Educational assessments can mean many different things to different people. In this article, they are standardized tests that have systematic processes that measure skill, attitudes, knowledge, and beliefs, which help by having a nationally or locally normed group for comparisons and skills identification in relation to others.
For students aged 3yrs to 21yrs, standardized assessments come in the form of entrance exams, graduation exams, psychological evaluations, or even placement exams. These measure the student’s strengths and weaknesses on a larger scale, which is, in turn, tied to a national or test norm for comparison purposes.
Assessments are useful to both parents and educators but are not typically a whole picture of the student’s strengths, weaknesses, or abilities. This is typical because the assessments test specific factors regarding the student. All assessments and their data need to be taken into consideration as part of the student or child’s abilities.
Below are some of their uses:
Parents:
Standardized assessments present a global view of the standard in learning institutions where the child studies. Classroom tests are typically less comprehensive, but nationally normed assessments like the SAT, ACT, or NWEA Maps unveil the standards and performance of the institution. When this data is reviewed as a composite of the school, it gives parents insight into how the school is doing as a whole rather than just how their student is doing. It also helps as an indirect representation of the school’s rigor.
Additionally, they can help parents determine their child’s specific strengths and weaknesses. Some of these exams measure a child’s social, emotional, and academic abilities. For parents, this gives an alternate type of classroom-based assessment. They also may give parents and teachers specific information to assist with the academic or social development of the child.
Since the same test is given to all test takers and scored in the same manner, parents are assured that the results are a single point in time compared to other students in similar or parallel subgroups.
Some parents will undoubtedly over-rate their child’s ability and as such, put them in classes that are above their age. Standardized assessments assist in correcting these misconceptions because the choice is based on data and not a feeling.
Educators:
For educators, a standard assessment helps compare schools, students, programs, initiatives, and even geographic areas.
They can be used to make curriculum adjustments or identify weaknesses in the school’s educational program.
It helps in staffing and infrastructure review. Results from students may show areas that need adjustment in classrooms, additional professional development for teachers, programs, or schools as a whole.
Depending on the school’s pedagogy and assessment schedule, they can be used as a tool to assist teachers in introducing materials and information at the most optimum developmental stage for the child.
As results are reviewed at different groups and subgroups, the results can be used to check favoritism, nepotism, and corruption in the educational system.
For educators, educational assessments allow schools to know and understand where their students are on a national or international level.
At the national level, these assessments help in policymaking, development, government allocations, and other affairs that relate to school-system-handling.