I like the standardized tests only from the perspective of how the kids fall nationally. What I learned was that our school system was neither grade inflationary nor grade deflationary. The kids standardized scores generally reflected their accomplishments/GPA/rank at their particular school. The Iowa basics or CAT or whatever is used in a particular elementary schools will do the same…show where a student is trending.
So I used them slightly differently than Romanig’s parents in that I was more concerned that they were learning in their particular schools what they needed to learn, that the school was not grade inflationary which could hurt them in college admissions and that they were ranked about where they should be (that they weren’t slacking etc.).