A Measure of Failure : The Political Origins of Standardized Testing

Asks how and why standardized tests have become the ubiquitous standard by which educational achievement and intelligence are measured. This Work Deals With How And Why Standardized Tests Have Become The Ubiquitous Standard By Which Educational Achievement And Intelligence Are Measured. How Did Standardized Tests Become The Measure Of Performance In Our Public Schools? In This Work, The Author Attempts To Answer This Question By Analyzing The Development Of Standardized Testing, From The Days Of Horace Mann And Alfred Binet To The Current Scene. Approaching The Issue From A Sociohistorical Perspective, The Author Demonstrates The Ways Standardized Testing Has Been Used To Serve The Interests Of The Governing Class By Attaching A Performance-based Value To People And Upholding Inequality In American Society. The Book Also Discusses The Implications That A Restructuring Of Standardized Testing Would Have On The Future Of Education, Specifically What It Could Do To Eliminate The Measure Of Individual Worth Based On Performance. A Measure Of Failure -- The Nature And Function Of Standards -- Academic Achievement And Ability As Forms Of Vertical Classification -- Standardized Tests As Markers Of Social Value -- The Rise Of Public Education: The Impulse To Mark Achievement And Ability -- Achievement Testing: The Case Of Horace Mann -- Intelligence Testing: The Case Of Alfred Binet -- Political Origins Of Testing -- The Failure Of Testing. Mark J. Garrison. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 123-131) And Index. How did standardized tests become the measure of performance in our public schools? In this compelling work, Mark J. Garrison attempts to answer this question by analyzing the development of standardized testing, from the days of Horace Mann and Alfred Binet to the current scene. Approaching the issue from a sociohistorical perspective, the author demonstrates the ways standardized testing has been used to serve the interests of the governing class by attaching a performance-based value to people and upholding inequality in American society. The book also discusses the implications that a restructuring of standardized testing would have on the future of education, specifically what it could do to eliminate the measure of individual worth based on performance. Contents of this book include: (1) a Measure of Failure; (2) The Nature and Function of Standards; (3) Academic Achievement and Ability as Forms of Vertical Classification; (4) Standardized Tests as Markers of Social Value; (5) The Rise of Public Education: The Impulse to Mark Achievement and Ability; (6) Achievement Testing: The Case of Horace Mann; (7) Intelligence Testing: The Case of Alfred Binet; (8) Political Origins of Testing; and (9) The Failure of Testing. Notes, references, and an index are also included Winner of the 2011 Critics Choice Award presented by the American Educational Studies AssociationHow did standardized tests become the measure of performance in our public schools? In this compelling work, Mark J. Garrison attempts to answer this question by analyzing the development of standardized testing, from the days of Horace Mann and Alfred Binet to the current scene. Approaching the issue from a sociohistorical perspective, the author demonstrates the ways standardized testing has been used to serve the interests of the governing class by attaching a performance-based value to people and upholding inequality in American society. The book also discusses the implications that a restructuring of standardized testing would have on the future of education, specifically what it could do to eliminate the measure of individual worth based on performance. Title Page ......Page 5 Contents......Page 7 Preface......Page 9 Acknowledgments......Page 13 1. A Measure of Failure......Page 15 2. The Nature and Function of Standards......Page 21 3. Academic Achievement and Ability as Forms of Vertical Classification......Page 39 4. Standardized Tests as Markers of Social Value......Page 43 5. The Rise of Public Education: The Impulse to Mark Achievement and Ability......Page 55 6. Achievement Testing: The Case of Horace Mann......Page 73 7. Intelligence Testing: The Case of Alfred Binet......Page 87 8. Political Origins of Testing......Page 109 9. The Failure of Testing......Page 117 Notes......Page 129 References......Page 137 C......Page 147 E......Page 148 I......Page 149 N......Page 150 Q......Page 151 S......Page 152 V......Page 153 W......Page 154