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High stakes testing is a major focus of time and concern
in the world of education today. As part of
our two-year study we looked
to see what was being tested, and the methods by which this testing is done.
While most testing is not civics centered, we did manage to find some
civics-related sample test questions among the mostly social studies examples
below.
This is the only National test we could find that
deals with Civics and Government topics. (Note: On November 22, 2006,
the Christian Science Monitor published
this article on the effort to revise the national citizenship
test.) The government has put up this page with
links to materials for individuals wanting to prepare for the
naturalization test.
A non-government site also offers test prep and
sample questions:
Information about the new Naturalization tests.
- California tests for Social Studies Teachers
Here are links to sample questions from
certification tests for California elementary (multiple subject) and
secondary (single subject) teachers:
STAR (Standardized Testing And Reporting) tests
are required for all California students. The linked site contains
sample questions from the Department of Education.
Bloom's taxonomy categorizes questions commonly found in
educational settings by levels of abstraction. Most of the
questions on the tests linked to above fall into the lower levels of the
taxonomy. It would be nice to see questions testing more complex
skills.
- On September 13, 2007, educator Jonathan Kozol
published a withering critique of the "mania of obsessive testing" embodied
in the No Child Left Behind Act of 2002.
You may read it by following this link.
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