there.
In recent years, large-scale testing has taken on a more significant social
role. Many policymakers claim that American education isn’t doing the job
it needs to do. They cite studies showing that by 12th grade, students in the
U.S. perform below most other industrialized nations on international
assessments. Our 12th grade students fail to make substantial gains in
reading or mathematics on the National Assessment of Educational
Progress, “America’s report card.” Numerous educational reforms of the 1990s, they say, have failed to
deliver on their promise to improve student achievement.
In this context, policymakers have passed federal and state legislation using tests to measure school
performance and spur improved achievement. Tests are used to rank schools, place students at various
levels, and decide who will graduate from high school. In schools where test scores fail to improve
substantially, parents may transfer their child to a higher performing school. In some cases, federal law
allows students to use their share of Title 1 funding for tutoring services. Such uses of test scores go far
beyond finding out how well a child can read, write, or solve word problems.
According to testing experts and researchers, testing serves many important purposes. Tests are used to:
• Diagnose individual student strengths and weaknesses.
• Focus learning and instruction to state standards and key concepts.
• Motivate improved student, school, district, and state performance.
• Make school and college entrance decisions.
Helpful Web Sites
CAESL
http://www.caesl.org/
CRESST
http://www.cse.ucla.edu/
WestEd
http://www.wested.org/
Parent Portal at LHS
http://lhsparent.org
Greatschools.net
http://www.greatschools.net/
National PTA
http://www.pta.org/
National Parent Information
Network
http://www.NPIN.org/
Family Education Network
http://www.familyeducation.com
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• Report how well schools are performing and improving to the public.
• Help determine whether or not schools should be accredited.
• Evaluate school program quality and recommend improvements.
Education researcher Robert Linn points out that tests are on the increase not only because they serve
so many purposes, but also because they are less expensive than many other school reforms—such as
professional development (teacher education programs). He notes that tests can be put into place
relatively quickly, can pressure teachers to make instructional changes in hopes of improving test
performance, and tend to attract media and public attention.
So the shorthand answer to “Why test students?” is because tests serve an expanding number of
significant educational purposes, bolstered by some financial and political considerations.
Classroom Tests
State tests have garnered the headlines, while far less attention has been paid to classroom tests—the
most frequent tests taken by students. Like state tests, classroom tests can have major consequences,
especially in the upper grades when test performance contributes significantly to a student’s grade point
average, a key factor in many college and university admission decisions. While classroom tests are
generally useful for evaluating student skills and learning, they sometimes fail to reflect state content
standards or may assess only low-level content. In more negative cases, classroom tests can fail to
provide effective feedback to students and can contain scoring errors.
In general, teachers use classroom tests to:
• Diagnose student strengths and weaknesses.
• Monitor each student’s progress.
• Assign grades.
• Determine the teacher’s own instructional effectiveness.
• Provide information to inform instructional and curricular decisions.
• Help teachers clarify their instructional intentions.
When combined with results from school assignments, state tests, and teacher observations, classroom
tests can provide a dependable picture of a student’s strengths and weaknesses. They can also inform
the teacher or parent if the child is improving or falling behind.
Determining a teacher’s or lesson’s instructional effectiveness can be another very useful facet of a
classroom test. If the entire class performs below a teacher’s expectations on a test, the teacher can use
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those results to change their instruction. He or she might try a different instructional approach, spend
more time teaching missed concepts, or use different instructional materials.
Classroom tests also help teachers clarify their own instructional intentions. Developing tests prior to
instruction encourages teachers to develop a clear roadmap for learning, which includes standards,
instruction, and assessment. Both classroom tests and state tests serve many important purposes
helping to answer the question, “Why Test Students?”
What You Can Do
• Stay informed about testing. Read newspapers, magazine articles and school newsletters to see how
test results are used by your district and state.
• Discuss test scores and school rankings with your school principal or district assessment administrator.
If your district administers their own local tests, ask how they are developed, scored, and used.
• Carefully review your child’s classroom tests. Look not only at your child’s performance, but the quality
of the test. Is it challenging? Was the content covered well in class and supported by homework,
assignments, and textbooks so your child had an opportunity to learn the material?
• Become better informed through reading some of the resources listed below.