Standardized testing has been rummaging around academic circles in America for close to a century ("Americans Instrumental"), but what has garnered the most controversy is the mandated nationwide testing under the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act of 2002 (Hudson 10-15). The intent of NCLB is to pressure underperforming schools to meet basic educational standards, thereby reducing racial and socioeconomic disparities that have existed within the public education system since it was first established. There are, however, many critics of this approach. To better understand standardized testing, along with its benefits and controversies, this essay will provide an overview of the use of standardized testing within U.S. schools.
History
James Bryant Conant as President of Harvard College in 1933 helped establish the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), with the help of his assistant Henry Chauncey and the Princeton psychology professor Carl Brigham ("Americans Instrumental"). The SAT would be used to help evaluate the academic potential of scholarship candidates with modest economic backgrounds. These efforts eventually led to the establishment of the not-for-profit Educational Testing Service in 1948, with Conant as Chairman of the Board. Today, prospective college students can choose between the SAT and ACT, although high school students may also be faced with taking preparatory college entrance examinations prior to their senior year (von Kampen).
In 1992 the Texas legislature passed educational reforms that would hold teachers accountable for student academic performance, the first of its kind in the nation and the precursor for NCLB (Blakeslee). Before NCLB was enacted, most high school students were...
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