Editing Standardized test (section)

==History==
===China===

{{main|Imperial examination}}
The earliest evidence of standardized testing was in [[China]], during the [[Han dynasty]],<ref>{{cite encyclopedia|url=http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/112424/Chinese-civil-service|title=Chinese civil service|encyclopedia=Encyclopædia Britannica|access-date=2 May 2015}}</ref> where the [[imperial examination]]s covered the [[Six Arts]] which included music, archery, horsemanship, arithmetic, writing, and knowledge of the rituals and ceremonies of both public and private parts. These exams were used to select employees for the state bureaucracy.

Later, sections on military strategies, civil law, revenue and taxation, agriculture and geography were added to the testing. In this form, the examinations were institutionalized for more than a millennium.{{Citation needed|date=February 2025}}

Today, standardized testing remains widely used, most notably in the [[Gaokao]] system.

===UK===
Standardized testing was introduced into [[Europe]] in the early 19th century, modeled on the Chinese [[mandarin (bureaucrat)|mandarin]] examinations,<ref name="MB" /> through the advocacy of British colonial administrators, the most "persistent" of which was Britain's consul in [[Guangzhou|Guangzhou, China]], [[Thomas Taylor Meadows]].<ref name="MB"/> Meadows warned of the collapse of the British Empire if standardized testing was not implemented throughout the empire immediately.<ref name="MB"/>

Prior to their adoption, standardized testing was not traditionally a part of Western pedagogy. Based on the [[Socratic questioning|skeptical and open-ended tradition of debate]] inherited from Ancient Greece, Western academia favored non-standardized assessments using [[essay]]s written by students. Because of this, the first European implementation of standardized testing did not occur in Europe proper, but in [[British India]].<ref name="APH">Kazin, Edwards, and Rothman (2010), 142.</ref> Inspired by the Chinese use of standardized testing, in the early 19th century, British company managers used standardized exams for hiring and promotions to keep the process fair and free from corruption or favoritism.<ref name="APH"/> This practice of standardized testing was later adopted in the late 19th century in the Britain mainland. The parliamentary debates that ensued made many references to the "Chinese mandarin system".<ref name="MB">Mark and Boyer (1996), 9–10.</ref>

Standardized testing spread from Britain not only throughout the [[British Commonwealth]], but to Europe and then America.<ref name="MB"/> Its spread was fueled by the [[Industrial Revolution]], where the increase in number of school students as a result of [[compulsory education]] laws decreased the use of open-ended assessments, which were harder to mass-produce and assess objectively. 
[[File:A Recruit Joins the British Army H17185.jpg|alt=A man sorts small objects into a wooden tray|thumb|British soldiers took standardized tests during the Second World War.  This new recruit is sorting mechanical parts to test his understanding of machinery.  His uniform shows no name, rank, or other sign that might bias the scoring of his work.]]
Standardized tests such as the [[War Office Selection Boards]] were developed for the British Army during [[World War II]] to choose candidates for [[officer training]] and other tasks.<ref name="Trahair">{{Cite book|last=Trahair|first=Richard|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=OTH_CQAAQBAJ|title=Behavior, Technology, and Organizational Development: Eric Trist and the Tavistock Institute|date=2015-06-01|publisher=Transaction Publishers|isbn=9781412855495|language=en}}</ref> The tests looked at soldiers' mental abilities, mechanical skills, ability to work with others, and other qualities. Previous methods had suffered from bias and resulted in choosing the wrong soldiers for officer training.<ref name="Trahair" />

===United States===
{{Further|List of standardized tests in the United States}}
Standardized testing has been a part of United States education since the 19th century, but the widespread reliance on standardized testing in schools in the US is largely a 20th-century phenomenon.

Immigration in the mid-19th century contributed to the growth of standardized tests in the United States.<ref>Johnson, Robert. "Standardized Tests." Encyclopedia of Educational Reform and Dissent. SAGE Publications, INC. 2010. 853–856.Web.</ref> Standardized tests were used when people first entered the US to test social roles and find social power and status.<ref>Garrison, Mark J. A Measure of Failure: The Political Origins of Standardized Testing. Albany: State University of New York, 2009. Print.</ref>

The [[College Entrance Examination Board]] began offering standardized testing for [[university and college admission]] in 1901, covering nine subjects. This test was implemented with the idea of creating standardized admissions for the United States in northeastern elite universities. Originally, the test was also meant for top [[boarding school]]s, in order to align the curriculum between schools.<ref name=":0">{{cite encyclopedia |year=2008 |title=Standardized Tests |encyclopedia=[[International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences]] |publisher=[[Gale Cengage Learning]] |last1=Moller |first1=Stephanie |editor-last=Darity |editor-first=William Jr. |last2=Potochnick |first2=Stephanie }}</ref> Originally the standardized test was made of essays and was not intended for widespread testing.<ref name=":0" />

During [[World War I]], the [[Army Alpha]] and [[Army Beta|Beta]] tests were developed to help place new recruits in appropriate assignments based upon their assessed intelligence levels.<ref>Gould, S. J., "A Nation of Morons", ''[[New Scientist]]'' (6 May 1982), 349–352.</ref>  The first edition of a modern standardized test for [[Intelligence quotient|IQ]], the [[Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test|Stanford–Binet Intelligence Test]], appeared in 1916. The College Board then designed the [[SAT]] (Scholar Aptitude Test) in 1926. The first SAT test was based on the Army IQ tests, with the goal of determining the test taker's intelligence, [[Problem solving|problem-solving]] skills, and [[critical thinking]].<ref>{{cite web|last1=Darity|first1=William Jr.|title=International Encyclopedia of the Social Sciences.|url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=T003&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&searchResultsType=SingleTab&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=1&docId=GALE%7CCX3045302589&docType=Topic+overview&sort=RELEVANCE&contentSegment=&prodId=GVRL.corecollection&contentSet=GALE%7CCX3045302589&searchId=R1&userGroupName=pcc&inPS=true|website=Encyclopedias for Background Information|publisher=Gale Cengage Learning|access-date=25 January 2017}}</ref> In 1959, [[Everett Franklin Lindquist|Everett Lindquist]] offered the [[ACT (test)|ACT]] (American College Testing) for the first time.<ref>Fletcher, Dan. "Standardized Testing." Time. Time Inc., 11 Dec. 2009. Web. 09 Mar. 2014.</ref> As of 2020, the ACT includes four main sections with multiple-choice questions to test English, mathematics, reading, and science, plus an optional writing section.<ref>"What's on the ACT." ACT Test Sections. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 May 2014</ref>

Individual states began testing large numbers of children and teenagers through the public school systems in the 1970s. By the 1980s, American schools were assessing nationally.<ref>{{cite journal|last1=Stiggins|first1=Richard|title=Assessment Crisis: The Absence Of Assessment FOR Learning|journal=Phi Delta Kappan|date=2002|volume=83|issue=10|pages=758–765|doi=10.1177/003172170208301010|s2cid=145683785|url=http://beta.edtechpolicy.org/CourseInfo/edhd485/AssessmentCrisis.pdf}}</ref> In 2012, 45 states paid an average of $27 per student, and $669 million overall, on large-scale annual academic tests.<ref name="Strauss" /> However, [[indirect costs]], such as paying teachers to prepare students for the tests and for class time spent administering the tests, significantly exceed the direct cost of the test itself.<ref name="Strauss">{{cite news|last1=Strauss|first1=Valerie|title=Five Reasons Standardized Testing Isn't Going to Let Up|url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/03/11/five-reasons-standardized-testing-isnt-likely-to-let-up/|access-date=26 January 2017|agency=The Washington Post|newspaper=The Washington Post|date=March 11, 2015}}</ref>

The need for the federal government to make meaningful comparisons across a highly de-centralized (locally controlled) public education system encouraged the use of large-scale standardized testing. The [[Elementary and Secondary Education Act|Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965]] required some standardized testing in public schools. The [[No Child Left Behind Act]] of 2001 further tied some types of public school funding to the results of standardized testing.  Under these federal laws, the school curriculum was still set by each state, but the federal government required states to assess how well schools and teachers were teaching the state-chosen material with standardized tests.<ref>"History and Background of No Child Left Behind". Bright Hub Education9 June 2015. Web. 12 October 2015. http://www.brighthubeducation.com/student-assessment-tools/3140-history-of-the-no-child-left-behind-act/</ref> The results of large-scale standardized tests were used to allocate funds and other resources to schools, and to close poorly performing schools. The [[Every Student Succeeds Act]] replaced the NCLB at the end of 2015.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) &#124; U.S. Department of Education |url=http://www.ed.gov/essa?src=rn}}</ref> By that point, these large-scale standardized tests had become controversial in the United States not necessarily because all the students were taking the same tests and being scored the same way, but because they had become [[high-stakes tests]] for the school systems and teachers.<ref>Claiborn, Charles. "High Stakes Testing". Encyclopedia of Giftedness, Creativity, and Talent. SAGE Publications, 2009. 9 April 2014.</ref>

In recent years, many US universities and colleges have abandoned the requirement of standardized test scores by applicants.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Valerie |first=Strauss |date=June 21, 2020 |title=It looks like the beginning of the end of America's obsession with student standardized tests |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/06/21/it-looks-like-beginning-end-americas-obsession-with-student-standardized-tests/ |newspaper=The Washington Post}}</ref>

=== Australia ===
The Australian National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) standardized testing was commenced in 2008 by the Australian Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Authority, an independent authority "responsible for the development of a national curriculum, a national assessment program and a national data collection and reporting program that supports 21st century learning for all Australian students".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.australiancurriculum.edu.au/|title=Home – The Australian Curriculum v8.1|website=www.australiancurriculum.edu.au|access-date=2016-05-17}}</ref>

The testing includes all students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 in Australian schools to be assessed using national tests. The subjects covered in these tests include Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (Spelling, Grammar and Punctuation) and Numeracy.

The program presents students level reports designed to enable parents to see their child's progress over the course of their schooling life, and help teachers to improve individual learning opportunities for their students. Students and school level data are also provided to the appropriate school system on the understanding that they can be used to target specific supports and resources to schools that need them most. Teachers and schools use this information, in conjunction with other information, to determine how well their students are performing and to identify any areas of need requiring assistance.

The concept of testing student achievement is not new, although the current Australian approach may be said to have its origins in current educational policy structures in both the US and the UK. There are several key differences between the Australian NAPLAN and the UK and USA strategies. Schools that are found to be under-performing in the Australian context will be offered financial assistance under the current federal government policy.

===Colombia===
In 1968 the Colombian Institute for the Evaluation of Education (ICFES) was born to regulate higher education. The previous public evaluation system for the authorization of operation and legal recognition for institutions and university programs was implemented.

Colombia has several standardized tests that assess the level of education in the country. These exams are performed by the ICFES.

Students in third grade, fifth grade and ninth grade take the "Saber 3°5°9°" exam. This test is currently presented on a computer in controlled and census samples.

Upon leaving high school students present the "Saber 11" that allows them to enter different universities in the country. Students studying at home can take this exam to graduate from high school and get their degree certificate and diploma.

Students leaving university must take the "Saber Pro" exam.

=== Canada ===
{{Main|List of Canadian primary and secondary examinations}}
[[Canada]] leaves education, and standardized testing as result, under the jurisdiction of the provinces. Each province has its own province-wide standardized testing regime, ranging from no required standardized tests for students in [[Saskatchewan]] to exams worth 40% of final high school grades in Newfoundland and Labrador.<ref>{{Cite book |last1=Cowley |first1=Peter |last2=MacPherson |first2=Paige |date=2022 |title=TESTING CANADIAN K-12 STUDENTS: Regional Variability, Room for Improvement |url=https://www.fraserinstitute.org/sites/default/files/testing-canadian-k12-students-regional-variability.pdf |access-date=December 19, 2023 |publisher=Fraser Institute |isbn=978-0-88975-694-6}}</ref>