Editing Standardized test (section)

===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>