Are the Standardised Tests good Measure of Academic Ability and Progress? | HPSC Preparation: All subjects - HPSC (Haryana) PDF Download

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Standardised tests, as the word suggests, are tests that are devised as per standards. There is a lot of rigour that goes into their making. Undeniably their quality cannot be questioned. However, the academic ability and progress of the level of the human mind, by its very nature of being human, are diverse and different, creative and curious. Is it then possible to have a common scale to measure their academic ability? Even the life-saving medicines come with a warning - ‘caution’ in the fine print! Similarly, these tests need to be used and interpreted wisely. So let us subject these tests to an acid test!
Standardised tests are tests that have fixed responses. Sometimes with each response, a value is attached. They are subject to thorough scrutiny before they are ready to use. In fact, many of these standardised tests have stood the test of time. The same tests have been used for ages, without any change.
VAK (visual auditory and kinaesthetic) helps you realise your own learning style. This not only has a role in the way we learn our academic subjects but the test of academic ability might also be impacted if it is taken in style the examinee is not comfortable with!
Then there is the David battery of differential abilities (DBDA) tests the academic ability of a person between 13 to 30 years of age. The DBDA tests assess seven abilities of the examinee: Verbal, numerical, reasoning, spatial, psychomotor and closure, clerical. These are the areas in which timed tests have been devised. These standardised tests are taken of children to guide them about the latent potential of their own academic abilities to choose the right stream after tenth by career counsellors.
These standardised tests provide tools to measure academic ability without any bias or prejudice of teachers, parents, peers, and self! Generally, the results are valid if the tests are done honestly. Still, the final score of the test is not taken as decisive. Therefore, these tests are followed by one-to-one, normally a face-to-face interview with the examinee before their academic ability is pronounced.
There is a dichotomy in the application of these tests. On the one hand, there is a talk of ‘No child left behind’ and child-centred learning in school, where individual differences are to be taken care of, while on the other hand, there are these standardised tests where everyone is measured according to the same criteria. Creativity cannot be standardised! Inculcating creativity, scientific temper, imagination, and investigative temperaments are nurtured along with academics for excelling in academics. These are all beyond the ambit of standardised tests.
The test results could also vary depending on the frame of mind of the examinee on the day he took the test. Fatigue, both mental or otherwise, mood, the discomfort of any type may affect the validity of the tests. Sometimes these tests are doctored, the answers are given not about what one really is but of what one should be, leading the examiner to come to misleading conclusions.
Standardised tests that are used for entrance exams change their questions every year. NEET, JEE, CAT, and even the IAS prelims are a few examples. These are a suitable way to screen out students who fall short of the academic ability required. As the number of candidates applying for these tests is very high, no other system than these standardised tests would have been suitable. In addition, the application of this formula (standardised tests) is a convenient and quick way of assessing as compared to the conventional Board exams.
The glitch in their ability to truly evaluate academic ability is that children ignore understanding the subject taught in school to crack these tests! They do not dwell on the depth of the subject taught as part of the curriculum. For them, it is often not important to get a high percentage in the board exams; they only look at it as a qualifying exam! These board exams include HOT (higher order thinking) questions and case studies to test the application of learning. Creativity cannot be standardised! Inculcating creativity, scientific temper, imagination, and investigative temperaments are nurtured along with academics for excelling in academics. These are all beyond the ambit of standardised tests.
Children join classes that promise success in the entrance exams, which are standardised tests, at an astronomical fee. These courses concentrate on the percentile. These money-churning institutes give practice of choosing the right answers by skimming and elimination. Speed of doing the test is one important parameter for these tests.
Often a candidate may not show high academic rigour in these tests, but the causes of the same could be other than their academic level. Nowadays, most of these tests are online. If computer skills are not good, it will reflect a low academic ability. Keeping the vast diversity of India in mind and policy of  reservations in mind, normally, a lower cut-off is announced for the reserved categories.
Standardised tests to evaluate academic ability have seeped into the traditional educational system – the school. There are many organisations that approach the school and conduct such tests for the school. They claim to be genuine tests that will give an idea to the student in particular and the school in general of the level of education being imparted and its effectiveness. These are called Olympiads. They are conducted to check academic ability in English, Maths, Science, and Computers.
In Olympiads, the child gets a school rank and an international rank based on the exam. If he excels, then he can qualify to the second level and final level. Though the question papers and their evaluation are standardised, there is flexibility in choosing the test's date, day, and time from the week allotted to take the test. These tests are from primary for all classes. There is a separate fee for the test, so these tests are not mandatory. However, certificates of participation to all and medals for the toppers incite the parents to participate.
The advantage of these tests is that the child gets exposure right from facing these tests. Also, these Olympiads have created a platform whereby the school, no matter how isolated by location, to be compared at international levels. These tests are eye openers, as ultimately, the child's academic ability is meaningless within the four walls of the school as he has to step out and compete in academics with the world at large. Being aware of reality is the first step in getting prepared for it.
The best thing about these tests is the evaluation of these results, which are diagnostic in nature. They reveal the strength and weak areas of the children to work upon for the child and parent to enhance academic rigour. Areas like: Recall ability-memory; Understanding of concept or Application of concept, etc. This data interpretation is made in a parabola graph for each question, pointing to the student's placement.
In such a role, standardised tests reflect academic ability and devise a system where they help foster, guide, and suggest ways to enhance academic progress. Teachers and parents need to dwell more on the function of these reports if they actually want to take full worth of the fee paid for these tests.
Thus, it is safe to conclude that Standardised tests are well devised tools. Their use is not only increasing, but they are also getting indispensable in every field, especially because they are free from bias and prejudice. Nevertheless, they are not the panacea for all types of academic ability. Especially if fine arts and performing arts are to be considered of any academic worth.