by Jim McGrath

Created on: October 10, 2008   Last Updated: November 16, 2008

In spite of the negative criticisms caused by the two words, author and researcher Richard Phelps is a true believer in standardized testing. At the 15th Congress of the World Association for Educational Research in Marrakesh, Morocco last June, Phelps presented his theories on the benefits of standardized testing,

As part of his early remarks, Phelps acknowledged that standardized testing is the "greatest single social contribution of modern psychology, and may be the most useful evaluation method available for human resource-intensive endeavors." However, he does manage to address both sides of the issue.

In his research, Phelps brings some interesting data to the table, including a study on the evaluation of student work, which shows an incredible range between the lowest and highest scores in several instances. To my surprise, his studies date from the early 1910's to today. As the author notes, studies on teacher grading objectivity have been going on for decades, and the results are always the same. As far as standardized testing is concerned, Phelps dates their existence all the way back to the Chinese civil service exam, which began centuries ago.

It is evident that this author brings much research to the table to show both sides of the issue. He takes the trouble to examine the arguments against "test bias" and "discrimination." Like any good persuasive arguer, Phelps defends his argument while answering the critics in the process.

The Role and Importance of Standardized Testing in the World of Teaching and Training

Phelps begins his study by asking one simple question, "Why standardized testing?" He readily admits that they are not perfect evaluation tools, but can provide information that no other evaluation can provide.

His main argument is a strong one, and the author has surprising evidence backing him up. Phelps' main supporting argument for standardized testing is that without it, we would have to rely more on individual teacher grading and testing. At face value, this doesn't seem valid, but there is almost 100 years of research backing up this point. The first study used comes from researchers Starch and Elliott (1912) who made copies of two actual English examinations and sent them to teachers to grade and return. To their surprise, the grades ranged from 50 to 98 percent. Of the 142 teachers used for this study, 14 scored the paper below 80 percent, while 14 scored it above 94.

Surprised by the results, the pair repeated the procedure with

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