The New York Times: Standardized Tests Face A Crisis Over Standards

The New York Times has an interesting article today on standardized tests.  I know, I know - there are so many now (tests ... and articles about them).  We know the atrocities and this article adds another atrocity to what seems to be an ever-growing list.  In order to make the tests cheaper and less time-consuming to score, states are avoiding short answer and essays and using more multiple choice questions.

While testing errors make headlines, Mr. Toch writes that even more worrisome is the pressure on states to dumb down their tests — to switch from challenging tests with essay questions to multiple choice to save money and meet federal reporting deadlines. He points out how much cheaper and faster machine-scored multiple-choice tests are to grade. Florida can do a million multiple-choice tests in a day, while correcting tests with essay questions can take weeks. It costs a test company 50 cents to $5 to score an essay, compared with pennies for each multiple-choice question.

The result? "Many of the tests that states are introducing under N.C.L.B. contain many questions that require students to merely recall and restate facts, rather than do more demanding tasks like applying or evaluating information," Mr. Toch writes in his study, which can be found at www.educationsector.org.

A recent Education Week survey found that 42 percent of students are now taking state reading and math tests that are entirely multiple choice. To save time and money, Kansas and Mississippi switched to all-multiple-choice tests this year.

So, we've completely disregarded classroom educators' abilities to assess students and turned it over to (a), (b), (c), or (all of the above).  Very bright.  Sometimes I wonder about the people who make these decisions.  How good was their education?

Comments

[Bronwyn G]

I really like the gold standard tests that Conneticut gives.

A mix of multiple choice and essay.

And they have great questions, like the African game.

I'm glad they stick to their guns with writing being necessary across the curriculum.