Standardized Testing Provides an Inexpensive and Reliable Indicator of

Standardized Testing Provides an Inexpensive and Reliable indication of Student Learning and Achievement The question of assessment in the " direct system, individual schools, and teachers has evoked strong and sometimes violent emotions from the educational community, the oecumenical public and their legislative representatives"(Brown & Knight, 1994). assessment based on similar tests has been looked at very closely over the recent years, and some race have even mentioned that they be eliminated completely. Those who feel traditional methods should be replaced by alternative methods. These people feel that demonstration, exhibition, investigation, oral response, portfolio, and written responses are tot all in ally examples of alternative assessments and should be incorporated in the classroom. They in like manner feel that accomplice assessment should be incorporated because students learn a great bargain from each other, and with large student numbers, "the importance of student feedback increases as the availability of tutor feedback decreases"(Brown & Knight, 1994).G.I Maeroff wrote the first article I read he feels that assessment of students achievement is changing, largely because todays students face a world that impart demand new acquaintance and abilities. "In the global economy of the twenty-first century, students give not only need to understand the basics, but also to think critically, to analyze, and to make inferences" (Maeroff, 1991). The author clearly identifies that we often believe that what transmit assessed is what get taught and that the spurtat of assessment influences the format of instruction. Contrary to our understanding of how students learn, " some assessments test facts and skills in isolation, seldom requiring students to apply what they already know and net do it in real life situations"(Maeroff, 1991). He feels the problem with convertible tests is that they do not match t he emerging content standards, and over reliance on this type of assessment often leads to instruction that "stresses the basic knowledge and skills" (Maeroff, 1991). The article reassures that rather than changes in instruction toward the engaged learning that will prepare students for the future, these test will encourage instruction of less chief(prenominal) skills and passive learning. "Although the basic skills may be important goals of ... ...nt is expensive and delicate to develop, administer and score, which makes their usefulness for large-scale assessment questionable. If these alternative models achieve like reliability and validity, wouldnt they in effect have become standardized as well? The issue is not whether or not one form of assessment is better than another no assessment model is accommodate for every use. The real issue is choosing appropriately among the variables that apply the most fitted model for the students. It is necessary to determin e what information is sufficient to each purpose before you decide what format that you are going to teach. The best manner to do our students justice is to use as wide as practicable a mixture of all the assessment methods this will allow all the students to show their strengths and weaknesses. BibliographyBrown, S and Knight, P (1994). Assessing Learners in Higher Education. Kogan Page, London.Linn, R.L., Baker, & S. B. Dunbar. (1991). Complex, Performance-Based Assessment Expectations and Validation Criteria. Educational Researcher, 20 (8), pp. 15-21.Maeroff, G.I. (1991). Assessing Alternative Assessment. Phi Delta Kappan, 73 (4), pp. 273-281).