Standardized Testing In High Schools

Standardized testing is everywhere. When we go to get our first driver license we take a standardized written test. Before we even arrive to our senior of high school, we have been subjected to at least 10 standardized test a year. Even in kindergarten, students are prepare for exams. Standardized testing

First off, there is a looming racial bias towards minorities in standardized testing. In New York City, there are specialized high schools where admission is solely based on a standardized test, the Specialized High School Admissions Test. Statistics from 2011 show that out of the 12,525 black and Hispanic students who had taken the exam, only 733 were offered seats. It doesn’t really help that only 19 African Americans were offered seats
at Stuyvesant High School, bringing the grand total of African Americans to 40 out of 3286 students. Now compare this to the black and Hispanic population make up of New York City, which is a brimming 70%. One attests this to the income and inequality that exists in New York City, where poverty levels reached a new high of 21.1%. Impoverished families do not have the necessary funds to invest in comprehensive test prep services for their child. Manjit Singh, a senior shares the same sentiment;
“African-American and Hispanic parents don’t always seek out extra help for their kids and their kids don’t score as high...” Comparable, students with greater wealth tend to have SAT scores to match.Wealthier families are more apt to invest, given the funds, in comprehensive tutoring services for their children.
In addition, wealthier households usually have higher education attainment rates, with parents holding a bachelor's degree or higher. Whereas such services are completely off the table in lower income households. This graph shows just that:

Standardized testing takes a toll on the mental health of teenagers. At most North American universities, one cannot even go about applying without either the ACT or SAT in tow. Thus, comes the massive amounts of preparation that comes along with College Application Season that High School seniors know all too well. This causes a scramble as students feverishly take test after test hoping for drastic improvement in scores. One such University High School senior, Tom Poulis, goes in depth on the subject;
"I've been in school for three weeks and already it's really hectic, because you get thrown into all this college stuff," "And people are always telling you, 'Apply here.' And when are you going to take your SATs? And on top of that I'm taking four AP classes. So already, the stress level is very
high."
And that’s not taking account the extracurricular activities. Compound all of this, it seems like a recipe for disaster. Adolescent medicine specialist, Dr. Kenneth Ginsburg, also sees it as such;
"At the extreme — and I want to emphasize that this is the extreme – we're seeing more kids who are engaging in self-mutilation," Ginsburg says.
"[It's] a way of taking control over their life when they feel their life is out of control. And I see quite a few kids with eating disorders. It's kids who just feel like they can't handle everything they're doing."
To reiterate, this is just the extreme. Usually suffers experience symptoms such as racing thoughts, fatigue, and irritability before extreme symptoms like those described occur.
Stress has even trickled down to the lower grades. In the elementary schools, where Common Core is in full force, stress has shot up. Even though anxiety in younger students manifests itself in less severe ways, such as “increased irritability, frustration, and acting out”, psychologists have deemed that children internalizing symptoms, such as “withdrawal and excessive worry”, is more prevalent than the physical signs. These symptoms are more because if they continue to persist, they can lead to diagnoses of a variety of major anxiety disorders. However, some States have opted to deal with these concerns as objectively as possible. In the Ohio Achievement Assessment teacher booklet, it clearly outlines what to do when a student becomes
sick;
“A student who becomes ill and vomits on his or her test booklet and is able to continue the test should be given a new test booklet so that he or she can continue.”
Going off of this, aren’t teachers supposed to follow all instructions even if it’s beyond logical reason, akin to actually showing concern and consoling the child. What lesson is this teaching the child? That testing does not stop just because you’re feeling a little queasy? This is the reality of Ohio children.
Sometimes, even, test questions will come across as outright ridiculous even to the trained test taker. Companies like NSC Pearson education have developed standardized tests for states for years mostly driven by the millions made through texts, instruction manuals, and , most dire of them all, standardized testing. However, questions sometimes do not reflect curricula taught in schools giving way to wasted time on tests. Perhaps the most famous one, was the one that I personally experienced. During the 2012 administration of the eighth grade New York State English Language Arts Exam, a problem became very apparent. It was one one of the passages. In it, it detailed the adventure of a talking pineapple and its race against a hare.
The kicker is how it ended:
“The hare had won, but the pineapple still sat at his starting point, and had not even budged. The animals ate the pineapple.”
Naturally, as a student, you might ask “Why is this on the test?” The questions provided afterward were just as nonsensical.
After much outrage (myself included), New York State retracted the entire section with John B. King citing “First of all, the "passage" printed in the media is not complete.” and “We will, as always, review and analyze all questions on every assessment we administer.” Needless to say, the latter statement is subject to close scrutiny. In conclusion, the points presented prove the standardized testing should be banned. It not only helps deepen the income and wealth divide and promote racial bias, but also promotes good test taking skills. A skill which does not represent to the harsh reality of life outside of high school.