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Articles on Standardized tests

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The pandemic’s effect on student learning could exacerbate racial and economic achievement gaps. Laura Olivas/Moment Collection/Getty Images

COVID-19 hurt kids’ math learning more than reading and writing – with the biggest setbacks in fall 2020

A new analysis of standardized test scores from elementary schools in Michigan pinpoints when during the pandemic students fell most behind.
A team of caring adults, including certified teachers and coaches, support The Youth Association for Academics, Athletics and Character Education (YAAACE) community initiatives in Toronto’s Jane-Finch neighbourhood. (Ardavan Eizadirad)

Ontario can close students’ access and opportunity gaps with community-led projects

Revamping standardized testing needs to be accompanied with tangible actions to mitigate students’ opportunity gaps at the community level, particularly for racialized students.
Economic hardships, lack of transportation and family crises can keep kids out of school. Fertnig/E+ Collection via Getty Images

Why student absences aren’t the real problem in America’s ‘attendance crisis’

The problem with chronic absenteeism isn’t so much that kids are missing instruction time; it’s that unexcused absences may indicate crises at home, new research suggests.
Many people are wondering if COVID-19 could spell the end of university admission testing. Young people at the Autonomous University of Barcelona on July 7, 2020. (AP Photo/Emilio Morenatti)

University admissions tests like the SAT are under scrutiny especially in the age of COVID-19

The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically accelerated a growing shift to test-optional admissions policies or scrapping entrance tests altogether.
Those worksheets might not do much for a child’s grades. mirtmirt/Shutterstock.com

Is homework worthwhile?

How much homework kids should do is a subject of great debate.
Focusing on narrow PISA measures may increase skill levels but cause students to miss out on the kinds of learning that generates higher-order thinking. (Shutterstock)

Problems with PISA: Why Canadians should be skeptical of the global test

There are many reasons to be skeptical about PISA rankings, and their use to compare student achievement or to identify best practices or solutions for educational problems.
The big spending provinces in Canada did not necessarily get the best Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) standardized test results. (Shutterstock)

Canadian schools spend more as enrolment and test scores fall

Research shows that the provinces vary widely in their ability to produce academic results for money they spend, and PEI shows the most efficient results.

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