ERRORS IN STANDARDIZED TESTS: A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM

["William Cala" <wcala@rochester.rr.com>]

   ERRORS IN STANDARDIZED TESTS: A SYSTEMIC PROBLEM 
This new report by Kathleen Rhoades highlights the nature and extent of
human error in educational testing over the past twenty-five years. In
contrast to the random measurement error expected in all tests, the
presence of human error is unexpected and brings unknown, often harmful
consequences for students and their schools. These consequences include:
Assigning elementary school students erroneously to remedial instruction
courses or retaining them in grade; Placing improving schools on "worst
school" type lists; Preventing high school seniors from receiving a high
school diploma; Barring qualified college applicants from attending their
chosen university; and Denying competent applicants access to professional
credentials. These errors exist against the backdrop of a testing industry
whose activities and products are largely unregulated. The incidence of
human error in testing has already risen dramatically in recent years as
the demands on the testing industry increase. With the passage of the No
Child Left Behind legislation, the expansion of testing into more grades
has the potential to exacerbate the problem of human error in testing.
http://www.bc.edu/research/nbetpp/