Negative Effects Of High Stakes Testing

expressed in a report by the Education Law and Policy(US). Published as a paper by education professors, the provenance is strong. It explains in depth the negative effects of high stakes testing. The report states that over 70% of the teachers have had to reduce teaching time in another subject to prepare for standardised testing. A clever anecdote personalises it by detailing the dismay of a teacher whose science experiment had to be stopped for the sake of test preparation. Therefore, the report is highly effective in making a non expert understand their plight.
A similar stance is expressed from the Finnish perspective. With a small population and low income inequality, Finland has been a pioneer in teacher led education, made possible
For teachers, their dissatisfaction is understandable. Having to impart knowledge to their class, each one of them would have liked to do it their own way. With the introduction of high stakes standardised testing, they feel pressured to perform and get results, with the method of doing so perhaps in conflict with their philosophy. This lack of autonomy leads to lower job satisfaction, leading to some of them leaving. In more dire cases, this may even lead to a ‘brain drain’ in the profession, demonstrating how detrimental high stakes testing may be to society. Furthermore, due to this pressure, many of these teachers and school reduce time spent on non tested subjects like the social sciences or art, affecting holistic
With this opinion only strengthening due to my own poor experiences with such testing, I began research intrigued by the prospect of learning some positive aspects to the same. Yet, I was still biased due to my past, waiting to counter anything I had found. However, as I poured over countless papers and articles, I began to realise some of the benefits of standardised testing, especially in the short term. Due to my privileged status, I had previously failed to see the way it benefits low income high achievers, while I was still appalled to see its impact on developed asian countries.
Therefore, while I believe that standardised testing benefits certain groups in society, it has a detrimental effect on it as a whole due to its negative impact on teacher and student welfare. However, as a short term solution to gain information and influence educational policy, standardised testing can be effective. This could then lead to improve teacher education and autonomy, which reduces the need for such testing in the long run. On this front, I would like to conduct further research on