State Assessment
Tests Vary from State to State
If you live in Mississippi and then move to North Carolina, should your child get the same score? Not necessarily: one test may be more difficult than the other or include different kinds of item or content. In a SERVE study, content experts reviewed fifth-grade mathematics tests from several states and found that some tests emphasized computational skills more than others. The coverage of eighth-grade science topics also varied among the tests. For example, two of the tests had about a third of the items assessing earth and space science, while two other tests had only about 10% of the items covering this topic area.
There are at least two reasons differences across states happen. First, state tests are developed to measure the curriculum that is supposed to be taught in that state. States generate lists of expectations for what students should know and be able to do after they finish a year in a particular subject area like mathematics. These are called standards. Although there is a lot of similarity in the list of standards for a grade level across states, there are also differences. Since state tests are developed to assess student achievement on the standards or a subset of the standards (the most important ones), state tests can vary in content covered and difficulty. You can find most state standards on state education websites.
The relationship between state standards and state tests is a complicated one because some states have long lists of standards or expectations for students, and there is not adequate time on end-of-year tests to include all that teachers cover in a year.
Second, even for tests over similar standards, the emphasis or weight given to each standard can vary. States and test makers can choose to cover some standards with more items than others, and that weighting will be reflected in the total score.
It’s important to know what a test assesses. Students may score higher, for example, on the portion of a mathematics test that emphasizes basic computational skills than on the portion that emphasizes mathematical problem solving. The description of the test and the way the test is reported should let you know what the test score actually means. If there are two components to a test, and students only get one score, it may be difficult to tell what the overall score actually means. For example, a student who receives a 3 (meaning proficient) on a 4-point scale on a math test could be a 4 in computation and a 2 in problem solving, with different implications for instructional planning than the reverse situation. In other words, a single test score for a subject will not help you diagnose instructional problems.
An index to state standards for each content area can be found at http://www.education-world.com/standards/state/index.shtml |
