1. Language Assessment: Principles & Classroom Practices
Chapter 5 Standardized Testing
H. D. Brown

2. What is standardization?
Pros & Cons of Standardized Tests: Educational Testing Service(ETS) vs. Fairtest( The Great Sorting
Standardization presupposes certain standard objectives or criteria that are held constant across one form of test to another.
Should be based on a thorough process of empirical research & development.

3. What is standardization?
Standard procedures for administration & scoring
Typically norm-referenced to place test-takers on a range of scores and to differentiate them by their relative ranking
Multiple choice, ‘objective’ means of determining (in)correct responses
Large-scale, machine-scored or human-scored as in speaking or writing

4. What is standardization?
Scholastic Aptitude Test(SAT), Graduate Record Exam(GRE), Graduate Management Admission Exam(GMAT),Law School Aptitude Test(LSAT), Test of English as a Foreign Language(TOEFL) & Test of English for International Communication(TOEIC) by ETS, International English Language Testing System(IELTS), University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate(UCLES)

5. Advantages & Disadvantages of Standardized Tests
Advantages: ready-made, reasonable time limits for administration & scoring, fast turnaround time, an air of face-validity (authoritative looking), convenient
Disadvantages: inappropriate use (proficiency test as achievement test), issue of content validity, direct vs. indirect testing (comprehension vs. production)

6. Advantages & Disadvantages of Standardized Tests
Issue of correlation: not sufficient for acquisition of criterion objectives (ex. Multiple choice in driver’s license renewals)
High-stake testing: issue of inclusion & exclusion, gate-keeping role of testing industry as a political, educational, & moral maelstorm

7. Developing a standardized test
Revise, adapt or expand, or create a smaller-scale standardized test rather than developing a large scale standardized test
Pending questions in developing a test: How? Where it originates? Who selects? Consequential validity? Different forms of tests & different levels? Norm or cut-off points? Security & confidentiality? Cultural or racial biases?...etc.

8. Developing a standardized test
Exemplifying procedures of standardized tests
-TOEFL
-English as a Second Language Placement Test (ESLPT) at SFSU
-The Graduate Essay Test (GET) at SFSU
-Always take cautions using standardized tests in their use: Generalizability