Editing Standardized test (section)

==Definition==
[[File:Flickr - The U.S. Army - medical training.jpg|alt=Two men perform CPR on a CPR doll|thumb|Two men take an [[Authentic assessment|authentic]], [[Performance test (assessment)|non-written]], [[Criterion-referenced test|criterion-referenced]] standardized test. If they perform [[cardiopulmonary resuscitation]] on the [[Mannequin#Medical education|mannequin]] with the correct speed and pressure, they will pass this exam.]]
The definition of a standardized test has changed somewhat over time.<ref name="Olson">{{Cite book|chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=CSt1AwAAQBAJ&pg=423|title=21st Century Education: A Reference Handbook|last1=Olson|first1=Amy M.|last2=Sabers|first2=Darrell|date=October 2008|publisher=SAGE Publications|isbn=9781452265995|editor-last=Good|editor-first=Thomas L.|pages=423–430|language=en|chapter=Standardized Tests|doi=10.4135/9781412964012.n46|s2cid=241229809 }}</ref> In 1960, standardized tests were defined as those in which the conditions and content were equal for everyone taking the test, regardless of when, where, or by whom the test was given or graded. Standardized tests have a consistent, uniform method for scoring.<ref name="Allen">{{Cite book |last1=Allen |first1=G. Donald |chapter-url=https://books.google.com/books?id=q5A-DwAAQBAJ&dq=%22standardized+tests+are+all%22&pg=PA187 |title=Pedagogy and Content in Middle and High School Mathematics |last2=Ross |first2=Amanda |date=2017-11-10 |publisher=Springer |isbn=978-94-6351-137-7 |language=en |chapter=Low-stakes Tests and Labels}}</ref> This means that all test takers who answer a test question in the same way will get the same score for that question. The purpose of this standardization is to make sure that the scores reliably indicate the abilities or skills being measured, and not other variables.<ref name="Olson" />

By the beginning of the 21st century, the focus shifted away from a strict sameness of conditions towards [[Educational equity|equal fairness]] of testing conditions.<ref name="Olson2">{{Cite web |last=Smith |first=Ember |last2=Reeves |first2=Richard V. |date=1 December 2020 |title=SAT math scores mirror and maintain racial inequity |url=https://www.brookings.edu/blog/up-front/2020/12/01/sat-math-scores-mirror-and-maintain-racial-inequity/ |website=Brookings Institution}}</ref> For example, a test taker with a broken wrist might write more slowly because of the injury, and it would be more equitable, and produce a more reliable understanding of the test taker's actual knowledge, if that person were given a few more minutes to write down the answers to a time-limited test. Changing the testing conditions in a way that improves fairness with respect to a permanent or temporary disability, but without undermining the main point of the assessment, is called an [[Reasonable accommodation|accommodation]].  However, if the accommodation undermines the purpose of the test, then the allowances would become a [[Special education#Modifications|modification]] of the content, and no longer a standardized test.
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{| class="wikitable"
|+Examples of standardized and non-standardized tests
!Subject
!Format
!
!Standardized test
!Non-standardized test
|-
|History
|[[Oral exam|Oral]]
|[[File:Student teacher in China.jpg|center|frameless|200x200px]]
|Each student is given the same questions, and their answers are scored in the same way.
|The teacher asks each student a different question. Some questions are harder than others.
|-
|Driving
|Practical skills
|[[File:Hyundai Accent Dobong Driving Test.jpg|frameless|200x200px]]
|Each driving student is asked to do the same things, and they are all evaluated by the same standards. 
|Some driving students have to drive on a highway, but others only have to drive slowly around the block. One examiner takes points off for "bad attitude", but other examiners do not.
|-
|Mathematics
|Written
|[[File:Algebra Homework and Review.jpg|center|frameless|200x200px]]
|Each student is given the same questions, and their answers are scored in the same way.
|The teacher gives different questions to different students: an easy test for poor students, another test for most students, and a difficult test for the best students.
|-
|Music
|[[Audition]]
|[[File:Concert of classical guitar in Ivry-sur-Seine.jpg|frameless|200x200px]]
|All musicians play the same piece of music.  The judges agreed in advance how much factors such as timing, expression, and musicality count for.
|Each musician chooses a different piece of music to play. Judges choose the musician they like best.  One judge gives extra points to musicians who wear a costume.
|}