Does Standardized Testing Measure Intelligence?

By Caitlin Olson

Standardized testing is to suppose to be an accurate representation of how well a student will perform in various subjects throughout school. The article that I chose to write about is “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Achievement Tests” by Ralph Heibutzki. Throughout this article he discusses the main issues of standardized testing such as race, income, pressure to perform, and not all skills are measured equally. He also gave same some examples of how standardized testing could be beneficial such as it is efficient to administrator, student improvement, and accurate performance indicator.

The plain style is very evident by using short, less complex sentences. They state the facts clearly and concisely without all the extra, unnecessary jargon. This article does not have a targeted audience and it does not seem to be bias towards one opinion. This allows the audience to read the information and form their own opinion on the topic. I believe the writer wanted their readers to know both sides of standardized testing and how it can be a positive thing when determining effective performance and a negative thing when it comes to the pressure they bring to students. 

As far as accessibility, this article is accessible to any reader as well as it is easy to read. Each section of the article is bolded as well as it uses clear, plain language. The writer also wrote their argument in a logical order by putting the important details first. In the beginning they talked about some of the positive aspects of standardized testing such as being a performance indicator, effective venue for change, and efficient to administer. They indicated that if used appropriately, standardized testing can provide a clear-cut picture of how well a student is performing. This is a good thing for parents because they appreciate having this information so they can pinpoint what their child is doing wrong and how they help them succeed. Teachers also benefit by seeing these results because it allows them to see what they need to approve on as a teacher. When it comes to being effective venue for change, the educational policymakers often use these tests to decide how they want to allocate their resources. According to Popham “Such funds are best used in districts whose scores suggest serious action is requires”. If a school’s test scores look like they need to be improved, most of the funding will go to that school. Lastly, they discussed how standardized testing is more efficient to administer. This is because all of the testing is done over the computer, and it reduces the time that it takes to grade tests.

They continued this pattern by then discussing the negative effects of standardized testing. By doing this it allows the reader to easily follow along with the main arguments of the paper. Some of the negative effects that they talked about are not all skills are measured equally, fairness, and the negative pressures on schools. In this section they argued that no test will ever be able, no matter how unbiased it seems, can equally measure what each student learns. Standardized testing is typically in a multiple-choice format which only measures knowledge and skills and not creativity and problem solving. When it comes to fairness there is a gap in achievement results between rich and poor students because students that are rich have more opportunities to succeed than students who are in low-income houses. Lastly, there is a lot of negative pressures on the schools to succeed because funding and salary improvements are typically associated with the test score results. Also, students that do not do well on the test may be written off and placed in classes that do not challenge them. This may leave the student as well as the teacher to feel unmotivated.

As far as credibility, this article seems to be very organized and well thought out by how they laid out their argument to their readers. They also cited their research throughout the article which makes the reader feel as though the writer took the time to thoroughly investigate this topic. They were able to make this article easy to read while also seeming credible to their readers. This article is very easy to skim from outside readers because of the bolded title as well as shorter paragraphs. It was set in an appropriate tone where it seemed like they were very professional and they also seemed very passionate about the topic. As I said before, this article does a really good job of blending styles because it seems credible as well as it is easy to read for outside audiences. 

There was also minimal redundancy throughout this article. The main idea was definitely stated but it was repeated over and over again. They clearly had separate sections for each main point and then continued to elaborate on those main points. The use of active voice was also clear throughout this article. The tone made it seem like they were talking straight to their readers which gave it a personal touch. Using this tone, it allows the readers to connect with the writer and form their own opinion.

In conclusion, “The Advantages and Disadvantages of Achievement Tests” conveyed a lot of plain language while also seeming credible to its readers. This article a lot of shorter, less complex sentences and minimal jargon. The article wrote in active voice which helps the readers connect more with the writer. Using these strategies of plain style will help the readers fully understand the topic and then they can form their own opinions on the matter.