What Parents Need to Know about Testing in Their School

Knowing that all children can learn is important. Unfortunately, many schools excuse the failure of children by saying it is because they are poor or don't speak English well or that they have families who do not value education.

These excuses have nothing to do with whether your child can succeed. Children succeed when they are held to high standards. This is something you as a parent need to constantly remind your school.

Testing students to see if they are meeting standards at school is a good thing because it motivates, students, teachers and parents to do their best while also identifying problem areas for both the individual student and the school.

With so much variation in testing among states and individual districts, parents are often confused about what is actually happening in their child's classroom. And their questions about the number of tests -and the uses of the results - have many looking for answers. The following advice seeks to help you figure it all out.

Sorting Out the tests

First, parents need to understand the different kinds of tests being administered in the schools. In addition to regular testing that's done to review work in the class, more schools today are conducting standardized tests.

Many are familiar with the popular norm-referenced tests, such as the California Achievement Test, the Stanford Achievement Test and the Iowa Test of Basic Skills. These multiple-choice, fill-in-the-circle tests are objectively scored and show how a student is ranked in relation to the performance of other students.

Less common - but growing in use - are tests aligned with a state's education standards to show how well students are mastering the curriculum. These proficiency or criterion-referenced tests are embraced by many reformers who want content-based assessments of students.

In some states, for example, parents advocating for school reform criticize the state's use of Stanford 9 performance tests and are calling for all statewide tests to be aligned with the state's curriculum. The Stanford 9 does not change from year to year and old copies of tests are floating around making cheating a real threat to the integrity of accountability. Standards-based testing or changing questions on the performance-based tests will help schools identify weak areas and improve education.

Too Much Stress?

While the information provided by the testing is helpful, some parents are concerned about the impact of testing on students.

Yet, research shows that students themselves don't voice great resentment or anxiety over testing and promotion in their schools, and most say the tests seem fair.

In an effort to calm public fears and inform the public about the tests, the Massachusetts Department of Education releases entire tests - along with samples of students' work - on its web site.

Rather than have students receive a diploma for merely attending school for 12 years, standards and testing are meant to ensure that all students are being taught the same thing.

Learning about the test

Parents should find out if the tests given at their school are written by a reputable source. Look for tests that are objectively measured and be wary of tests with many open-ended questions.