[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-273919-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-273919-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","putting-standardized-tests-to-the-test-introduction-achievement-testing-in-us-schools","Putting Standardized Tests to the Test - Introduction Achievement Testing in U.S. Schools","","Achievement testing in U.S. schools is presented as a long-standing, largely supported measurement system whose primary purpose is to determine what students have learned. The text contrasts classroom spelling tests, large-scale assessments such as NAEP, and state competency “gatekeeper” tests, while explaining how achievement tests differ from ability and aptitude testing. It also reviews public support for testing and addresses key critiques about what tests can measure, emphasizing their accuracy and the “necessary but not sufficient” role in educational goals.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/exam/","Exam",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/putting-standardized-tests-to-the-test-introduction-achievement-testing-in-us-schools/273919/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/putting-standardized-tests-to-the-test-introduction-achievement-testing-in-us-schools/273919.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Gloria","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-20","2026-09-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",7,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What is the single primary purpose of achievement tests in U.S. education?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"To measure what a student has learned.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"How do achievement tests differ from ability and aptitude tests?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"Achievement tests focus on learned knowledge and skills, while ability/aptitude tests measure other capacities and are designed differently.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What major caveats are described about information from standardized tests?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"Standardized tests can be abused and misused in practice, corrupting the quality of information, and critics argue they fail to measure all or the most important educational outcomes.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},273919,1790471304,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,95,100,105,109,114,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":93,"slug":94},70,"exam",{"id":96,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":97,"show_sort_weight":98,"slug":99},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":101,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":102,"show_sort_weight":103,"slug":104},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":106,"show_sort_weight":107,"slug":108},"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":110,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":111,"show_sort_weight":112,"slug":113},8,"Research & Report",30,"research-report",{"id":115,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":96,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":33,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":144,"read_time":145},2336474459895,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/avatar/22000baeef7a5ed0655?x-image-process=image/resize,m_fixed,w_180,h_180&k=1786071322749376916","Introduction Achievement Testing in U.S. Schools  \nAchievement tests have been a prominent feature of American elementary and secondary schooling for generations, and a characteristic of educational and occupational decision making for centuries. Achievement tests have a single, simple purpose: to measure what a student has learned.  \nToday, achievement tests administered to U.S. students span a broad range of designs, but share a common purpose. At one end of the continuum we find tests such as the straightforward, classroom-specific, teacherconstructed, end-of-week, spelling test that seeks to determine whether Mrs. Garcia's second-grade students have grasped when I comes before E. At the other end are tests such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)--large-scale, corporately-constructed tests of exquisitely complex design that are administered to nationally-representative samples of students; these tests attempt to assess the country's overall educational health. Near the middle of the continuum are state-level competency tests used by many states as \"gatekeepers\" for grade-to-grade promotion or graduation.  \nBetween the extremes are the tests that parents and policy makers have traditionally been most concerned with, and that have frequently been used (or mandated) as markers in efforts to improve the education of American children. These tests, such as the Iowa Tests of Basic Skills (ITBS), the California Achievement Test ( CAT), and others, are long-lived measures of achievement. More recent incarnations of these tests have less familiar names, such as Terra Nova. It is these tests that are most  \noften the grist of parent-teacher conferences, the stuff of parental bragging rights, and the topic of heated policy deliberations at all levels of the American education and political systems.  \nAll of these tests seek to measure student achievement, which makes them different by design from ability tests, aptitude tests, and other tests used in the American education system. As shown in Figure 1, achievement testing accounts for the majority of standardized testing in American schools. This booklet focuses on achievement testing, in particular on standardized, norm-referenced tests such as the ITBS with which parents and policy makers are most familiar. (The distinction between achievement tests and other kinds oftests is explored in greater detail later in the report.)  \nThe American public has a long-held affection for achievement testing. Results of opinion surveys from 30 years ago and those conducted today reveal broad and durable support for even more achievement testing. Contrary to assertions that tests are foisted upon the public by self-serving politicians, the evidence is clear that consumers of U. S. education favor testing. Parents believe that testing promotes accountability and improvement in the education system, and that tests should be relied upon to help make important decisions about students, such as grade-to-grade promotion or high school graduation. Students acknowledge that the presence of high-stakes tests motivates their work in school. Even among school personnel--teachers, principals, district and state level administrators--testing is  \nPutting Standardized Tests to the Test 1  \nFigure 1 Types of Standardized Tests in American Schools  \n\n| Achievement 80% | \u003Cbr>Aptitude/Ability 8%\u003Cbr>Vocational\u003Cbr>6%\u003Cbr>Readiness\u003Cbr>3%\u003Cbr>Other\u003Cbr>3% |\n| --- | --- |\n\nFrom USGAO, 1993, p. 21  \nacknowledged to be a useful mechanism with net positive benefits (Phelps, 1998) .  \nLong before any talk of voluntary national tests, standardized tests such as the ITBS and CAT provided those interested in the educational well-being of American students with information regarding specific education outcomes. However, two caveats are warranted regarding the information provided by standardized tests. First, as we shall see, although current standardized tests are capable of providing information of excepti","cbCaipYnwta2QBVh","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaipYnwta2QBVh","pdf",241809,51,"English","# Introduction: Achievement Testing in U.S. Schools\n## Purpose and types of achievement tests\n## Public support and perceived benefits\n## Caveats and common criticisms","[{\"question\":\"What is the single primary purpose of achievement tests in U.S. education?\",\"answer\":\"To measure what a student has learned.\"},{\"question\":\"How do achievement tests differ from ability and aptitude tests?\",\"answer\":\"Achievement tests focus on learned knowledge and skills, while ability/aptitude tests measure other capacities and are designed differently.\"},{\"question\":\"What major caveats are described about information from standardized tests?\",\"answer\":\"Standardized tests can be abused and misused in practice, corrupting the quality of information, and critics argue they fail to measure all or the most important educational outcomes.\"}]","Putting Standardized Tests to the Test - Introduction Achievement Testing in U.S. Schools | PDF",1789473425,129]