A History of Standardized
Testing
Or “Alice Rivlin the Bane of
Modern Educational Woes”
What is a Standardized Test?
 It is used to refer to objective tests
(i) Fill in the blanks
(ii) Multiple-choice
It is used to refer to norm-referenced tests
(i) percentile rankings for a pool of test takers
It is used to refer to criterion-referenced tests
(i) which may be of any form and provide
absolute scores
How it all Started
• Standardized testing began in the United
States in the early 1900s to determine
one's individual intelligence quotient
• WWI the Army needed a method to
determine which soldiers were “Officer
Material”
• Eventually they would be used to test
which students were “college worthy”
How They Were Misused
 Cyril Burt fabricated data on identical twin
research to prove his hereditarian theory of
intelligence transfer in early 1900s
 This argument was then used to influence
the writing of the US Immigration Restriction
Act of 1924
 This gave rise to the debate surrounding the
“true” definition of intelligence and the
nature vs. nurture issue
The ETS
• Princeton’s Educational Testing Service
• Henry Chauncey (Dean of Harvard) and
Devereux Colt Joseph (President of New
York Life) founded ETS in 1947.
• Main mission was to provide tests for the
govt. especially in times of national
emergency
• Its tax exempt income ($94 Million in 1980)
because of its non profit status kept it free
from any form of accountability
ETS’s Major Testing Programs
AP® - Advanced Placement Program®
CAPA - California Alternate Performance Assessment
CAHSEE - California High School Exit Exam
CLEP® - College Level Examination Program®
ETS®TOPE - ETS® Test of Professional English
GMAT® - Graduate Management Admission Test®
GRE® - Graduate Record Examinations®
NJ ASK - New Jersey Assessment of Skills and Knowledge (NJ ASK)
PRAXISTM - The Praxis Series: Professional Assessments for Beginning
Teachers®
SAT® - SAT I: Reasoning Test and SAT II: Subject Tests
SLS - The School Leadership Series
STAR - California Standardized Testing and Reporting
TOEFL® - Test of English as a Foreign LanguageTM
Michael Sokol’s
Argument Against ETS
Testers are too close to their enterprise to filter
out biases
Tests reinforce class boundaries (Marxist)
Tests may be irrelevant or insufficient for
predicting performance
HELP!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
• New York's pioneering Truth-in-Testing Law
(Chapter 672, L. 1979), this disclosure law has
evolved to accommodate new issues as they arise
in the testing industry. Test agencies are
required to provide students who take
postsecondary and professional school
standardized admission examinations with the
opportunity to get (at cost) a copy of the
questions, their answers, the accepted answers,
and the rules for computing their score.
Worshiping at the altar of the
expert America 1960-2004
• Lyndon Baines Johnson (PPBS, 1965)
• Senator Robert F. Kennedy misguided
attempt at accountability
• William Gorham (gave birth to the
monster Alice Rivlin)
• Elementary and Secondary Education
Act of 1965 (Title 1 emerged from
this)
The Great Society Initiative
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He was a former school teacher of
poor immigrant children in Texas in
the 1930s
Mid-1960s public sentiment
supported social and educational
reforms to fight poverty.
President Johnson allocates the then
astronomical sum of $3 Billion dollars
for education
The Road to Hell is Paved With
Good Intentions
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Robert Kennedy demands a scientific
system of reporting the effects of the
new educational programs so as to
be accountable to the poor blacks,
and economically disadvantaged
Johnson introduced the planning,
programming and budgeting system
(PPBS) throughout the federal
bureaucracy
Countdown to Standardized Testing
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10/1957 Russians launch Sputnik
1958 National Defense Education Act (NDEA)
10/1963 President Kennedy is assassinated
when he declares all troops will be home from
Viet Nam by Christmas.
10/1963 Lyndon Baines Johnson becomes 36th
President of the United States
1965 Congress passes the Elementary and
Secondary Education act (ESEA) as a “war on
poverty” Bill
8/1965 Johnson appoints William Gorham to head a new
office in Health, Education and Welfare (HEW) to
implement the PPBS. Gorham had done this at the
Department of Defense
> Gorham brings his team with him which includes Alice
Rivlin and Robert Gross
> Because Title I grew out of the ESEA Kennedy stressed
accountability for the monies but Gorham and his team saw
this as a “natural experiment” for identifying the most
effective teaching methods.
> Then the best methods would be passed on to teachers
and administrators so that resources could be allocated
efficiently.
> Scientific research would remedy “teachers ignorance”
and would provide the positive knowledge needed to
improve teaching
1967 Office was renamed the Office of the Assistant
Secretary for Planning and Evaluation (ASPE)
June of 1968 Alice Rivlin replaces Gorham as the Assistant
Secretary of the ASPE
1971 Rivlin publishes Systematic Thinking for Social Action
Alice is Still Alive and Well in
2003
“The important goals of education are both easily
identified and can be measured.” (Alice Rivlin, 1971)
 “Standardized test scores accurately reflect reading
proficiency, mathematical competencies and acquired
knowledge”…..so one should “focus on measurable
outcomes.” (Rivlin, 1971)
 “Stable relationships exist between outcomes and inputs
to the educational process.” (Rivlin 1971)
 “We want the biggest bang for our buck.” (Rivlin, 1971)
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And here in California?
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Statewide tests used in California before 1990 were designed much like
a poll, providing only sample scores for a school but no information to the
parents regarding their child’s performance
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In 1990, the state eliminated its old testing program
NAEP results were announced in 1994, California ranked near the
bottom on all measures
1995 The STAR (Standardized Testing And Reporting) program became
law
California's education leaders selected the Stanford 9 (SAT-9) for its
statewide test and this new test was first given in CA in 1998.
2001: California Standards Test completed, The part of STAR that was
custom developed to measure California standards was completed in
2001. This fully-developed standards test is now called the California
Standards Test (CST)
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California here I come
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The customized California Standards Test is designed to measure
student learning of the state's academic standards: English Language
Arts, Mathematics, History, and Science. This portion of the STAR test
has been developing over the last three years and now includes written
essays at some grades in addition to multiple-choice questions. The
California Standards Test is now the most important test in California's
program.
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STAR also includes a norm-referenced test, currently the Stanford-9
Achievement Test. This test is taken by students across the country and
therefore provides a comparison of California students' achievement of
basic skills with that of students nationwide. Next year, California
students will take the California Achievement Test, Version 6, to help
compare their performance nationally.
Get behind Thee O’ California
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Other important elements of the state's testing system are:
The California English Language Development Test helps to monitor
progress toward English mastery of students whose first language is not
English.
 The Golden State Exams provide an opportunity for graduating students
to earn a distinction of merit on their high school diploma. To save
testing time, these examinations will be combined with the high school
California Standards Tests.
 A California High School Exit Examination (2004) ensures graduating
high school seniors can meet basic learning requirements in English and
Math.
 The California Alternate Performance Assessment will be an
alternative to the STAR for children with disabilities who cannot take part
in the general statewide assessment program. This assessment will
meet the requirements of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act
(IDEA) and the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), to ensure that all
California students are included in our statewide assessment and
accountability system.
Academic Point Index
• California's Academic Performance
Index is an index that combines the
results of the tests taken by all
students in a school. The API ranks
schools and is the central measure
in the state's accountability system
to ensure that every school is
getting better every year. Results of
the API rankings are released in
California each October.