Standardized tests. We've all heard about it. Most of us have taken them and hopefully overcome them. But how many of us really know what they are. In other words, what exactly is a “standardized test”? If you ask a hundred teachers or other members of the education community, you might get 50 different answers. The truth is, according to a highly respected glossary of educational terms, the definition of standardized testing is “any form of test that (1) requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions, from (to ) common question bank, in the same way, and which (2) is assessed in a "standard" or consistent way, which makes it possible to compare the relative performance of individual students or groups of students." (QTD Large Schools Partnership) The questions are generally multiple choice and are scored exactly the same. This makes it possible to compare data from person to person and from year to year. Standardized tests can date back a little over a hundred years, to 1905 French psychologist named Alfred Binet was conducting studies on human intelligence, Binet developed the first standardized test to determine the relative levels of intelligence in his subjects the current IQ test that is often administered to determine a person's intelligence. (Dan Fletcher) Once standardized tests became more popular, higher education institutions realized that they could be used to compare students from different backgrounds and geographic locations. And so, in 1926, standardized college admissions testing began. The first to be developed was called Schol... middle of paper... on that hour, the effectiveness of a teacher is based on that same hour. . The mood of the student or the seriousness with which each student takes the test are not taken into consideration. Each teacher is finally evaluated based on the overall scores of the class. Standardized tests are designed to show you and your teachers where you stand in terms of learning skills. They have pros and cons, but ultimately they are only there to help the education system. And they determine how far you will go in life. This means you have to take standardized tests to get into some colleges, and one of the requirements to graduate from high school is passing the standardized tests. So no matter how much parents, students, or even teachers think standardized tests are unfair, they are only there to help us and we need them to make sure we get the education we deserve..