Issues With Standardized Testing

The amount of issues with standardized testing is astounding. One big issue that has gotten out of control in the past years is the excessive use of testing. Rizga stated, “A child entering prekindergarten today will take, on average, 113 standardized assessments by the time he or she graduates from public school.” (40). Between grades 3 to 8, public school students take about 10 to 20 standardized tests per year (Rizga, 40). In America, students attending public schools take more standardized tests than others in any other “industrialized” country (Rizga, 40). Urban students spend far more time on district-mandated tests than their suburban counterparts (Rizga, 41). To be exact, a recent study demonstrated that urban high school students spend
266 percent more time (Rizga, 40). These tests take time away from instruction to administer them as well as prepare for them, giving students less time to work on their school work. Hernandez said that there were three whole months during which she didn’t have access to computers at school as they were being used for testing (Rizga, 38). Students may not be able to learn and focus on their studies as much as they could when they are expected to succeed on each of these assessments. Another issue with standardized testing is the reliability and validity that are blindly placed upon them. These tests are presumed to determine a student’s intelligence and potential in life. Botstein declared, “As every adult recognizes, knowing something, or knowing how to do something, in real life is never defined by being able to choose a “right” answer from a set of possible options…put forward by faceless test designers.” (17). The content in standardized tests isn’t even directly related to what students learn in class.
Students are not the only ones that are affected by standardized testing.
Teachers are under constant pressure from district administrators and schools. The RTT initiative promotes hiring, firing, and compensating teachers by using test scores (Rizga, 41). Currently, teacher evaluations that use test scores are required in 35 states (Rizga, 31). For example, end-of-course tests had been used in Florida to reward some teachers and punish others up until 2015 (Rizga, 41). As said by the National Education Association (NEA), “NCLB has moved its focus away from student learning toward mandated testing and has created a culture of high-stakes testing whereby too many teachers are evaluated based on student’s test scores” (“Excessive High-Stakes” 1). In a 2013 phone survey made by the NEA, data was collected from 1500 PK-12 teachers to understand their feelings about standardized testing and its influence on their work (“Excessive High-Stakes” 1). Teachers reported that they spent 54 school days out of their overall work time on tasks related to testing (“Excessive High-Stakes” 1). Because teachers spend a crucial amount of time of their instructional time on test related tasks, the curriculum is narrowed (“Excessive High Stakes” 1). Nearly three quarters of teachers reported feeling pressure from district administrators and schools to improve student test scores (“Excessive High Stakes” 1). The demand for teachers to prepare students for testing and the overwhelming pressure
from administration has turned the profession into more of a burden. Although there was a higher level of satisfaction, the survey showed that nearly half of the surveyed members had considered the idea of leaving their job due to standardized testing (“Excessive High Stakes” 2). For teachers to even consider this, it goes to show that standardized testing has become an important part of their lives. Overall, teachers are not unaffected by the standardized testing mania.
Moreover, schools are also influenced by standardized testing. If test scores for a school do not show improvement over time, the school is punished up to the point where it could be shut down. The NCLB included a set of classifications and penalties on schools if they did not make progress toward closing achievement gaps (Webley, 40). The school would have to direct a chunk of its federal funding towards teacher development and give students the option to transfer, if it failed for two years in a row (Webley, 41). If it failed for five years in a row, the school would then have to take drastic measures such as replacing its staff, changing its curriculum, or extending the school day (Webley, 41). Fail six years in a row, and that school could be taken over by a private charter school operator or the state or be shut down altogether (Webley, 42). Although these penalties may seem reasonable, there is nothing being done to actually improve the school’s performance. Webley stated, “The law turned schools into test factories.”(42). Students can no longer see school as a place to learn new and exciting things as they are too involved with district-mandated tests.
In addition, standardized testing does not promote equality between students (Rizga, 41).
Poor schools receive less funding than richer schools. While testing’s original movement was to level the educational playing field, the per student funding gap between rich and poor schools nationwide has grown 44 percent—even as the number of needy students has grown in the last decade (Rizga, 41). Rizga further explained how the achievement gap between the poor and the rich has only grown by stating this:
When it comes to standardized testing, this means that schools that educate low-income students start out at a disadvantage. They are more likely to have lower-paid and less-qualified teachers; lack college preparatory classes, books, and supplies… when their students don’t make it to the same “proficiency” benchmarks on yearly tests as their wealthier counterparts, politicians label them and their teachers as “failing.” (Rizga,
41)
Standardized testing has created fewer opportunities for students, instead of creating equality among them. This has only further damaged schools, as well as teachers, when it comes to their evaluations. Furthermore, research conducted over the course of decades convey that African American, Latino and Native American students, and some students from some Asian groups go through many problems with high-stakes testing (“Racial Justice…”). They asymmetrically fail state or local high school graduation exams which lead to higher rates of unemployment and imprisonment (“Racial Justice…”). If students from these groups receive low test scores, they are more likely to be held back (“Racial Justice…”). Due to the fact that, on average, students of color score lower on tests such as the SAT and the ACT, many are refused the right to “merit” scholarships (“Racial Justice…”). All of this enlarges the racial gap among students, especially in college enrollments and completion.
In summation, standardized testing has been given a higher importance over the years due to the emphasis that society has placed on it. The effects of high-stakes testing on students, teachers, and schools as well as, the failure of district-mandated laws far outweigh the necessity to keep these tests. If something isn’t done about it soon, things will continue getting worse up until the point where things will be unbearable. Bolstein has said, “What is needed is not minor so-called improvements to the SAT but an entirely new generation of testing instruments that use modern technology not only to measure the performance of our students but also to teach them… We need to come up with one that puts applicants through a rigorous but enlightening process…” (17). More students are needed to be encouraged to go to school and learn, instead of giving them more reasons to drop out. Standardized testing should be replaced with more adequate ways to test students. The amount of time spent on these tests should be greatly reduced. In conclusion, standardized testing has provided many academic and personal disadvantages for people and society.