The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing

Attention students, please quiet down. Refrain from opening the test booklet until told to. Please refrain from flipping back to the previous test, or flipping ahead to the next test until instructed to begin it. When time is called, put your pencil down and stop filling in the bubbles. Standardized tests show schools how well students comprehend what they learned throughout their school year. Standardized tests show students how much they learned and progressed over the years. Taking these tests tends to cause students anxiety. No guarantee expressed or implied that students excel on their standardized test. Through the years statistics have proven that standardized tests have become an inadequate way to assess how students take tests, and
have potential of causing anxiety in students. Standardized tests suffocate creativity and innovation in classrooms.
Standardized tests come in multiple forms that one takes starting from the age of eight. Some of these standardized tests include: the ISAT, the Explore test , the PSAT, the PLAN test, the ACT, and the SAT. Standardized tests may vary from state to state. The complexity of these tests increase as students advance in age. Standardized tests provide a basis used by the current school systems throughout the nation. The purpose of these tests provides information to schools and teachers to show how the students have improved from year to year. Parents also possess the ability to track the progress of their son or daughter from his or her test results to see if she or he meets, exceeds, or falls below the set standards. This allows parents to see if their daughter or son needs to receive extra help in certain areas. Many Colleges throughout the United States look at the scores of these standardized tests to as a basis to help the admission counselor’s choose from the students who would fit the best at their university.
America has recently started to suffer from a huge “creativity” crisis due to the fact that standardized testing is “dumbing” down the curriculum and thinking of students throughout the country. America’s performance, when it comes to standardized testing, lags behind their counterparts of Asia and Europe (Sykes). Teachers teach curriculum around the information on standardized tests. Students rely solely on their calculators or computers due to all of the improvements in technology. In a two-year study it was found that students only spend forty-one percent of their school day on basic academics (Sykes). This is a major factor of the drop that has started to happen to students’ scores on their standardized tests.
The multiple-choice test format on standardized tests adequately assess students’ testing skills.
This format encourages a simplistic way of thinking; one either achieves the right answer or assumes incorrectly (“Is the Use”). With the use of the multiple-choice format the test scorers are not able to see how well students actually comprehend the complex material, write, apply math, or really grasp the concepts they have been taught throughout the year (“What’s Wrong”). Standardized tests also inadequately measure students’ thinking skills. Students have the potential of receiving a higher score based solely on percentage of chance if they correctly mark an option by guessing. Standardized tests intend for students to take the same style of test with the same format to make it easier for administrators to see how well their school
performs.
There are two types of students: students who are “book” smart or students who are test smart. Students who are book smart enroll in hard classes and out do others who ordinarily are not as wise. These types of students receive excellent grades in the courses they take, but have difficulty when it comes to taking standardized tests. Some students cannot achieve the results they desire on standardized tests, these students may be affected by anxiety or just freak out when it comes to taking the test (“The Dangerous”). Other students take easier courses and their tests scores vary, with some receiving high scores and others just the bare minimum scores. If students were given the opportunity to show what they know with a hands-on method, many students who fail standardized tests could demonstrate that they have mastered the required concepts needed for these tests.
Standardized tests discriminate against students with disabilities or special needs due to time restraints and comprehension levels.
Many students need extra help when it comes to taking tests. These students often have trouble taking tests by themselves; they may need a teachers aide to read the question to them out loud or explain what the question asks. Students with these disabilities may need extra time to complete standardized tests. These students receive few of the accommodations that are typically provided to them as part of their Individualized Education Plans otherwise known as an IEP or their 504 Plan (“Is the Use”). Students with disabilities or special needs deserve to get help when it comes to taking standardized tests.
Students who attend schools with less money than other schools have a major disadvantage when it comes to taking standardized tests. These students are not given all of the materials they need to pass these tests. Standardized tests often take information from a certain type of textbook created by the makers of the test. Schools with less money than other schools cannot afford these textbooks for the classes. Improper education causes students to not reach their full
potential.
Standardized tests have the potential to produce anxiety in even the brightest of students. Students tend to overstress when it comes to taking tests in general, but the pressure elevates when they feel they must excel. Standardized tests cause anxiety to students of different ages. Young students may sometimes become ill, cry, or wind up doing both when they take standardized tests (“Is the Use”). High school students often have panic attacks or get sick. Students tend to postulate that they will not pass their grade if they fail to achieve a high enough score on the standardized test they took. The heightened levels of anxiety in students often result from all of the preparation students put in for standardized tests (Thompson). The preparation for standardized tests takes place weeks or even months before the actual test date.
Students scores on standardized tests can vary significantly depending on the day. He or she may have not obtained enough sleep the night before may not have eaten a healthy breakfast. Students may not have prepared enough for the standardized test (“Do You”). There may also have been a recent change or family tragedy prior to the testing that may cause anxiety or depression. The necessity to succeed overshadows the actual reality of knowledge base that students develop.
Standardized tests have proven to society again and again that they have a negative impact on students of all ages. They not only cause anxiety in students, but they also prove to inadequately assess students testing abilities.