Here are three examples of standardized tests: 1. SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test) - A standardized test widely used for college admissions in the United States. It is administered by the College Board and measures skills in math, reading, and writing. 2. ACT (American College Testing) - Another standardized test used for college admissions in the US. It measures skills in English, math, reading, and science. 3. TOEFL (Test of English as a Foreign Language) - A standardized test to measure the English language ability of non-native speakers wishing to enroll in English-language institutions. It measures reading, listening, speaking, and writing skills.

1. STANDARDIZED AND NON
STANDARDIZED TESTS
BY
DR.SHAZIA ZAMIR

2. INTRODUCTION
Education aims at the all-round development of a student not merely
imparting knowledge to him. Evaluation is the process of judging
the value or worth of an individual’s achievements or
characteristics.
It is the judging of the goals attained by the educational system. In
order to evaluate the student knowledge teacher uses different
types of tests.

3. What are standardized assessments?
Norms: Standard of comparison for test results developed by giving the
test to large well defined groups of people.
 Standardized assessments are formal assessments that have been
designed to measure a child’s abilities compared to other children his
her age. These tests have been normed on thousands of children,
means that they have been administered to thousands of children of
varying abilities to determine the average level of ability. Your child’s
score can then be matched to the average score for other children his
her age. Standardized assessments need to be administered in a
standard way, this means that the test taker must administer the test
exactly as it is written in the test manual. This ensures that they provide
the same instructions to each child that they assess, so that the result is
a true reflection of that child’s score relative to their age peers.

4. Non-Standardized Assessments
A non-standardized assessment is an informal assessment that can
measure a child’s skills or progress, but they do not compare them to a
group of age peers.
Although non-standardized assessments can be structured and provide
specific information about your child’s abilities.

5. CLASSIFICATION OF TEST

6. Standardized Tests
Standardization means uniformity of procedure in scoring,
administering and interpreting the result.
Standardized tests and scales that have met the criteria of testing.
This means that they have been used in a sufficiently larger number
of cases to make it possible to determine their validity, reliability ,
objectivity and administratability.

7.  A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a
consistent, or "standard", manner.
 Any test in which the same test is given in the same manner to all
test takers, and graded in the same manner for everyone, is a
standardized test. It is developed by test specialist.

8. A standardized test is any form of test that :-
1. requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of
questions from common bank of questions, in the same way.
2. is scored in a “standard” or consistent manner, which makes it possible
to compare the relative performance of individual students or groups of
students.
While different types of tests and assessments may be “standardized” in
this way, the term is primarily associated with large-scale tests
administered to large populations of students, such as a multiple-choice
test given to all the eighth-grade public-school students in a particular
state.

9. In addition to the familiar multiple-choice format, standardized tests can
include true-false questions, short-answer questions, essay questions, or a
mix of question types. While standardized tests were traditionally
presented on paper and completed using pencils, and many still are, they
are increasingly being administered on computers connected to online
programs.
While standardized tests may come in a variety of forms, multiple-choice and
true-false formats are widely used for large-scale testing situations because
computers can score them quickly, consistently, and inexpensively.e.g
SAT(Scholastic Assessment Test)

10. NON-STANDARDISED TESTS
 A systematic procedure for determining the amount a student has learned
through instruction.
 ” The NON-STANDARDISED TESTS focus upon an examinees'
attainment at a given point of time”.
 Basically teacher made tests are used to evaluate the progress of the students
in school. However , the specific use of tests may vary from school to school
and teacher or teacher.

11.  A non-standardized test is one that allows for an assessment of an
individual's abilities or performances, but doesn't allow for a fair
comparison of one student to another.
 The test results can be used for students, teachers, and for other
administrative purposes.
 These tests are very simple to use and easy for the students.
 Teachers can assess the strengths and weaknesses of students.
 Teachers can understand the need for re- teaching concepts and can
decide remedial instruction.
 Teacher made tests devised by the teachers is to meet their various
needs and directives.
 Tests are not so carefully and scientifically prepared

12. CHARACTERISTICS
RELIABILITY
 Reliability is a characteristic of any test refers to the accuracy and
consistency of information obtained in a study.
 A well-developed scientific tool should give accurate results both at
present as well as over the time.
 A test good reliability means that the test taker will obtain the same
test score over repeated testing as long as no other extraneous factors
have affected the score.
 A good instrument will produce consistent scores. An
instrument’s reliability is estimated using a correlation
coefficient .

13. Types of Reliability
1. Test-retest reliability is a measure of reliability obtained by administering the
same test twice over a period of time to a group of individuals. The scores from
Time 1 and Time 2 can then be correlated in order to evaluate the test for
stability over time.
2. Parallel forms reliability is a measure of reliability obtained by
administering different versions of an assessment tool (both versions must
contain items that probe the same construct, skill, knowledge base, etc.) to the
same group of individuals. The scores from the two versions can then be
correlated in order to evaluate the consistency of results across alternate
versions.

14. 3. Inter-rater reliability is a measure of reliability used to assess
the degree to which different judges or raters agree in their
assessment decisions. Inter-rater reliability is usefulbecause
human observers will not necessarily interpret answers the
same way; raters may disagree as to how well certain responses
or material demonstrate knowledge of the construct or skill
being assessed.

15. VALIDITY
 The accuracy with which a test measures whatever it is supposed to
measure.
 An evaluation procedure is valid to the extent that it provides an assessment of
the degree to which pupils have achieved specific objectives , content matter and
learning experiences.
 Validity is an important characteristic of any test. This refers to what the test really
measures. A test is valid, if it measures what we really wish to measure.
 It is a more complex concept that broadly concerns the soundness of the study's
evidence - that is whether the finding are unbiased and well grounded.

16. Factors affecting validity
 If reading vocabulary is poor, students fail to reply to the test.
 Difficult sentences make difficulty to understand.
 Use of inappropriate items.
 Medium of expression , English instruction difficult for non- English
medium students.
 Too easy and too difficult test items would not discriminate among
pupils. Influence of extraneous factors grammar , handwriting ,
legibility etc .
 Time limitations.

17. Types of validity
1. Content validity: all major aspects of the content area should be covered
by the test items.
2. Predictive validity: extent to which a test can predict the future
performance of the students.
3. Constructive validity: extent to which a test reflects to measure a
hypothesized trait.
4. Concurrent validity: to diagnose the existing status of the individual
rather than predicting about the future outcome.
5. Face validity: When one looks at the test he thinks of the extent to which the
test seems logically related to what is being tested.

18. Time
Generally the time given to students is always in short supply however the students too do
not accept very long tests. Therefore a test should neither be very long nor very short.
Cost
A good test should be inexpensive, not only from the view point of money but also from the
view point of time and effort taken in the construction of a test.
Ease in administration
A test is good only when the conditions of answering are simple (scientific and logical). Its
instruction should be simple and clear.
Acceptability:
A good test should be acceptable to student to whom its being given without regard to any
specific situation that is the question given in the test should be neither very difficult nor very
easy.

19. Specificity: The items in a test should be specific to the objectives.
Objectivity: The extent to which independent researchers would arrive at
similar judgements or conclusions . i.e, judgements not biased by personal
values or beliefs.
Precise & clear: Items should be precise, clear so that the students can answer
well and score marks.
Usability: Usefulness of an object or product and the ease of use or the extent
to which a product can be used by a specified user.

20. ACTIVITY
Search any three Standardized tests.