Every state has its own standardized tests, which are given once a year to determine how well students are learning the curriculum for each grade. State standardized tests are used in the United States to determine and allocate federal funding for public schools. States can structure and administer their tests however they want, and they frequently outsource the development of such tests to private educational corporations. This type of testing is typically only given to students in grades kindergarten through twelfth grade.
The goal of this type of testing is to establish national academic expectations for both student achievement and teacher performance at the federal level. The US Department of Education determines the content covered during end-of-year testing. Schools and teachers are given information about the exam’s content, but they are not given individual test questions or answers. They are encouraged to provide students with a thorough understanding of course materials and are given some leeway in developing lesson plans that teach the specified information.
For public school students, every state administers an end-of-year achievement test that is tailored to each grade level. The Texas Assessment of Knowledge and Skills, the Virginia Standards of Learning, and the New England Common Assessment Program are examples of end-of-year tests that are named after the states that offer them. These exams assess a student’s reading, writing, social studies, math, and science abilities. Individual county school boards have the authority to place additional demands on their students. In addition to the annual test mandated by the federal government, some choose to develop standardized testing that is administered quarterly to all schools within a single county.
Once students reach high school, some states offer course-specific state standardized tests. Rather than the more broad ranges of math and science addressed in grade school tests, these exams include questions on more specific course knowledge, such as geometry, algebra, chemistry, and biology. The state and individual counties have the authority to determine the weight of a student’s performance on these types of tests on a local level.
For a school to be eligible for federal funding during the following budget year, all state standardized tests must be completed by every student enrolled in that school. The performance of a student on those tests may or may not have an impact on his overall grades. For example, in North Carolina, a student’s performance on the End of Course Test accounts for 25% of his overall grade and is used to determine whether or not he graduates. Students in Georgia are only required to take these tests to graduate; their scores are not averaged into their course evaluations or used to determine graduation.