What do standardized tests measure?
Generally, most large-scale state and commercial standardized tests are achievement tests that measure the knowledge, skills, and abilities defined as the learning standards or curricula by state educational agencies or school districts. Achievement tests measure what students know or are able to do at the time of the test. The understanding is that there has been an opportunity for the student to learn the content through instruction in the school.
Tests are typically divided into content areas – reading, writing, mathematics, and science. In addition, each content area is composed of several sub-categories, or strands, for which a score is also given. These scores allow further analysis of a student's performance. For example, under mathematics, a test can also measure strands such as number sense, computation, and estimation. In some cases, scores are provided for specific skills, or benchmarks, such as multiplying whole numbers and estimating a solution to a problem. |
