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The Iowa Testing Program developed the automatic scoring machine in the 1950's. The amount of testing materials increased exponentially, and an estimated 1 million tests were administered in 1961. In 1958, Iowa presented scoring of tests via computerization and the production of reports to schools. The Soviet Union's launch of Sputnik the previous year led to an educational reform which increased testing. The National Defense Education Act of 1958 furnished funds for mathematics and science education primarily, and caused aptitude and ability tests to become prevalent at the secondary level. (US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Testing in American Schools: Asking the Right Questions, 1992, pp. 129-130)
The Rehabilitation Act came to into existence in 1973 and under Section 504, students with disabilities who do not qualify for Special Education are guaranteed civil rights and accommodations. Identifying students who fall under the umbrella of Section 504 requires evaluation procedures to ensure the student is not misclassified or placed incorrectly. School districts must use appropriate evaluations, specific to the student's strengths or deficiencies. Evaluations must be validated and must only be used by those who are properly trained. Students who qualify for 504 services are required by law to receive accommodations in the classroom and on standardized tests. Accommodations are chosen by a committee of teachers and administrators to best suit the particular student's needs. (U.S. Department of Education, Office for Civil Rights, Protecting Students with Disabilities, 2015)
Education up to this point in time had been primarily focused on the wealthy elite, and oral examinations were the norm for assessment. However, the population was rapidly changing as immigrants flooded the country. The idea of universal schooling (education for everyone) gained popularity and changed the dynamic of education. The growing population and shifting purpose of schools to a more bureaucratic system caused American educators to be concerned about fairness in educational opportunities for the masses and consequently, they sought to reform education through standardized testing. Formal written assessments were not supposed to encourage comparison between students and schools, but that quickly became the case. (US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Testing in American Schools: Asking the Right Questions, 1992, pp. 103-105)
Robert Yerkes, a prominent leader of the movement for IQ testing, persuaded the Army to allow him to test recruits based on intelligence. This was the dubbed the "Army Alpha," the nation's first IQ test. Carl Brigham, a psychologist and professor at Princeton University, took the Army Alpha, made it more difficult, and administered it as a college admissions exam. It was thought that this would be a faster way of testing applicants and originally lasted 90 minutes and contained 315 questions. (A Brief History of the SAT, 1995-2014; see also History of Standardized Testing in the United States, 2002-2015)
President Lyndon B. Johnson implemented the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA) in 1965. This law was crucial to his "War on Poverty". The law impressed the importance of accountability and high standards, and has been reauthorized every five years since 1965. Funds from ESEA are given for professional development, resources, parental involvement, and instructional materials. Title 1 was and is a part of ESEA and counts for 5/6 of the total funds dispersed. Title 1 schools are schools with a high amount of students that come from low-income families. Over the next few years, Title 1 began to focus on student achievement and raising standards for students in low-income households. Testing became more prevalent in order to assess programs and ensure success for poor students. (Social Welfare History Project, 2016)
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Spending on public schools grew by nearly 80% from 1850 to 1900. The population also grew from 6.8 million to 15.5 million in the same time period. In 1900, 80% of children 5-17 years old were enrolled in public school. Due to the increase in spending, the government called for evidence that money was being used wisely in the public
education setting.
Professor E. F. Lindquist of the University of Iowa wanted to create an assessment that focused on testing information actually taught in schools instead of solely on cognitive reasoning. He and Ted McCarrel founded the ACT (American College Testing) Program. The ACT was the first and is the only college entrance exam that contains a science portion, and was the first to illustrate career and college readiness standards. These men believed a college entrance exam should be used for placement in addition to admissions, and that it should be an achievement test. (ACT History, 2017; see also A (Mostly) Brief History Of The SAT And ACT Tests, 2017)
In 1947, three nonprofit educational institutions came together to create the Educational Testing Service (ETS). These institutions were the American Council on Education, The Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching, and The College Entrance Examination Board. The College Board's associate secretary hindered the merger ten years earlier, but it was eventually launched for a five-year trial period. Henry Chauncey, formerly the director of Princeton's College Board, was made president of ETS later in the year. The goal of ETS in the early years was to provide assistance to the military and enhance industrial and educational planning. The number of college students had greatly increased due to soldiers returning from World War II enrolling with the aid of the G.I. Bill. (Educational Testing Service History, 2004)
In the Marland Report of 1972, giftedness is defined for the first time formally.
Gifted and talented children are those identified by professionally qualified persons who by virtue of outstanding abilities are capable of high performance. These are children who require differentiated educational programs and services beyond those normally provided by the regular school program in order to realize their contribution to self and society. Children capable of high performance include those with demonstrated achievement and/or potential ability in any of the following areas: General intellectual ability, Specific academic ability, Creative or productive thinking, Leadership ability, Visual and performing arts, and Psychomotor ability. (Stohler, Rachel. George, Melissa. Lafayette School Corporation.Gifted Education Website. Who are Gifted and Talented Students? para. 4. Retrieved [2017, June 14] from https://engineering.purdue.edu/~andy/challenge/LSCgifted/definition.htm)
This new definition of giftedness led to the need for assessments to identify students who fit the criteria of GT so that they could receive education according to their ability level. Much research has gone into creating assessment tools in order to best serve this special population of students.
The No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law by President George W. Bush after being approved by Congress. This law replaced the Bilingual Education Act of 1968 and reauthorized the ESEA of 1965. The goal of NCLB was to close achievement gaps and to provide all students with a free, fair, high quality education. There are 4 main points to NCLB which include: accountability, flexibility, research-based education, and parent options. NCLB requires states to test students in reading and mathematics in grades 3-8 and high school. Students are anticipated to meet or exceed standards by 2014. (State of Washington, Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction, Elementary and Secondary Education Act, No Child Left Behind Act, 2011)
Because of the drastic increase of spending, American taxpayers wanted efficiency by means of implementing the principles of bureaucratic management. Henry Barnard, a prominent figure in education, led the way toward using achievement tests to increase efficiency and rationality in the school system. (US Congress, Office of Technology Assessment, Testing in American Schools: Asking the Right Questions, 1992, pp. 106-107)
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This was the original test logo in 1959.
Jacobsen, Erik. (2017, April 15). A (Mostly) Brief History Of The SAT And ACT Tests. Retrieved [2017, June 13] from http://www.erikthered.com/tutor/sat-act-history.html
Social Welfare History Project (2016). Elementary and Secondary Education Act of 1965. Social Welfare History Project. Retrieved [2017, June 14] from http://socialwelfare.library.vcu.edu/programs/education/elementary-and-secondary-education-act-of-1965/
Stohler, Rachel. George, Melissa. Lafayette School Corporation. Gifted Education Website. Who are Gifted and Talented Students? para. 4. Retrieved [2017, June 14] from https://engineering.purdue.edu/~andy/challenge/LSCgifted/definition.htm
U.S. Department of Education. Office for Civil Rights. Protecting Students with Disabilities. (2015, October 16). Retrieved [2017, June 14] from https://www2.ed.gov/about/offices/list/ocr/504faq.html#evaluation
State of Washington. Office of the Superintendent of Public Instruction. Elementary and Secondary Education Act. No Child Left Behind Act. (2011, January 27). Retrieved from http://www.k12.wa.us/esea/NCLB.aspx
U.S. Congress, Office of Technology Assessment. (February 1992). Testing in American Schools: Asking the Right Questions. OTA-SET-519. pp. 103-107, pp. 129-130. Washington, DC: U.S. Government Printing Office.
A Brief History of the SAT. (1995-2014). WGBH Educational Foundation. Entropy Media. Retrieved [2017, June 12] from http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sats/where/history.html
Alcocer, Paulina. (2002-2015). History of Standardized Testing in the United States. National Education Association. Retrieved [2017, June 13] from http://www.nea.org/home/66139.htm
Educational Testing Service History. (2004). Funding Universe. Retrieved [2017, June 13] from http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/educational-testing-service-history/
ACT History. (2017). ACT, Inc. Retrieved [2017, June 13] from http://www.act.org/content/act/en/about-act/history.html