Editing Standardized test (section)

===Time and money===
Standardized tests are a way to measure the education level of students and schools on a broad scale. From Kindergarten to 12th grade, most American students participate in annual standardized tests. The average student takes about 10 of these tests per year (e.g., one or two reading comprehension tests, one or two math tests, a writing test, a science test, etc.).<ref>{{Cite news|last=Layton|first=Lyndsey|date=October 24, 2015|title=Study says standardized testing is overwhelming nation's public schools|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/local/education/study-says-standardized-testing-is-overwhelming-nations-public-schools/2015/10/24/8a22092c-79ae-11e5-a958-d889faf561dc_story.html|access-date=July 26, 2015|newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref> The average amount of testing takes about 2.3% of total class time (equal to about four school days per year).<ref>{{Cite web|last=Doering|first=Christopher|date=October 25, 2015|title=Obama plan limits standardized testing to no more than 2% of class time|url=https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/2015/10/24/obama-schools-test/74536886/|access-date=July 26, 2016|website=USA Today}}</ref>

Standardized tests are expensive to administer. It has been reported that the United States spends about US$1.7 billion annually on these tests.<ref>Kuczynski-Brown, Alex. "Standardized Testing Costs States $1.7 Billion A Year, Study Finds." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 29 November 2012. Web. 7 April 2014.</ref> In 2001, it was also reported that only three companies (Harcourt Educational Measurement, CTB McGraw-Hill and Riverside Publishing) design 96% of the tests taken at the state level.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2001|title=The Testing Industry's Big Four|url=https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/schools/testing/companies.html|access-date=2015-01-21|website=PBS Frontline|publisher=PBS}}</ref>