This paper examines two significant implications of tests and measurement in educational settings: racial bias in standardized testing and the role of state-mandated proficiency exams. It traces the rise of high-stakes testing under No Child Left Behind, contrasts it with growing skepticism toward the SAT at the college level, and explores how both types of tests may disadvantage students from minority racial and ethnic groups. The paper argues that standardized tests provide only a limited portrait of student learning, failing to distinguish between cultural unfamiliarity, inadequate schooling, and broader social factors such as poverty when interpreting student performance.
With the introduction of No Child Left Behind (NCLB), standardized testing as a measure of school performance at the elementary, middle, and secondary school levels became more important than ever before: funding for schools is now linked to student performance on state standardized tests. Yet the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) has begun to fall out of favor as a critical determining factor in the college selection process. More and more competitive universities are making the SAT optional. These two movements seem like paradoxical developments.
Standardized tests have always been controversial as measures of student performance. The SAT in particular has been frequently criticized as a biased test because of the discrepancy in scores between students of different races. Racial discrepancies are often notable across many standardized tests, and it has been argued that many students do not possess the cultural — as well as the academic — common knowledge and vocabulary needed to succeed on the SAT, even though the test claims to measure aptitude rather than achievement.
"Proficiency tests may also disadvantage minority students"
"Tests cannot reveal causes of student underperformance"
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