When the issue of testing comes up, you will undoubtedly hear the term "standardized test" come up. This is especially true of discussions on testing in the school environment. Most tests given to all children are standardized tests, regardless of the kind of test being given. These tests include aptitude tests, achievement tests, and intelligence tests. It does not include, however, the tests that individual teachers give to their students to measure what they learned during a particular unit or lesson.

Instead, they are the tests that most, if not all, the children in a particular grade level will take. So what exactly is does it mean for a test to be standardized?

What is a Standardized Test?

A standardized test is one which uses questions that are the same for all test takers or which come from a common bank of questions. It is administered and scored in a standard way. To be administered in a standard way means that whenever the test is given, it is given under the same conditions, with the same instructions, and the same time limits. To be scored in a standard way means that what is allowed in one case is allowed in all cases and what is disallowed in one case is disallowed in all cases.

Standard Questions:
The way a question is worded can influence how it is answered or how well it is understood. Those who write the test questions are careful to write questions that clear and free of bias. If questions on the test taken by group A are clear and free of bias, but those on the test taken by group B are not, it will be meaningless to compare the results of the tests taken by the two groups.

Standard Administration:
Each time the test is given, it must be given under the same conditions. That means that the instructions and time limits are the same. Those who write the test also write the instructions, which are to be read in the same way by everyone administering the test each time the test is administered. In other words, there is no ad libbing. The person administering the test does not add or delete anything from the instructions. The time limits are also not to be changed for any test taker or group of test takers. Each section on a test has a time limit and no test taker gets any more time than any other test taker.

Standard Scoring:
Standardized tests are scored in exactly the same way each time they are given, regardless of the group that takes the test or when the test is given. In most cases, the tests are scored by a computer, which is easy since these tests are most often made up of multiple choice questions. If not graded by a computer, they are graded by people who have been trained to grade the test sections and who do not know any of those who took the test.

Why are Standardized Tests Used?

Standardized test can be used for other a number of reasons, some of which are controversial. They can be used to compare students in one school or school district with students in another school or school district, students in one town or city with students in another town or city, students in one state with students in another state, and even students in one country with students in another country. They are also used to track student progress from year to year. This can be done for individual students as well as groups of students. For example, a school can see whether the third grade students are doing better than, as well as, or worse than previous third grade students.

Standardized tests can also help parents and teachers understand a child's relative achievements.Informing parents about their children’s relative achievements, their relative strengths and weaknesses. They are also often used as part of the selection process for special programs, such as the gifted program in a school. Some people advocate the use of standardized tests to evaluate the performance of a school or of an individual teacher. Those uses are not widely accepted. 

Examples of Standardized Tests

• Stanford-Binet Intelligence Scales (SB5)
• Wechsler Intelligence Scale for Children (WISC)
• Wechsler Preschool and Primary Scale of Intelligence (WPPSI)
• Otis-Lennon School Ability Test
• Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Cognitive Abilities (WJ)
• Wechsler Individual Achievement Test (WIAT)
• Woodcock-Johnson Tests of Achievement (WJ)
• National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP)
• State achievement tests
• ACT
• ITBS - Iowa Test of Basic Skills
• SAT - formerly Scholastic Aptitude Test
• PSAT/NMSQT - Preliminary SAT/National Merit Scholarship Qualifying Test
• TerraNova