Have we passed by the need for standarized tests?

Ever actually wonder where the fill-in-the bubble tests came from? We take them on many occasions. SAT, PSAT, final exams, midterms, and AP Exams are a few. Well the concept of filling in the bubbles was originated back in 1914! Almost a hundred years later and we still use Frederick Kelly's invention. This Washington Post article by Cathy N. Davidson posed an interesting question to the current day's Information Age. I agree with Davidson that we have the ability to change how we measure students' success today. The standardized test only addresses a few kinds of knowledge that students learn in school. I found it extremely interesting that many teachers are leaving their professions because of the mandate of standardized tests. We have all this digital technology available and it only continues to grow. Why shouldn't students be able to utilize it and learn about the ways to navigate it instead of sitting in on timed exams, racing to bubble in as many answers as we can?


Cathy N. Davidson convinces the audience with a widespread use of techniques. She establishes the history of origin of standardized tests and the inventor, Frederick J. Kelly. The background information on Frederick J. Kelly helps to establish a common knowledge for the audience. Davidson also discusses the issues that low-income families and foreign students face in these multiple choice tests, giving them disadvantages. An example that Davidson uses to support her opinion is the company IBM, who have almost half of their employees working through an online program, that does not need nor benefit from an education with standardized testing. Davidson's strongest line that defined her opinion was, "Multiple-choice exams do not equip kids for either the information avalanche or the fine print that they encounter online every day," (Davidson). In her Washington Post article, Davidson challenges the need for multiple choice tests in the modern day, where students should be learning about how to use the digital technology of the age.


Source: Davidson, Cathy N.. "Standardized tests for everyone? In the Internet age, that’s the wrong answer.." The Washington Post 23 Sept. 2011, sec. Opinions: n. pag. The Washington Post. Web. 25 Sept. 2011.