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2. There are many tensions that arise from standardized testing for teachers, students, and parents. These include published test results (school), promotion (students and teachers), pay raises/bonuses (teachers), funding (schools), futures, both college-wise and career-wise (students and teachers)...any of the high stakes that affect students also affect the parents of those students. (ex: a student who goes to a school in which many students are accepted to ivy leagues may affect his parent's socially as well as himself). These high stakes arise because there really is no other way to create progress for schools, teachers, or students besides comparison of test results.
3. High-stakes tests are designed to measure both intelligence and mastery of skills on a grand scale. I know this, because for the types of questions on both the SAT and ACT, and similar tests, previous preparation and education was necessary (mastery of skills) to complete the problems, and then the application of formulas and concepts was also necessary (intelligence).
4. It depends on every case. I believe that no average student could possibly fail a standardized test without a certain amount of preparation.
I also agree that a student SHOULD be held accountable for failing a standardized test mostly. Of course it could be because the teacher didn't teach exactly what was on the test, or it creates too much test anxiety. But if the student knows the material, then they shouldn't have as much anxiety.
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