Administrators and students at Mississippi State University say nationwide standardized tests for university students recently proposed by a national commission would not be beneficial.
A commission for higher learning established by the Bush administration is debating the decision to implement standardized tests in colleges and universities. The tests, which are meant to establish accountability and check the quality of education, would cover critical thinking, problem solving and other skills intended to be covered in college curriculums.
“We need information in a usable form for policy makers and for parents and students who are asking, is this the right school for my student? Are we getting what we paid for?” Geri H. Malandra, a member of the commission, said in a report in December. “This seems like it should not be too difficult. But there are more than facts and policy issues at work; we have to be aware of the psychology, too.”
Malandra helped implement standardized testing in the University of Texas system and said he feels that the structure UT utilized can also benefit other universities.
Students and administrators at MSU feel tests would be negative for the overall education process.
“I think to administer the same test to every college student is not something we would want to do,” associate provost of academic affairs Jerry Gilbert said. “You are testing many different stu dents on many competencies. If we were to make a test that would be applicable to everyone it would be so watered down that I don’t think it would give us any new information.”
Gilbert feels that it would be hard to determine whether or not the students taking the tests would be drawing from the knowledge base they gained before entering college or using skills they learned after entering a university.
Students had similar reactions.
“I think it’s a good idea for the university, but with everything the students already have to do, they’d probably blow it off and you wouldn’t get accurate results anyway,” senior music major Jessica West said. “If it’s something that’s not required for their grade, then they’re not going to care.”
Gilbert agreed.
“If a large number of our students did not take it very seriously, then we as a university could get down scored on it based on the fact that they don’t really want to take the test,” he said. “There are lots of problems based on the motivation factor.”
Junior broadcast meteorology major Danielle Lockhart said that standardized tests aren’t accurate measures of intelligence and would place unneeded stress on students.
“I just don’t think they show your intelligence,” Lockhart said. “Some people just don’t do well on standardized tests because of the stress and pressure. I also don’t think that they would determine how good a university is at all.”
MSU already has a testing system used for internal evaluation, Gilbert said. The test, College Base, is a standardized test given to a selected group of about 1,000 students.
Gilbert said the test is used for self-evaluation and improvement on an internal level, rather than evaluation of students’ intelligence.
“We look at what the students have in terms of what they are leaving, and we see if they are routinely efficient in certain areas,” he said.
Malandra said these tests are not meant to determine the intelligence of the students but to test the quality of the university. The reports gleaned from the UT system have allowed for much improvement, she said, and this has been recognized by the legislature in Texas and other states around the country.
“When first presented to the higher education subcommittee of the Texas Senate,” Malandra said, “one long-time Senator said that this was the best thing she had ever seen come out of higher education in her 20 years in the Senate.”
Accreditation is a much more viable option for university evaluation, Gilbert said.
“In terms of validating a program, that’s a much better way of doing it instead of administering a one-size-fits-all test across the country,” he said.