This semester, I have devoted this blog to state the many problems with standardized testing. Despite it having some benefits as far as being a somewhat effective way to measure progress, it has created many problems within our nation’s schools. In my previous blogs I talked about how it forces teachers to teach the test rather than useful material, how testing agencies can’t effectively standardized what information is more important, and how only about three large corporations control the entire testing market. Now I am happy to be writing about the fact that the number of standardized tests have dropped in the past year.
According to an article published in the Washington Post, the number of standardized tests have dropped in the past year. For years now parents, student, and policy makers have been trying to show the problems of standardized testing. Many schools have eliminated high stakes tests. these are standardized tests that are required to graduate high school. For example in my high school recently removed the requirement to pass the keystone in order to graduate. Nation wide there is also a trend in reducing these types of standardized tests. Since 2012 the number of states that had these tests have dropped from 25 to 13. Many other states have expanded alternatives to passing the test in order to graduate. This is good for many reasons but mostly because studies have shown that these types of tests cause a great deal of individual and social harm without providing any benefits.
Another development in the reduction of standardized testing is that many states have put caps on the amount of time spent on standardized tests during the school day. In Maryland, the state legislature has capped the amount of time that districts spend on testing. Now instead of testing every kindergartner like in the past, schools will only test a representative sample. This will allow schools to evaluate the progress of students without wasting too much time administering tests. In New Mexico, a law was passed that eliminated the requirement for 9th and 10th graders to take three periodic reading, English and math tests throughout the year. In the state of West Virginia, schools have eliminated English and math exams for 9th and 10th graders. Public pressure in Hawaii has also caused the elimination of end-of-course high school exams along with the use of ACT tests. Most notably PARCC, one of the largest testing agencies, have cut their exam times down by 90 minutes.
As far as the use of tests scores to evaluate teachers. Many states have begun to eliminate this element of standardized testing. Since ESSA replaced No Child Left Behind. seven different states (Connecticut, Alaska, Arkansas, Kansas, Kentucky, North Carolina, and Oklahoma) have ended this method of teacher evaluations. Some states are also now allowing parents to opt their children out of taking standardized tests all together. Many have taken this option. this was seen in New York which has held a 20 percent opt out rate for standardized tests.
With so many states and school districts eliminating standardized tests, it raises the question of how will we assess the academic progress of Americas youth. One solution is to have teacher produced assessments. these would be tests designed by teachers who actually teach the children, scored by these teachers and used to evaluate the progress of students. Half of New Hampshire school districts have begun to implement this policy. Along with New Hampshire many teacher unions are now getting involved with implementing this policy nation wide.
I think the reduction in standardized tests is a step in the right direction. If America wishes to compete internationally we need to constantly be evolving our education system to make sure everyone gets the most out of the education system. Hopefully by the time my children enter the education system they will face better forms of accessing their academic ability. Thank you for reading my blog this semester. It has been fun informing you on something that I believe to be a pressing civic issue facing our nation.
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/12/06/efforts-to-reduce-standardized-testing-succeeded-in-many-school-districts-in-2017-heres-why-and-how/?utm_term=.067a6fb0b070
Recently, my high school has eliminated the Keystone test as a requirement for graduation. They felt the test put too much stress on students and prevented some kids from graduating. While they still make every student take the test (which takes three weeks) it’s more relaxed. I completely agree that standardized testing should be eliminated from the school curriculum but I also recognize that it does provide a benchmark to assess data. I think the Department of Education is trying to find a healthy balance.
The American Institute for Learning and Human Development created a list of why standardized tests are bad for students. One point that I very much agreed with and faced through my endless years of standardized testing is how the tests don’t value creativity. I would often come up with goofy stories to go along with my essay but I had to follow a “formula” to get a good grade on the writing portion. I feel the PSSA’s and SAT’s were not for people who think differently or don’t follow the norms of education.
Another drawback of standardized testing is they cater to schools with a high socio-economic status. Wealthy suburban schools can afford to purchase text prep books and the textbooks needed to teach towards the curriculum. Poorer school districts fall behind on the standardized testing scale because they cannot afford that. There are many disadvantages and problems with standardized testing. I am thrilled school districts are beginning to make a change.
Source: http://www.institute4learning.com/2013/02/28/15-reasons-why-standardized-tests-are-worthless-2/
(I realize I did not hit my word count so here is a continuation of my comment)
Another argument against standarized testing is they create a lot of stress which undermines a student’s actual performance. When the brain becomes overwhelmed it enters a “fight or flight response” and cannot engage in higher thinking. A student’t thinking process is weakened during a high-stress exam.
One last argument against standarized testing is they can give parents a false sense of security. Just because a student scores well doesn’t mean they know the material. There are ways to take tests and “beat the test” by memorizing formulas. A student’s test taking ability does not measure up to their level of intelligence.
You mentioned that in Maryland, they are choosing to have only a representative sample of kindergarteners to take some standardized tests. While I’m sure this reduces pressure and stress associated with taking the tests, how is this fair? If only my kindergarten class had taken big exam, I can imagine that parents would be upset that their own kids were the ones who had to spend time doing this. Don’t get me wrong, I do think there is too much emphasis on standardized tests, and I’m glad schools are choosing to administer them less. However, I don’t really think that is a good solution.
I read an article about the pros and cons of standardized testing, after reading your post, and I thought a little about why it would be difficult to get rid of them altogether. They do offer a good way to give teachers and parents more information about what students are learning, and other material that needs to be covered. If an educational system isn’t working the way it should, taking a standardized test is a good way to find out.
However, the argument against standardized testing makes valid points. One of these was that it can damage a student’s self-esteem. If they don’t perform well, it may cause them to think that they aren’t smart enough, when in reality they may just not be good at taking tests. I also completely agree with the previous comments: the tests don’t value creativity at all, and it can cause students and teachers to only focus on the material for the test. Sometimes other important material gets pushed aside just because it doesn’t appear on standardized tests. Because of this, I think educators should place less of emphasis on standardized tests, and it’s great that they’re starting to do so.
https://vittana.org/16-biggest-pros-and-cons-of-standardized-testing
Everyone always talks about Finland’s education system when talking about what our ideal standards should be for education and testing. I agree with you that in an ideal world there is limited or no standard test that each student must take in order to pass to the next grade or to get into university with scholarship. They just create more problems than they actually solve. For example, in my home state of Virginia there was a lot of controversy when they tried to make different quotas for different races and how many of each race had to pass the test for a school to be in good standing. In my opinion that’s just ridiculous because it implies that certain demographics are unable to achieve the same standards and creates a self-fulfilling prophecy. I know that they did that for a reason though and that there has to be a measure of how well students are doing. These tests reduce the ability of teachers to focus on learning and truly educate students.
I think now is the time to start focusing on alternatives and what we should do instead. A lot of us agree that standardized testing isn’t great and isn’t working. But we don’t spend a lot of time talking about other ways to assess student achievement. I am really unsure of other ways to benchmark student progress, which whether we like it or not is necessary and important to keep schools on track with the whole country. I think it’s a really interesting discussion though and I enjoyed this blog.
http://ideas.time.com/2012/10/11/why-its-time-to-get-rid-of-standardized-tests/