Educational Testing

In 1992, the National Council on Education Standards and Testing proposed a national system of standards and assessments as the cornerstone of an overall approach to improving precollege education. This report examines Canada's experience with large-scale testing programs. GAO applies the following five questions to the Canadian experience: (1) How have educational standards been set, by whom, and at what level? (2) What kinds of tests have been used to assess whether the standards are being met? (3) What kinds of stakes have been attached to tests to ensure that they will be taken seriously? (4) What explicit safeguards have been used to prevent misuse of tests? (5) Have efforts at raising expectations and checking results brought promise of improved teaching and learning?

GAO found that: (1) Canadian test standards are set by teachers, subject-area experts, and education officials at the provincial level and tied to provincial curriculums and student achievement standards; (2) active teacher involvement in setting standards increased teachers' knowledge of the criteria and ensured testing standard compatibility with classroom instruction; (3) U.S. teachers are not generally involved in setting testing standards; (4) although Canadian tests are revised with every test administration, U.S. tests are not changed for several years which could reduce the test's ability to determine actual student achievement; (5) Canadian provinces have used overall educational assessments to monitor the effectiveness of the educational system and high school examinations to determine student achievement and placement and to cover subjects in greater detail; (6) provincewide assessments have no consequences for individual students; (7) the Canadian testing system has safeguards to protect individuals from unfair testing practices and misuse of test scores; (8) provincial funding formulas tend to level resources among schools to reduce the resource disparity faced by many U.S. schools; and (9) there is no evidence that Canadian testing programs have improved instruction or learning.