Most children in America are required to take a standardized test sometime throughout their academic career. Whether it’s just a way to let the state gage where the students are academically or way to move onto the next grade. Standard testing is defined in the name, it’s a test that has a standard set of information a person is required to know. The standard is set by a group of academic experts, for example, the College Board or the Board of Education. On paper, the idea sounds fantastic, have a standard set information every student should know so no student gets left behind. This allows for the gap between education in good schools and education in bad schools to close. However, in recent years standardized testing has seemed to miss its the target and rather become a burden for students and teachers required to take it.
To begin with, it’s believed that standardized testing creates a “teach to test” atmosphere. Rather than teaching the curriculum that was decided upon, a school district would be required to teach the information on the standardized test. This can cause a gap in learning for students who haven’t reached the level standardized testing requires. School districts are forced to teach the information on a standardized test rather than their own curriculum because in many situations’ schools get federal funding is a certain number of students pass the test. Teachers also feel forced to teach the information on a standardized test because many times their evaluations are done through the standardized test. The number of students that pass a standardized test can determine whether a teacher gets a promotion, raise, or even fired. This “teach to test” atmosphere can also be extremely harmful, because some schools will teach their curriculum and cram the standardized testing information at the end of the semester. This not only causes unneeded stress on students but also teaches them to try to learn the material for a week rather than long term. In addition, standardized testing is also harmful because it can decrease a student’s academic confidence.
Moreover, a student’s academic confidence can be demolished by a standardized test. This circumstance is aimed mainly at schools that require students to pass a standardized test to continue onto the next grade. If a student fails a standardized test and in return has to repeat a grade they may feel as though, ‘what’s the point’? If they couldn’t pass it the first time how can a second time at the same curriculum, at the same pace, with the same learning style work? Nothing’s different, so expecting change is unrealistic. Failing a grade is also seen as a sign of laziness, immaturity, and unintelligence by society. This stigma has been extremely hard to break and even harder to change, however, a shift seems to have taken hold of societal views as more information on academic disabilities, such as dyslexia, comes out.
Overall, standardized testing seems to have caused more problems than created. It has caused curriculums to change to fit the test rather than the academic needs of the students. It has also caused many students to give up school altogether. Although standardized testing seems like a great idea on paper, in practice, it’s unreliable and problematic.
Sources:
https://www.whitbyschool.org/passionforlearning/the-pros-and-cons-of-standardized-testing
http://www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar99/vol56/num06/Why-Standardized-Tests-Don%27t-Measure-Educational-Quality.aspx