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Standardized Examinations
Most standardized exams in use in the United States have been created by a state
department of education or a professional testing organization. They are used
widely in U.S. schools to assess achievement levels. In fact, exams such as the
California Achievement Test, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and minimum com-
petency tests developed by various states have become
a regular feature of the
academic year for most schools.
We found that the California Achievement Test, the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, and
the Stanford Achievement Test were administered by many of the Case Study
schools, particularly at the elementary and middle school levels. Teachers noted
that test results from these exams were often used to assess the achievement of
individual students and to make recommendations concerning placement in
courses at the middle and high school levels. For example, sixth-grade students
at Vanderbilt Middle School took the Iowa Algebra Aptitude Test. Those who re-
ceived a certain score then took another standardized achievement test.
Students
who achieved the prescribed math and combined (math and verbal) scores were
allowed to participate in an advanced-track math class at the neighborhood high
school. Although this was an unusual program in the schools we visited, we did
find that standardized test scores as well as teacher’s recommendations were often
used to divide middle school students into math, science, and language courses
of different levels of difficulty. Schools also sometimes used the test results to de-
velop new classes for target populations, such as a prealgebra two-level class.
Statewide minimum competency tests are the primary
method by which states
currently assess their standards and their schools. These tests assess basic skills
in reading, mathematics, and English (although Spanish-language versions are avail-
able in some states for nonnative speakers of English). In the lower grades they
are used to monitor learning, while at the high school level they may set mini-
mum achievement standards that are required for high school graduation.
As of 1992, 40 states had adopted mandatory minimum competency testing at sev-
eral grade levels (U.S. Department of Education 1995). In this study, we found
that two of the three states in which the field research
sites were located required
students to pass a minimum competency test for high school graduation. In addi-
tion, the minimum competency tests were used at all grade levels to assess indi-
vidual and group (class) achievement levels and to monitor overall school achieve-
ment both through successive years and in comparison to other local schools.
Teachers from around the state in which Metro City was located were involved
in the development of the State Goal Assessment Program. This program seeks:
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to measure what students know and are able to do with respect to the seven goals
for learning; to use student test results to describe how students, schools, and dis-
tricts are performing in mathematics in comparison to the state and nation; to
monitor mathematics
progress of schools, districts, and the state over time; and
to generate information on mathematics learning outcomes that will be used for
accountability, policymaking, and school improvement.
A brief description of the assessment test used to evaluate achievement in math
serves as an example of the testing format and procedure of this particular stand-
ardized state test. Tests for grades 6, 8, and 10 contained 70 items, which were
divided into two 40-minute test sessions of 35 items each. The tests contained an
equal number of multiple choice items (10) for each goal being assessed.
State requirements for East City and West City schools specified that an end-of-
year exam be administered to students in each grade or class.
In West City, these
tests were offered in Spanish as well as in English because of the high percentage
of nonnative English-speaking students enrolled in schools in this state. The tests
were used primarily by the district to assess the overall achievement level of the
schools. The end-of-year tests administered in the schools in East City were, in
contrast, used to assess the achievement level of individual students. As one prin-
cipal stated, ‘‘we are being much more specific about skills we want kids to mas-
ter.’’ He also stated that a students’ performance was rated along four levels of
mastery of the subject: excelled in mastery (level four); just mastered (level three);
not mastered (level two); and has significant problems (level one).
The tests and rating criteria were new and the principal indicated that he did not
yet know what they would do with students who received the lowest rating, be-
cause they were a year-round school and did not have the typical 3-month sum-
mer break that lent itself to remedial work. State end-of-year
tests here were de-
scribed as comprising a combination of fill-in-the blank, multiple-choice, and open-
ended questions. In order to receive a level three rating, students must achieve
the equivalent of 70 percent correct. We were also told that the end-of-year (or
course) test at the middle school would generally count for 20 percent of a stu-
dent’s overall class grade.
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