The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Assessment

Improved Essays
In the recent decade, a heated controversy over the pros and cons of standardized assessment has been witnessed in both fields of education policy and applied linguistics (e.g. Taylor, 1994; Llosa, 2011, etc.). As a result, issues related to standardized language assessment have gained attention internationally. While the United States has been concerned with accountability and high-stakes consequences brought by the No Child Left Behind Act (Abedi, 2004; Menken, 2008), China has been declaratively promoting less assessment-driven education reform (Lockette, 2012; Liu & Dunne, 2009). Moreover, the Chinese Ministry of Education (2011) has also promised a shift away from teacher-centeredness towards student-centeredness in curriculum reform. Based on the common belief, at least shared by most Chinese people, that …show more content…
Not too surprisingly, it is found that the use of standardized English tests for assessing young learners (YLLs) has been prevalent in East Asia, including China, as the “zeal for teaching English to younger and younger learners extends to both within and outside of the formal educational system” (Butler, 2014, p. 3). Since assessing young learners is a relatively young field per se, a narrowly focused and thoroughly analyzed study about the impact of standardized English language assessment on Chinese YLLs has yet to be conducted. Hence, this paper seeks to (1) review the historical and cultural backgrounds of Chinese standardized assessment, (2) review recent studies and researchers’ important considerations on assessing YLLs’ English language performance, (3) build connections between YLLs in general and YLLs in China by discussing current issues and the challenges that we face, and (4) conclude by providing pedagogical and social-political implications for teachers, parents and

Related Documents

  • Great Essays

    Zoninsein says that this is like China’s SAT, but it lasts two days, covering everything learned since kindergarten, and it has the power to determine one’s entire professional trajectory (Introduction). Standardized tests in the United States began in 1845 when public education advocate Horace Mann called for standardized testing of spelling, geography, and math in public schools (Introduction). The impacts of immigration…

    • 1688 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    With a growing number of schools are doing what public urging, abandoning test attracts a lot of enthusias all over the world. Even the country, which always implements exam-oriented education, China is no exception. In 2007, a Test Forbidding Crisis had swept Chengdu, Sichuan to stop the increasing burdens from testing. The former governor of Chengdu announced, “Developing education is the root of development to the country rich and people strong, whereas, exam-oriented education’s pressure breached this principle.” Although that revolution failed, it did report on Chinese developing direction and alerted people the failure of formalistic test.…

    • 227 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Helen Keller once said, “the character cannot be developed in ease and quiet. Only through experience of trial and suffering can the soul be strengthened, ambition inspired, and success achieved.” Standardized test scores shouldn’t determine whether or not a school should exist. The problems may not rest in the school, but rather in the students. Teachers might not have the resources to teach students, personal problems might stop students from succeeding, or the school, in general, the standardized test can be more biased .…

    • 1323 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “The average student in America’s big-city public schools takes some 112 mandatory standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and the end of 12th grade — an average of about eight a year, the study says” (Rochon). Standardized testing has been around since the mid 1800’s. It was around 1920 when the SAT was introduced, and the ACT was soon after (Layton). According to The Washington Post, these tests have become more pressure-packed and ubiquitous than ever before. Many parents and teachers believe standardized tests are useless and don’t measure anything important, but there are some people who believe that standardized tests measure how well students can retain information and recall it in an organized fashion and put it in words that others…

    • 1850 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    If a teacher does not wish to be reprimanded, his or her students will all have to do well on the tests. In order to be sure that this happens, teachers will teach to the tests. They will focus not on creative writing, but rather on the type of writing that the test scorers will want to see. Instead of taking field trips, students will be practicing analogies and test taking skills. Literature will not be read intensively, but will instead be skimmed for the main points in order to answer the critical reading questions.…

    • 897 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A developing controversy surrounding standardized test may have you question what education is really coming to. Topics concerning standardized tests have been a growing controversy since 2004, and even in 2016, the issues surrounding them refuse to cease. The way standardized test are used now; are to measure, predict, and compare a student’s intelligence and academic performance, and a schools ability to provide students with a strong academic performance. Even some school districts are against what standardized tests are doing, for example, in 2012, more than 100 Texas school districts passed a resolution claiming that standardized tests are “strangling” public schools. School districts came together passing a resolution arguing that standardized…

    • 1303 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Decent Essays

    A common question asked throughout the world is “Are standardized tests a fair assessment and do they really capture the students knowledge on the curriculum?” Well the answer would be no they don’t. On standardized assessments, all students taking the exam answer the same questions under the same conditions and format, usually in multiple-choice format. These tests requires quick answers to exterior questions.…

    • 153 Words
    • 1 Pages
    Decent Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Testing of students in the United States is now [approximately] 150 years old” (Alcocer, Paulina. " History of Standardized Testing in the United States."). Rigorous testing has become engrained into the American educational system. I disagree with the countless challenging tests subjected upon the modern student because exams such as the SAT, ACT, Iowa Basics, PSAT/NMSQT are weighted too heavily, are not accurate or full representations of a student, and correlative studies have displayed that families with lower income yield children with lower test scores creating an uneven testing terrain in the United States. Standardized tests have become not only greater influences on a child’s future but also more common in a student’s life.…

    • 715 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Every Child Left Behind Standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid-1800s. In 2001 the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was approved, mandating annual testing in all 50 states. Since then, the use of standardized tests skyrocketed in American elementary and secondary schools. The NCLB has received a substantial amount of critics since its enactment, only increasing over time.…

    • 780 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    Nearly every student in America has taken a standardized test, considering these exams are required for almost any college admission or for evaluating a child’s proficiency at a particular grade level. However, this method of analyzing a child’s true intelligence poses the question of whether this is truly an accurate way to assess a child’s understanding as well as being an accurate tool for predicting a student’s future success. Standardized testing creates great controversy over its effectiveness and equality to all students involved. These doubts surrounding the tests cause the need for a solution because there may be the need for a compromise since there are an abundance of factors that are potentially more representative of a student’s…

    • 1483 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Their likelihood of doing their best of their ability falls to how advanced their English is. In addition to these disapprovals, many people criticize these tests to only measuring a small portion of what makes education meaningful. According to Gerald W. Bracey, he says that qualities that standardized tests cannot measure include “creativity, critical thinking, resilience, motivation, persistence, curiosity, endurance, reliability, enthusiasm, empathy, self-awareness, self-discipline, leadership, civic-mindedness, courage, compassion, resourcefulness, a sense of beauty, a sense of wonder, honesty, and integrity.” As you can tell by Mr. Bracey’s long list of what standardized tests are missing, there is a huge gap to what should connect education to the classroom to who the students are as a human…

    • 1003 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Even less evidence exists that measures the effect of standards-based grading in a high school English classroom, and demonstrates a direct correlation between classroom grades and end of course assessments. This study will attempt to establish a connection between student achievement in the classroom and the use of standards based grading, using graded student samples in comparison with released test scores. This research will also investigate the overall impact of the grading system on the classroom learning environment. Specific data will be collected to determine this impact, including teacher surveys concerning the benefits and challenges of implementing the system in the classroom, as well as parent and student surveys that will determine perception of the grading system in connection with student performance (Spencer, 2012, p. 10). Overall, the main goal of this research is to explore the connection between standards-based grading and student achievement, while monitoring any patterns that affect the learning environment.…

    • 1112 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    As an educator, it is important to master an effective level of cultural competence. Obtaining a minimal level of cultural competences will allow educators to better understand their student’s needs as well as help the student blend with the classroom environment. In regards to standardized tests, there is data to support that these tests are “culturally and linguistically biased against students from backgrounds different from the majority culture” (Pierangelo & Giuliani, 2017, p. 216). The majority of these tests are based on English-speaking culture and are not appropriate for students who are English Language Learners. As such, one way to avoid inappropriate and unnecessary testing for bilingual children, is by conducting dynamic assessments.…

    • 256 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Studies done by US News and the Washington Post show that standardized tests don’t help students learn. A study done by the New York Times even showed that the use of Standardized tests can hurt education of students. Because of pressure to improve student’s test teachers begin to teach directly to the test. In fourth grade I took my first standardized test.…

    • 692 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    A standardized test is any form of an exam that requires every test taker to answer the same questions and that is scored in a consistent manner. Every student during their time in school will eventually take at least one. No student enjoys preparing for these extra tests, and some either will study a lot or none. Each student approach these exams differently. The way the students are taught can be highly influenced by the exam and what the material is.…

    • 1419 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Improved Essays