Standardized tests

Students in the United States take standardized tests in elementary school, in high school, and at the undergraduate and graduate levels of higher education. Most standardized tests are administered through the Educational Testing Service (ETS) or the American College Testing (ACT) Program. Educational institutions use the results of standardized tests to evaluate a student’s academic performance, as well as to assess a high school or college student’s potential for undertaking an undergraduate or graduate degree program. More than 100 million tests are administered each year in the United States.

In 1900 a consortium of prestigious East Coast colleges and universities known as Ivy League schools formed the College Entrance Examination Board, or College Board. The College Board was designed to address the concerns of students who were required to take different entrance examinations for each college or university to which they applied. In 1901 the College Board began administering essay exams in a variety of subjects. The introduction of these exams enabled students to take a single set of exams when applying for admission to several different schools. In 1926 the College Board introduced a multiple-choice entrance examination called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT. The SAT had been developed in the 1920s by a commission headed by Princeton University psychologist Carl Brigham. By the early 1940s most colleges and universities in the United States were using the SAT.

In 1937 the Cooperative Graduate Testing Program, a division of the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, introduced the Graduate Record Exam (GRE) to evaluate students applying for graduate degree programs. In 1947 the Carnegie Foundation, together with the College Board and the American Council on Education, created the Educational Testing Service (ETS) to administer both the SAT and the GRE.

Elementary schools use standardized tests to assess scholastic achievement, to determine student placement, and to teach specific test-taking skills. High school students wishing to continue their education after graduation generally take standardized tests, since most American colleges and universities require test results in applications for admission. The most common of these tests include the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), taken in preparation for the SAT; the SAT; and the American College Test (ACT), an aptitude test taken in addition to or in place of the SAT. The GRE tests prospective graduate students for general aptitude and knowledge of a specific subject.

In the early 1990s administrators of standardized tests began offering computerized examinations. Computerized tests adapt to the skill level of the individual test-taker. Each correct answer given by a student is followed by a more difficult question, and incorrect answers are followed by less difficult questions. The more difficult the question, the more points the student can score. Besides adjusting questions to a student’s performance level, the computerized test calculates an immediate score and allows students to instantly transmit results to institutions of their choice.

Critics of standardized testing argue that the tests do not account for differences in social and economic backgrounds among test-takers. They also argue that the exams do not accurately assess the scholastic performance of female students. Females consistently earn higher grades on average than males in both high school and college, but their average scores on standardized tests are lower. Some critics claim that the emphasis on high test scores encourages schools to teach only the material likely to be covered in the tests rather than provide a comprehensive education. Supporters of standardized tests maintain that test scores provide a valid measure of academic aptitude. They also contend that the exams offer a reliable way to impartially compare students from a variety of social and educational backgrounds.

1. When do students take standardized tests?

2. What is the purpose of this procedure?

3. What kinds of tests were introduced by the College Board?

4. What is the Graduate Record Exam used for?

5. What can be defined by standardized tests at elementary school?

6. Why did computerized test prove to be more effective?

7. What are the arguments against standardized testing?

8. What is the opinion of the supporters of standardized tests?