Standardized Testing = Standardized Students
Standardized Testing = Standardized Students
SAT, SAT II, ACT, PSAT, AP, STAR, CASHEE, LSAT, MCAT, GMAT…when will this list ever end? Standardized testing has taken an eminent role in deciphering today’s education and unfortunately, there is a test for every occasion whether it is for kindergarten, high school, college, or graduate school admission, or for the state to base a school’s progression. The bottom line is that there is no escaping such demoralizing and discriminatory tests. Standardized tests consist of very basic, simplistic questions similar to those aired on a television game show such as Jeopardy. The answers reveal either an important name or date in history or an insignificant mathematical number; both answers have no value to a student’s education because they do not penetrate the deeper meaning of why. The student will remember the answer only as A, B, C, or D. These tests assess a limited range of English, science, history, and math skills, inaccurately and unfairly measuring a student’s growth because the multiple-choice questions lack the depth and value of an abstract, unique, and diverse education. What does it mean to be well educated or to be “smart”? Standardized tests are one-dimensional but the beauty of people is that we are all unique and creative in our mind-set. Smith (2002), a Rank Research Fellow and Tutor at YMCA George Williams College Gardner, defines intelligence through Howard Gardner’s seven multiple theories: linguistic, logical, musical, kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. He claims that “people have a unique blend of intelligences” and that our biggest challenge “is how best to take advantage of the uniqueness conferred on us as a species exhibiting several intelligences” (p. 1). It is a rare gift to obtain all seven intelligences, thus we must
Standardized Testing 3
identify and educate ourselves at our own pace. Who’s right is it to say that an athlete or a musician is not as smart as
SAT, SAT II, ACT, PSAT, AP, STAR, CASHEE, LSAT, MCAT, GMAT…when will this list ever end? Standardized testing has taken an eminent role in deciphering today’s education and unfortunately, there is a test for every occasion whether it is for kindergarten, high school, college, or graduate school admission, or for the state to base a school’s progression. The bottom line is that there is no escaping such demoralizing and discriminatory tests. Standardized tests consist of very basic, simplistic questions similar to those aired on a television game show such as Jeopardy. The answers reveal either an important name or date in history or an insignificant mathematical number; both answers have no value to a student’s education because they do not penetrate the deeper meaning of why. The student will remember the answer only as A, B, C, or D. These tests assess a limited range of English, science, history, and math skills, inaccurately and unfairly measuring a student’s growth because the multiple-choice questions lack the depth and value of an abstract, unique, and diverse education. What does it mean to be well educated or to be “smart”? Standardized tests are one-dimensional but the beauty of people is that we are all unique and creative in our mind-set. Smith (2002), a Rank Research Fellow and Tutor at YMCA George Williams College Gardner, defines intelligence through Howard Gardner’s seven multiple theories: linguistic, logical, musical, kinesthetic, spatial, interpersonal, and intrapersonal. He claims that “people have a unique blend of intelligences” and that our biggest challenge “is how best to take advantage of the uniqueness conferred on us as a species exhibiting several intelligences” (p. 1). It is a rare gift to obtain all seven intelligences, thus we must
Standardized Testing 3
identify and educate ourselves at our own pace. Who’s right is it to say that an athlete or a musician is not as smart as
References: Golan, S. & Herman, J. (1994). Assessing the effects of standardized testing on schools. Boaler, Jo. (2003). A Special Section on High-Stakes Testing: When Learning No Longer Matters: Standardized Testing and the Creation of Inequality Odland, Jerry. (2005). NCLB--more questions than answers. (From the Executive Director)(No Child Left Behind) Smith, M.K. (2002). Howard Gardner and Multiple Intelligences. The Encyclopedia of Informal Education