Standardized Testing - What do you think?

[Guest GhostRanger]

Well...we've all been there. No matter if you've graduated high school or are still in middle school, we've all taken standardized tests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What is the general consensus about standardized tests where you are from? Most students don't like them...but what do teachers think?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Do you think they are beneficial or a waste of time?

[runesmithie]

They're fun fun fun :D

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I kind of like seeing my results...

[bjbj1991]

Last year i got a C and a D in algerbra 1 so i could not move into geometry and i also failed the District test. This year i skiped Algerbra 1 and Geometry and i am now in algerbra 2. i dont think those tests work.

[Guest GhostRanger]

A week off of school was always nice...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a friend who scored a 31 on his ACT and was in like the 50th percentile in our standardized tests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Didn't make much sense... :?

[Astralinre]

I personally love them, mainly since I'm good at them. Granted, I'm horrible at art and music, but I've always done well on standardized tests. We took the PLAN (practice test for the ACT) earlier this year, and I can't wait to see how I did on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the other hand, my girlfriend is a wonderful artist, but she doesn't do so well on standardized tests, though we both make the same good grades in school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I'd say you shouldn't judge someone based on their test results. I know from experience that those things can only measure certain types of intelligence and aptitudes, and they're not that great at showing you how smart someone really is. But still, I enjoy them, mainly because I like showing off. :oops:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and there was a guy at a rival school with the same name as me who scored a 36 on his ACT a year or two back. I made a 27 when I took it in the 7th grade, so hopefully I can achieve the same thing he did. :P I bet the local paper would have fun with a story about that.

[runesmithie]

A week off of school was always nice...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I had a friend who scored a 31 on his ACT and was in like the 50th percentile in our standardized tests.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Didn't make much sense... :?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The ACT is different than most state tests and most definitely different than the SAT which seems to be more about problem solving than just using the skills. (My sophomore year I got a 100% on the state standardized math test ^.^ My teacher said she's never seen anyone from our school get above a 60 :lol: )

[stevester77]

I personally don't like them, not because they're a pain (though they are), but rather I don't think that they accurately reflect what I know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My beef is with the sat 2 subject tests especially. How they feel that they can encompass a whole subject while still not being biased against certain ciriculum's is beyond me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You can call me a "history buff", as it is what I am greatest at and like the most about school. I am capitain of my schools scholar's bowl team (jepardy style trivia) and have been asked to give lectures on various points in history in the past. In ninth grade, on my world history final, out of 300 questions, I got only 3 wrong - that was without studying for the final for even 10 minutes previously. Such success was repeated in my U.S. History course in my junior year. Now my school is no slouch, as a private school it has a very hard ciriculum, and at the same time this ciriculum is okay'd by the UC's and the various people that run college board.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

So when I decided to take the U.S. history sat 2, I figured that I was probably going to do fairly well on it. I open my test and read some questions, and every single question is stinkin' opinion or 'eliminate the answer that doesn't fit'. Not a single question was point blank like name the *** of the ***. Still though, I felt that I might still be able to get a decent score. Later, I get the results of my test back. What do I get? A 570. Average. When I looked at that score I could only dream of how that could possibly "reflect what I know".

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Throw your stupid fill in the bubble tests away... give me an untimed essay and I can show you what I really know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Curse that stupid test

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

*rant over* heh.

[dusqi]

 

 

 

I open my test and read some questions, and every single question is stinkin' opinion or 'eliminate the answer that doesn't fit'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's what historians do. They don't sit there memorising dates. They make valued judgements based upon the facts that they know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standardised tests are an imperfect way of testing people, but they're the cheapest and least biased for comparison between large groups of people. You have to play the system - it's just a game.

[stevester77]

 

 

 

 

I open my test and read some questions, and every single question is stinkin' opinion or 'eliminate the answer that doesn't fit'.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That's what historians do. They don't sit there memorising dates. They make valued judgements based upon the facts that they know.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

While I am not a fan of dates myself, (no pun intended) on the various AP tests for the various history's, dates is what most of the questions are made up as.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Your right, history is all about judging the past, but when one opinion in the end is deemed as "right" and another "wrong", what kind of society is that? On most issues, history cannot come to a general concensus as to what is the right answer, so why now is the SAT allowed to do it?

[MyPurpleCrayon]

I love em!!! :P

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You get to miss class, and I always get in the top 4 or 5 in my class, so it's fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Not sure about how beneficial they are. :?

[Guest GhostRanger]

I personally love them, mainly since I'm good at them. Granted, I'm horrible at art and music, but I've always done well on standardized tests. We took the PLAN (practice test for the ACT) earlier this year, and I can't wait to see how I did on it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

On the other hand, my girlfriend is a wonderful artist, but she doesn't do so well on standardized tests, though we both make the same good grades in school.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Anyway, I'd say you shouldn't judge someone based on their test results. I know from experience that those things can only measure certain types of intelligence and aptitudes, and they're not that great at showing you how smart someone really is. But still, I enjoy them, mainly because I like showing off. :oops:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh, and there was a guy at a rival school with the same name as me who scored a 36 on his ACT a year or two back. I made a 27 when I took it in the 7th grade, so hopefully I can achieve the same thing he did. :P I bet the local paper would have fun with a story about that.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ACT scores are tricky. I had a friend who recently got a 23 on the Math section of the ACT...but averaged a 34. :shock:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I generally liked the atmosphere of standardized testing...but I never took the results seriously.

[abyssalreaper]

I do pretty well on tests infact sometimes my grades scare me at how good they are but I think that its not fair to students who just aren't good test takers but are doing great in other areas and they can get left back for failing the test.

[mad4u689]

There's a movement nationally (in the US) to do away with much standardized testing because it doesn't highlight individual strengths and merely tests a few arbitrary variables. There's also a trend in thought about "gifted education" that every student is gifted in some way or another, and just because a student is more naturally-intelligent-in-logic-and-such, they shouldn't recieve extra enrichment or advancement.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think that's stupid.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standardized tests are about the best measure we have of testing intelligence and other things across various groups. It's the best way we have of being able to quickly gauge someone's general intelligence with a single number - and though this may seem demeaning, it's absolutely necessary to stereotype people in certain situations... such as college admissions. It doesn't tell you everything about a person's intelligence, but the SATs for example certainly tell you something - and something very different from mere GPA or even class rank.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Some people are naturally more intelligent than others. Those who aren't as intelligent deserve special enrichment, and those who are more intelligent deserve special enrichment. Hey, kids in the middle could use some special enrichment, too! But first you need to assess this, and have a standard and nonsubjective means of doing so.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Plus, it's useful for looking at someone within the context of their surroundings, and for assessing the context of surroundings. For example, a school with an average SAT score of 1250 versus a school with an average SAT score of 850 are clearly different environments for a student to grow up in... and a student with a score of 1550 at the first school is outstanding, and a student with a score of 1250 at the second is outstanding.

[Futurama]

a lot of them seemed pointless to me.

 

 

 

didnt wanna take french, RE and food tech. hated lessons, absolutely hated tutors, no interest in the subject (except for food tech, but my tutor was such a dwick,) and so i failed all 3 (almost an F in french)

 

 

 

not something im proud of because i asked to drop these lessons and improve my coursework and knowledge in maths and science, subjects i knew were nessacery but was struggling with. Still passsed them, but couldve done so much better and it wouldnt be wasted time.

[logic-is-overrated]

Stick me in a solid white room while I try to complete a 3 hour test in 2 hours and get a headache trying to remember a vast amount of facts that I can look up in 2 minutes on the internet or in a variety of books, most of which my teachers next year will tell me I don't need to know anyways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I reall don't see what you guys are complaining about.

[knives669]

Ah... They're great... Especially when they ask you about your religious preference.

 

 

 

Me=Jedi :wink:

[krunkthemonk]

Each of our provincial exams are 5 hours long with a 1 hour break in between. They tell us not to worry; but some of the figures...

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

http://plans.ednet.ns.ca/assessment-res ... ents.shtml

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

English 12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* The provincial average was 58 percent.

 

 

 

* The highest mark was 94 percent and the lowest mark was 12 percent.

 

 

 

* Seventy-six percent of the students who wrote the examination passed it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Engish/Communications 12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* The provincial average was 51 percent.

 

 

 

* The highest mark was 80 percent and the lowest mark was 9 percent.

 

 

 

* Fifty-eight percent of the students who wrote the examination passed it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chemistry 12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* The provincial average was 58 percent.

 

 

 

* The highest mark was 99 percent and the lowest mark was 8 percent.

 

 

 

* Sixty-six percent of the students who wrote the examination passed it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Chimie 12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* The provincial average was 58 percent.

 

 

 

* The highest mark was 97 percent and the lowest mark was 14 percent.

 

 

 

* Sixty-three percent of the students who wrote the examination passed it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Physics 12

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

* The provincial average was 52 percent.

 

 

 

* The highest mark was 97 percent and the lowest mark was 9 percent.

 

 

 

* Fifty-one percent of the students who wrote the examination passed it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The mathematics results are so poor that they wern't released but were speculated have an average between 30-40%

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:shock:

[runesmithie]

@Krunk, it's not a test to fluff your grades like normal tests in school. If you want a test that measures someones ability would you rather give them a test that 85% of the population gets a 100% on or one that probably less than 1% of the population gets a 100% on.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

An odd analogy, but if you wanted to measure how much water you had and you had two gradiated cylinders, one 500 ml and the other 1000 ml and you had 700 ml of liquid, but didn't know it. You could poor it into the 500ml cylinder and there would be too much and it wouldn't get measured past 500 or you could put it in the 1000 ml which would provide an accurate measurement even though it looks smaller.

[mad4u689]

If the exam results turn out to be very poor, then (assuming it was still a good test in that the variables it tested were intended - it covered the proper range of material) it was just difficult; if no one did well, then you can still get an idea of who did the best compared to everyone else, which is really the important thing.

[krenbr]

*takes a lighter and burns the test*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

what that tell yah?

[runesmithie]

*takes a lighter and burns the test*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

what that tell yah?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That you failed.

[knives669]

 

*takes a lighter and burns the test*

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

what that tell yah?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That you failed.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

:lol:

[runesmithie]

Yes, this topic is a bit old, but I didn't want to make a new one

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Standardized tests truly are tricky, I got my ACT results back today and I did horribly on some of my best subjects (27 on math :x ) and the best on my mediocre subjects o.o

[cottenkisses]

I took the SAT earlier this month and did fairly well on it. (2190; alot better than I thought I'd do, heh)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 hours from when we walked in to when we finally were let out. (including instruction reading, form filling, breaks)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's basically testing your endurance, not your knowledge :roll:

[runesmithie]

I took the SAT earlier this month and did fairly well on it. (2190; alot better than I thought I'd do, heh)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

4 hours from when we walked in to when we finally were let out. (including instruction reading, form filling, breaks)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It's basically testing your endurance, not your knowledge :roll:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yeah, it was about the same for the ACT and I think another hour if ytou wanted writing =\