So there are many things that people say about taking tests. Some think tests are evil, some say you can't have school with out them. And I am sure there are many, MANY more view points.
But really when you look at assessments - what is it that you are trying to measure? That can usually help determine what kind of test you are writing and what kind of test the student should be taking.
Traditionally - the idea of a test in school was to give the student a ranking or grade of where they stood on a certain set of data. It was pretty straight forward - this is what you are suppose to learn, then you test to see if they know it. Yes there are some faults with that line of thinking - like can the students actually USE the data - or is it just memorized, but that is another discussion for another time.
Now, tests are being used to evaluate teaching programs and even teachers themselves - but often times the test look exactly the same as the old style of tests that is just about a certain set of data. The obvious problem with this type of evaluation is the fact that you are using the students to do the testing - what if the student has a learning disability or just had a bad day. Or even worse the student KNOWS that the test is a reflection on the teacher/school and bombs it on purpose because they don't like the teacher or school.
And think about some of the tests . . . let's say a timed math test in 1st grade. You are NOT actually testing the students understanding of math concepts, you are testing how QUICKLY they can apply them. Or - after seeing the homework and rote memorization of addition of single digit number - you are seeing how quickly they can regurgitate simple addition equations. How is that a good test of their skill - and even further how is that an appropriate evaluation of the teacher? The teacher can get students to memorize something . . . is that teaching?
So the big question is - how to do test for "learning" without punishing the student?
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