Standardized testing is used as a public policy strategy to establish stronger accountability measures for public education. While the National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP) has served as an educational barometer for some thirty years by administering standardized tests on a regular basis to random schools throughout the United States, efforts over the last decade at the state and federal levels have mandated annual standardized test administration for all public schools across the country.

The idea behind the standardized testing policy movement is that testing is the first step to improving schools, teaching practice, and educational methods through data collection. Proponents argue that the data generated by the standardized tests act like a 'report card' for the community, demonstrating how well local schools are performing. Critics of the movement, however, point to various discrepancies that result from current state standardized testing practices, including problems with test validity and reliability and false correlations.

Critics charge that standardized tests became a mandatory curriculum placed into schools without public debate and without any accountability measures of its own. Many feel this ignores basic democratic principles in that control of schools' curricula is removed from local school boards, which are the nominal curricular authority in the U.S. While some maintain that it would be preferable to simply introduce mandatory national curricula, others feel that state mandated standardized testing should stop altogether in order that schools can focus their efforts on instructing their students as they see fit.

Critics also charge that standardized tests encourage "teaching to the test" at the expense of creativity and in-depth coverage of subjects not on the test. Multiple choice tests are criticized for failing to assess skills such as writing. Furthermore, student's success is being tracked to a teacher's relative performance, making teacher advancement contingent upon a teacher's success with a student's academic performance. Ethical and economical questions arise for teachers when faced with clearly under performing or under skilled students and a standardized test.

Standardized Testing Information: Inside
[ History ] [ Design and Scoring ] [ Standards ] [ Advantages ]

ACT Testing: The ACT is a college-entrance achievement test that emerged in 1959 as a competitor to the College Board's Scholastic Aptitude Test, now the SAT.

Academic Performance Index: Measurement in California of academic performance and progress of individual schools in California.

Advanced Placement Program: The Advanced Placement Program is a United States and Canada-based program that offers high school students the opportunity to receive university credit for their work during high school, as well as a standard measure of achievement in a particular course.

Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards: Arizona's Instrument to Measure Standards (AIMS) is a standardized test administered by the state of Arizona.

California High School Proficiency Exam: The California High School Proficiency Exam is an early-exit exam for high school students aged who are in the second semester of their sophomore year in high school, or 16-18 years old, or those that have enrolled in the 10th grade for two semesters or more.

Connecticut Academic Performance Test: The Connecticut Academic Performance Test, is a state-mandated standardized test administered by the Connecticut State Board of Education that all Connecticut students must take.

Educational Testing Service: The Educational Testing Service is the world's largest private educational testing and measurement organization, operating on an annual budget of approximately $900 million.

Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test: The Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test is the standardized testing used in the primary and secondary public schools of Florida.

GED Testing: The General Educational Development Testing Service tests you in hopes of receiving a diploma equivalent to a high school diploma.

Grade Eight Proficiency Assessment: Given to all New Jersey public-schooled students in March of their eighth grade year. It is often known as the "preparation test" for the High School Proficiency Assessment , which has similar rules and information.

High School Graduation Examination: According to a 2006 study by the Center on Education Policy, two-thirds of the 15 million public high school students in the United States of America were required to pass a graduation examination to get a diploma of completion of studies.

High School Proficiency Assessment: The High School Proficiency Assessment is a standardized test administered by the New Jersey Department of Education to all New Jersey high school students in March of their 11th grade year.

Independent School Entrance Examination: The Independent School Entrance Examination is an admissions test administered by the Educational Records Bureau for placement in independent schools for grades 5-12.

Iowa Test of Basic Skills: The Iowa Test of Basic Skills are a set of standardized tests given annually to school students in the United States. These tests are given to students beginning in kindergarten and progressing until Grade 8 to assess educational development.

Iowa Tests of Educational Development: The Iowa Tests of Educational Development are a set of standardized tests given annually to high school students in the United States, covering Grades 9 to 12.

Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System: The Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System is a series of standardized tests first administered by the Massachusetts Department of Education designed to meet the requirements of the Massachusetts Education Reform Act of 1993.

Michigan Educational Assessment Program: The Michigan Educational Assessment Program is a standardized test. The test is taken by all public school students in the U.S. state of Michigan, and is administered in elementary school, middle/junior high school, and high school.

Missouri Assessment Program: The Missouri Assessment Program is an annual set of mandatory standardized tests taken by students in the U.S. state of Missouri.

New England Common Assessment Program: The New England Common Assessment Program is a plan developed by the departments of education in three U.S. states (NH, RI, VT) in the New England area in response to the requirements of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.

New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge: New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge is given to all New Jersey public-schooled students in grades 3-7 during the month of May, and is administered by the New Jersey Department of Education.

Norm-Referenced Test: A norm-referenced test is a type of test, assessment, or evaluation in which the tested individual is compared to a sample of his or her peers. The term "normative assessment" refers to the process of comparing one test-taker to his or her peers.

PSAT Testing: The PSAT/NMSQT, or Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test, is a multiple-choice standardized test administered by the College Board and National Merit Scholarship Corporation.

Pennsylvania System of School Assessment: The annual Pennsylvania System of School Assessment is a standards based criterion-referenced assessment used to measure a student's attainment of the academic standards while also determining the degree to which school programs enable students to attain proficiency of the standards.

Program for International Student Assessment: The Program for International Student Assessment is a triennial world-wide test of 15-year-old schoolchildren's scholastic performance, developed by the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development in 1997.

Regents Examinations: Regents Examinations, or simply Regents, are a set of standardized tests given to high school students through the New York State Department of Education, designed and administered under the authority of the Board of Regents of the University of the State of New York.

SAT Testing: The SAT Reasoning Test, formerly called the Scholastic Aptitude Test and Scholastic Assessment Test, is a type of standardized test frequently used by colleges and universities in the United States to aid in the selection of incoming students.

Secondary School Admission Test: The Secondary School Admission Test, or SSAT, is an admissions test administered to students in grades 5-11 to help determine placement into independent or private junior high and high schools.

Specialized High Schools Admissions Test: The Specialized High Schools Admissions Test is an examination administered to eighth and ninth grade students residing in New York City and used to determine admission to all but one of the city's Specialized High Schools.

Standardized Testing and Reporting: The Standardized Testing and Reporting Program measures performance on the California Achievement Test, Sixth Edition Survey (CAT/6 Survey), the California Content Standards Test and the Spanish Assessment of Basic Education (SABE/2).

Standards of Learning: Standards of Learning is a program of the Commonwealth of Virginia. It sets forth learning and achievement expectations for grades K-12 in Virginia's Public Schools. The standards represent what teachers, school administrators, parents, and business and community leaders believe schools should teach and students should learn.

Stanford Achievement Test: The Stanford Achievement Test is a standardized test used to measure academic knowledge of elementary and secondary school students in the United States.

Texas Higher Education Assessment: THEA is a test similar to the ACT and SAT.

Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills: The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills is a primary and secondary education standardized test used in Texas to assess student attainment of math, english, science, reading, and social science skills required under Texas education standards.

Washington Assessment of Student Learning: The Washington Assessment of Student Learning is a standards-based assessment which is one of a number of high school graduation examinations adopted by many states as part of the standards-based education reform movement.