Standardized testing has been used in the U.S. since the early 1900s. With the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), the use increased as the law stated that all students must be tested in reading and math from grades 3-8 and in high school. These tests have fueled an ongoing debate and requires a closer look on how standardized testing is used and whether or not they are useful for determining academic achievement.
According to The Glossary of Education Reform, standardized tests are any form of examinations that are taken and scored in a standard manner. Most questions are in a multiple choice or true/false format, allowing for quick and simple scoring. They can also be used for a variety of purposes and are not limtied to academic settings. However, they are commonly used to measure academic aptitude and achievement.
Standardized tests come with a variety of opinions. However, test experts and educators continue to utilize them as they are unbiased, compatible with easy scoring, a source of evaluation for improvement and comparison, and an incentive for both teachers and students’ achievement. Despite these benefits, standardized testing is still a subjective matter, and many question if they are fair to students and educators.
Effects on Students:
- A strong argument is that standardized tests fail to measure student performance; in reality, they determine which students are good test-takers. Several factors contribute to how well a student performs on a test, including stress, test anxiety, or even an empty stomach. The tests only show who prepared and scored well on that particular exam. In addition, low scores do not necessarily indicate lack of knowledge, and similarly high scores do not indicate an abundance of knowledge.
- Knowing that standardized tests are not completely accurate and may merely be a representation of memorization or multiple-choice skills, students are tied to these scores. Their academic career can heavily rely on standardized tests because schools and universities pay attention to numbers. These high stakes can only add to the stress and affect student performance. Fortunately, many schools are becoming test-optional, but this does not mean that standardized tests are no longer important.
Effects on Teachers:
- Standardized testing can be extremely important, and for educators, it may feel like their job and evaluations solely rely on their students’ performance. This creates more stress as teachers feel they have to teach to the test, rather than teach for the pure purpose of learning. They may also feel intense pressure from administration as high test scores can be better for the school as a whole.
Alternative Options:
With a few of these disadvantages in mind, there are alternatives for standardized testing that have been pulled together by experts!
- Sampling: administering standardized tests to a random sample of students, instead of all students every year
- Stealth Assessments: another way to collect reading and math scores; digital programs that students complete throughout the year in order to show progress over time
- Multiple Measures: collecting other data in order to track student progress, rather than relying on one standardized test
- social and emotional skills survey
- game-based assessments
- performance/portfolio-based assessments
- Inspections: different approaches to assessments including projects, reports, presentations, etc.
I think these alternatives are great solutions and states should look into utilizing these and reducing standardized tests. The results from the 2018 Programme for International Students Assessment (PISA) show that the U.S. ranked 36th out of the 79 countries that participate in the exam. An education expert states that the nation’s results have always been mediocre and the below average math score has not showed change since 2000. So, how effective is standardized testing really? Since the country has shown no significant progress.
I am a very strong believer that standardized testing should not be a mandatory assessment. For me, I am not a good test taker, and when I was taking SAT and ACTs for college entrance, I was so stressed out. I was so concerned with the number I got because I knew it was indicative of the schools that would accept me. That mindset is so toxic, in my opinion, because a school should accept you based on the overall composition, and not just one number from one test.
I totally agree that standardized tests fail to measure the full potentials of students and that there should be an alternative or just thrown out altogether. I personally believe that it was the worst part of college applications because I’m not the best test taker and didn’t pay to go to a million classes to master the exams, unlike my other friends.
I agree that standardized tests definitely have their faults. I personally do not like how they confine learning to a box and don’t celebrate different types of thinking. However, I don’t know if I would qualify standardized tests as unbiased. I think they try to be, but in a country like America where there are so many different cultures that are often not represented within the select group of people who make these tests, unintentional bias can occur. I remember taking a standardized math test in middle school and in the probability section there were questions regarding decks of cards. This was assumed to be basic knowledge; however, as someone who grew up playing Uno and Mancala on family game nights, I didn’t know enough about all the different types of cards to answer the questions, so I couldn’t even attempt the actual math part of the question.
I think standardized tests do not fully measure intelligence or work ethic. I also think there is a big problem with the relationship between College Board and many college admissions office, as College Board has grown into a giant money making scheme (see this video: https://youtu.be/YDHO6e7hP7g). I think grades are a much better measure of ambition, dedication, level of intelligence, and work ethic. However, the said reality is that many colleges look first and foremost at test scores. I also think that SAT Prep and studying for standardized testing is a huge waste of time. Teachers are forced to spend time on this because high schools obviously want their students accepted into good schools, but there is much more valuable knowledge to be acquiring instead of learning how to pick which of the four options best answers a certain question.
I agree with you that these tests definitely are not the best way to test students. Personally I am an awful test taker and I get extremely nervous when I take a test. I like how you give a variety of other options a describe some of them. I think it would be very interesting to see how these options were to work out if they were implemented. Sadly, i do not think these options will be used in the US anytime soon.
I will be very brief and to the point, Standardized tests suck.