The Storm in Standardized Testing

There is raging distress over the current need for and method of testing students in the educational system. Most studies seem to indicate that testing by groups and individuals is necessary to meet state and national mandated standards. This testing includes those exams given to each grade level during the school year to measure educational progress and the California State-mandated exit exam given to high school seniors. The need for testing has arisen out of California’s’ educational school program. This testing is one of three components that are used to assess what students know, when they should know it and their progress as measured against the state standards. The testing as presently performed does not serve the students, the teachers, or the taxpayers, and sorely overcomplicates an issue that needs a concerted, not divisive effort. It unfairly sets the goal of teaching to pass a test rather than to gain knowledge and skills. The test is error prone, expensive, and require...