Are Tests Really the Best Way to Evaluate a Student's Understanding?

A common educational belief is that having students complete a test is the best way to check for their understanding of a topic. There are multiple forms of tests such as multiple choice, short answer, matching, essay format, etc., and generally if a student gets a high score on one of these tests it is most often thought that they have a good understanding of the topic that was covered. Multiple other forms of assessment are available for teachers to give their students, but more times than not they choose to stick with test taking. In my experience, I have known many great students who have done poorly on tests and I have also known many rather poor students who do quite well on them. Why is this? Are some students just bad test takers? This has brought me to the question of are tests really the best way to evaluate a student's understanding?

My original opinion, before I actually began thinking about this question, was that tests were a very good way to test for a student's understanding. After thinking deeper about my own experiences though, I began to feel less confident in this opinion. Almost every time I was given a test in middle school or high school I was provided with a study guide to complete prior to taking the test. On these study guides were questions focusing on the main parts that would be seen on the test, and a few times I was even given the actual test as a study guide. For the most part, I would always do quite well on tests that I had taken, but thinking back now I realize something. With the exception of one class, I can't think of many occasions where I took a test and didn't forget the information just a few weeks later. With that being said, I know there were many times when I would repeatedly complete a study guide and simply memorize the answers that I had come up with. So, isn't it likely that many other students are doing the same thing? Simply focusing on what they know will be on the test? and memorizing answers? If so, are high test scores really a good way of telling if students actually understand what had been taught to them? To answer this question I will be conducting a bit of research of my own.

Some studies have also supported the fact that there are better forms of assessment than test taking, and other studies say that tests are a reliable form of assessment depending on the format of the test. According to (Bennett 2011), exams do not take into account that intelligence is a spectrum, not static. Many students who do not do well under exam conditions are branded as "less intelligent" than those who achieve higher exam results. (Bennett 2011) states that we need to cater for the spectrum of intellect represented by students rather than forcing them into uniformity and stamping out alternative expressions of intelligence and brightness. According to (Briggs et. al, 2012), far too much emphasis is placed on testing. Assessment is at the heart of education. Teachers and parents use test scores to gauge a student's academic understanding, while the community relies on these scores to judge the quality of the education system. (Briggs 2012) says these views need to change, and that testing can be reliable if it is given in the proper format. It is known that typical multiple choice and short answer tests aren't the only way, or necessarily the best way, to gauge a student's knowledge and abilities. For this reason, many states are incorporating performance based assessments into their standardized tests as measures of student understanding. These forms of assessment require students to apply what they're learning to real world tasks. These include standard based projects and assignments that require students to apply their knowledge and skills.

Overall, I have determined that test taking is not the best way to evaluate a student's understanding. Based on the articles that I have read, it appears that test taking can have just as much of a negative affect on a student in regards to their own self evaluation of their understanding as it does a positive affect. After discussing this topic with multiple educators, I believe I will try to incorporate other forms of assessment in my classroom besides just test taking.

References:

Bennett, Richard. 2011. Comprehensive Assessment Research Review. Assessment in Education, Vol. 6: 317-                          332.

Briggs, David. 2012. E-Assessment by Design: Using Multiple Choice Tests. Journal of Further and Higher                                Education. Volume 31: 53-64.

Gipps, Caroline. 2010. Developments in Educational Assessment: what makes a good test? Assessment in                             Education, Vol. 3: 283-292.

William, Dylan. 2010. Teachers Developing Assessment for Learning: Impact on Student Achievement.                                     Assessment in Education, Vol. 11: 49-65.