Effects of Standardized Testing on Educators

The very fact that there will be a standardized test changes the way in which we are learning new material. Often, studies find that testing created to be high stakes leads to the narrowing of instruction and classroom curriculum. Especially when tests influence major changes and decisions in a student’s life, such as promotion, teachers choose to teach to the test.

Teaching to the test is the practice of teaching students only the material they will be tested on, withholding extra information not vital to high scores. Studies found that the pressure upon teachers to improve their students test scores resulted in some educators neglecting materials not included on the test. This means that students are no longer learn through long term projects, reading physical chapter books, solving higher order problems, computer programs, etc. Teachers are teaching students by giving worksheets with questions formatted identically to the standardized tests. Some Maryland schools were found redesigning course objectives and restructuring course content all in an effort to improve their students’ test scores.

Teachers are becoming increasingly stressed by the emphasis placed on standardized tests. The stress can even extend towards the families of teachers. Educators have so many things to do that many forget to prioritize their personal family lives. Legislation such as the “No child Left Behind Act” has made the importance of testing even more pertinent in the lives of both students and teachers. In some cases, student performance is linked to the salaries or their teachers and the job stability of educators, determining which teachers will continue to teach and which ones will be fired.

Teachers often feel a lack of control because of the increasing significance of standardized testing in the classroom. This exponentially increases the stress levels of educators. Their own personal careers, salaries, and livelihoods may be determined by how well their pupils perform on a single exam, one day of the year, at a single time.

Test scores can be affected by a great number of variables. How well students slept the night before, what kind of breakfast they ate, how anxious students are, how hot or cold they feel in the testing room, etc. are out of the teachers’ control. Yet, these factors have a say in how well students perform on standardized tests, determining the fate of the educators.

I remember that when I was in middle school, some students would purposefully do poorly on standardized tests because they simply did not care. The test had no effect on them, so they didn’t even bother putting in any effort when taking the exams. Yet, teachers’ careers and salaries were at stake. Why would the government allow a bunch of obnoxious kids determine the success of hardworking Americans, who selflessly chose to educate the minds of future generations?

The self- image of educators is negatively affected by low test scores. Combined with the high pressure for their students to perform well on the tests, teachers end up providing questionable test preparation. This in turn increases the feelings of guilt and stress for teachers. Educators are torn between what will benefit the student as a whole and what will be most likely to aid in the successful completion of the standardized test.

If students do increasingly better on their standardized tests, a question arises- are students improving their broader learning or are the higher scores a result of teaching to the test? The stronger the pressure for teachers to improve their students’ test scores, the more likely teachers are to resort to questionable measure to do so. The pressure put upon teachers is created by parents, school administrators, and other teachers. Interestingly, educators teaching in schools with increasing test scores feel the most pressure in comparison to schools with stagnant or decreasing test scores.

With all of these issues and problems created for teachers, are standardized tests even worth the trouble? Maybe schools should get back to simply educating students and preparing them for life once they become adults. There must be other ways to encourage learning besides high stakes testing. Curriculums designed to the test hinder students’ learning possibilities. One resolution for high stakes testing is to make the tests not count, but then another issue is brought about. If the tests don’t count for anything, can we really trust children to take them seriously?

Sources:

https://cresst.org/wp-content/uploads/TECH334.pdf

http://www.nea.org/tools/fighting-stress-teaching-to-Test.html