A critical assessment of published tests for elementary school mathematics
This paper is intended as an aid to the elementary school mathematics teacher who uses published tests for evaluating student achievement in e lementary school mathematics. (“Published tests” jn this paper refers to standardized tests and to published criterion-referenced tests.) Often teachers must administer to their students tests that do not directly assess the teacher's objectives. The almost certain outcome of such a procedure is that average student achievement is revealed to be unexpectedly low. Such an outcome may result in pressure to modify the instructional objectives so that instruction becomes consistent with the behaviors assessed by the achievement tests. Over a period of years this process could lead to a situation where mathematics course objectives are in effect determined by test content. Stated tritely perhaps, but accurately, we could end up “with the cart before the horse.”