A standardized test is a test administered and scored in a consistent manner. The tests are designed in such a way that the "questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are "administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner.
standardized tests have the following qualities:
* They provide a systematic procedure for describing behaviors, whether in terms of numbers or categories.
* They include specified procedures for administration and scoring.
* The test items are derived from experience, either by experiment or observation, rather than theory.
* They have an established format and set of materials.
* They present the same tasks and require the same response modes from all test takers.
* They provide tables of norms to which the scores of test takers can be compared in order to ascertain their relative standing.
Different types of standardized tests have different purposes. Standardized achievement tests measure how much students have already learned about a school subject. The results from these tests can help teachers develop programs that suit students' achievement levels in each subject area, such as reading, math, language skills, spelling, or science.
Standardized aptitude tests measure students' abilities to learn in school--how well they are likely to do in future school work. Instead of measuring knowledge of subjects taught in school, these tests measure a broad range of abilities or skills that are considered important to success in school. They can measure verbal ability, mechanical ability, creativity, clerical ability, or abstract reasoning.
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