End-of-course test

“ In professional training some efforts are being made to increase preliminary qualifications, to extend the professional course to at least three years in all ordinary cases, and to so grade the studies as to permit term examinations instead of postponing all these severe tests to the end of the entire course. ”

“ More than half—those who mean to devote themselves to trade, agriculture, or industry, and those who have not developed the capabilities necessary to confront the severe final test of the "maturity" examination—leave the school on attaining the upper forms. To those who intend to enter the professions, the civil and military service, and the church, the full course of the secondary school is necessary, the "maturity" examination certificate being the only open sesame to the universities, the special colleges, and the technical high schools. ”

“ Examinations are suited in the first instance for the purpose for which they were originally designed in medieval universities—the test of technical and professional capacity; it has never been proposed to abolish qualifying examinations for doctors, pharmaceutical chemists, &c. ; the tests applied are (or should be) direct tests of capacity carried out under conditions as nearly as possible like those of actual practice. If a student can auscultate correctly, or make up a prescription, at an examination, he will in all probability be able to do so in other circumstances. ”

“ It may be necessary to make these tests over a period of years, and the tests themselves may and probably will require frequent revision and amendment as it is found in the course of their application that some of them are unnecessary and others inadequate. If it is found that any of the tests so applied is readily fulfilled by every subject examined, the effort is made to increase the difficulty of the test, until it has reached a stage where the perfect performance of all its requirements is barely within the reach of the ablest and most competent of all the engineers under examination. ”

“ With the exception of those students who enter the Seminar, the professor has no means of judging of the ability or training of the university students. The only test, therefore, is the record of such students in the final university examinations for a degree, which comparatively few students ever attempt, their record in the state examinations which nearly all try, and the final and decisive test of practical life and its demands. ”

“ We recount the Policy's most salient features, leaving aside complexities not relevant to the case at hand. To gain admission to one of Boston's three examination schools, a student must take a standardized test. Based on a mathematical formula that purports to predict academic performance, school hierarchs combine each applicant's test score with his or her grade point average, derive a composite score, rank all applicants accordingly, and proceed to assign individuals to the applicant pool for the examination school (s) in which they have indicated an interest. ”

“ A course which is satisfied by mere attendance through the term is a sorry affair, no matter how much cramming may be needed to pass the examination. Monthly tests go part way towards decency. But ideal conditions are approached only when some test of regular work may be imposed without warning at any moment and when such tests actually do occur frequently. ”

“ If the matriculation test is lowered, and the standard of the after examinations is maintained, it is obvious that it will only lead to the failure of a greater number in the more important examinations,—lead to the disappointment of the students, and the discredit of the University. ”

“ I have given the matter much thought, not only now but for some time past, and I have arrived at an opinion, which a comparison of the results of the examinations for the past ten years seems to confirm, that the increasing number of failures is in a great measure to be accounted for by the fact that Government make the Matriculation Examination a test for admission into the Government service. Hence numerous youths, on arriving at 16 years of age, who have no intention of entering on a Collegiate education, go up, many very imperfectly prepared, on the chance of passing ”

“ And while we're at it, let's work with teachers and principals to finally develop assessments that teach our kids to become more than just good test-takers. The goal of educational testing should be the same as medical testing - to diagnose a student's needs so you can help address them. Tests should not be designed as punishment for teachers and students, they should be used as tools to help prepare our children to grow and compete in a knowledge economy. Tests should support learning, not just accounting. ”

“ The theory of accrediting is that the school gives its certificate of graduation only to students who have successfully completed the full period of four years, with final examinations quite equal to the entrance examinations of the best colleges. The student takes examination on all his subjects immediately after studying them, under conditions to which he is accustomed, and not under the harassing stress of a college entrance test. ”

“ Those testing 80 and 90 will usually be able to reach the eighth grade, but ordinarily only after from one to three or four failures. They are so very numerous (about 15 per cent of the school enrollment) that it is doubtful whether we can expect soon to have special classes enough to accommodate all. The most feasible solution is a differentiated course of study with parallel classes in which every child will be allowed to make the best progress of which he is capable, without incurring the risk of failure and non-promotion. ”

“ There is very little opportunity for ‘cramming’, as physical fitness is a most important factor. It is quite a general custom for candidates to ‘go down’ for a week’s rest before undergoing the ordeal of ‘Exam. week’. Informal examinations—‘collections’—are held in most Colleges at the beginning of each Term by College tutors and lecturers to test the progress their students have made during Term-time, as well as the reading they have done or ought to have done during the Vacation. These examinations, however, in no way directly affect the student’s final grade. ”

“ The standards shall require
that a laboratory issued a certificate under this section be
tested for each examination and procedure conducted within a
category of examinations or procedures for which it has
received a certificate, except for examinations and procedures
for which the Secretary has determined that a proficiency test
cannot reasonably be developed. ”

“ There are also examinations for primary teachers. The tests for teachers are different for the two sexes.
In England there is no obligatory test for secondary teachers. The universities and the College of Preceptors conduct examinations for teaching diplomas. The Board of Education holds special examinations (Preliminary Certificate examination and Certificate examination, &c.) for primary teachers. ”

“ Success in alternative tests may not be substituted for failure in one of the regular tests. Ordinarily the alternatives should be omitted. They have been included in the scale chiefly as a convenience in case materials are lacking for any of the regular tests, or in case any of the latter should be deemed for some special reason unsuitable. The ball and field test, for example, is often rendered unsuitable by coaching, and one of the alternates should always be substituted for the vocabulary test in the case of subjects whose mother tongue is other than English. ”

“ A higher efficacy score indicated that the teachers considered themselves able to make a difference in their teaching activities and that they held their students in high regard. The Kansas City study showed that there was a correlation between high teacher efficacy scores and higher student test performance, while low teacher efficacy scores were associated with low student test performance. ”

“ The fact may be stated in this way:—the general efficiency of the test being granted, it is true to say that the large majority of those who pass an examination will be superior in efficiency to those who fail; but a few of those who fail may be superior to a few of those who pass. These errors are not peculiar to the examination system, they are inherent in all human judgments. It is necessary to allow for them in considering the failure of an individual candidate as an index of inefficiency. ”

“ It may be suggested that the universities might expand and improve their general tests, so as to make them correspond with the education, both! literary and scientific, which a student, matriculating at the age of 19 years, j should be expected to have acquired; and that they should themselves make provision, in cases where this test is not satisfied, for ensuring the completion of the general preliminary education of their students, before close specialization is allowed. ”