11.2 Standardized Testing and High-Stakes Assessment

Standardized tests are a big deal in education. They're used for everything from college admissions to measuring school performance. But they're not without controversy. High-stakes tests can have major consequences for students, teachers, and schools.

Test quality is super important. Good tests need to be reliable (give consistent results) and valid (measure what they're supposed to). But there are concerns about bias, teaching to the test, and the negative effects of test anxiety on students.

Types of Standardized Tests and Scores

Standardized Tests and Scoring Methods

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  Understanding Test Results | Educational Psychology View original

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• Standardized tests are assessments administered and scored in a consistent manner for all test-takers
  • Ensures results are comparable across individuals and groups
  • Commonly used for educational admissions, placement, and accountability purposes (SAT, ACT, GRE)
• High-stakes testing refers to standardized tests with significant consequences for test-takers, teachers, or schools based on performance
  • Can determine grade promotion, graduation, teacher evaluations, or school funding
• Norm-referenced scores compare an individual's performance to a reference group or norm group
  • Percentile ranks indicate the percentage of individuals in the norm group who scored at or below a given score (65th percentile means outperformed 65% of norm group)
  • Standard scores convert raw scores to a common scale based on the norm group's mean and standard deviation (IQ scores, SAT scores)

Test Quality and Fairness

Reliability and Validity

• Reliability is the consistency and stability of test scores across different occasions, forms, or raters
  • Test-retest reliability assesses consistency of scores over time by administering the same test twice
  • Alternate form reliability evaluates consistency between different versions of a test
  • Inter-rater reliability measures agreement between multiple raters or scorers
• Validity is the extent to which a test measures what it claims to measure and supports appropriate score interpretations and uses
  • Content validity ensures test items adequately represent the domain of interest
  • Criterion validity compares test scores to other relevant criteria or outcomes (college GPA)
  • Construct validity evaluates how well the test measures the underlying theoretical construct (intelligence)

Bias, Accommodations, and Item Analysis

• Test bias occurs when a test systematically disadvantages certain subgroups due to factors unrelated to the construct being measured
  • Can result from inappropriate content, language, or cultural references that favor some groups over others
  • Differential item functioning (DIF) analysis identifies items that perform differently across subgroups matched on overall ability
• Accommodations are changes to test administration that remove construct-irrelevant barriers for students with disabilities or English language learners
  • Extra time, separate setting, read-aloud
• Modifications are changes to the test itself that alter what the test measures
  • Simplified language, reduced answer choices
• Item analysis examines performance on individual test questions to evaluate their quality and functioning
  • Difficulty, discrimination, distractor analysis

Issues and Concerns

Negative Consequences of High-Stakes Testing

• Teaching to the test narrows the curriculum and instruction to focus on tested content at the expense of other important skills and subjects
  • Drill and practice on test-like items
  • Neglect of non-tested subjects (arts, physical education)
• Test anxiety can impair performance and disproportionately impact some students
  • Excessive worry, nervousness, and physiological arousal during testing
  • More common among females, minorities, and lower-achieving students
• Overemphasis on test scores can lead to unintended consequences and gaming the system
  • Cheating, exclusion of low-performing students, artificial score inflation