The so-called "standards movement" seeks, in essence, to identify what students should know and be able to do (Deubel, 2002). As Haladyna, et al (1998), have noted, the earlier forms of tests used at the turn of the century were ability or intelligence tests (such as the Binet Intelligence Test). Such tests could be used to weed out children seen as unlikely to succeed academically. They also became a source of discrimination that negatively impacted upon many ethnic groups new to the United States (Haladyna, et al, 1998). Despite criticism from journalists including Walter Lippmann (who characterized intelligence tests as gross sources of perversion by biased people), standardized ability testing took hold in the United States and both ability and achievement tests were used to sort students, classify them, and ultimately to shape their academic futures (Haladyna, et al, 1998).
Lewis (1999) reported that the publication of A Nation at Risk and the Goals 2000 initiative refocused attention on issues related to accountability and standards. States set new standards and assessments to be applied to all students. Concerns regarding the viability of all types of standardized tests have continued to surface, however, as demands for national standards and national tests are also being expressed (Lewis, 1997).
What tests actually measure or attempt to measure, according to Sireci, DeLeon, and Washington (2002), is "knowledge." Standardized tests of all types are an attempt to level the playing field for all students by ensuring uniform test content and administration conditions as well as scoring strategies. Nevertheless, Sireci, et al (2002), believe that the assessment playing field is not level in terms of either attitudes toward or knowledge of tests on the part of students and teachers alike. Lewis (1997, 1999) made the point that standardized achievement and assessment tests are designed to measure the degree to which st...