The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing

Education author and speaker Alfie Kohn once stated, “Standardized testing has swelled and mutated, like a creature in one of those old horror movies, to the point that it now threatens to swallow our schools whole” (qtd. in Solley). Kohn is right; the emphasis on standardized testing has only increased since the practice was first introduced to schools. The pressure surrounding tests affects schools, teachers, and students, and poor scores reflect badly on all of them. This leads to increased focus from teachers on test items and test specific skills. These practices increase student success on exams but do not encourage a love of learning. By teaching to exams, teachers are forced to leave out important skills that are essential to everyday
Overall, the United States standardized testing system is negatively affecting the quality of education in schools. A good history of standardized testing is provided in the 2012 edition of Standardized Testing, in the article “Introduction to Standardized Testing: At Issue.” The concept of standardized testing began in China in the seventh-century. The government began requiring citizens to take an exam in order to be placed in the civil service (“Introduction to Standardized Testing”). In the United States, however, standardized testing began in the mid-1800s. In that time, schools were overflowing with students due to the Industrial Revolution and increased immigration, and it was necessary to develop a way to determine the students’ abilities. A standardized test in spelling, geography, and math was soon adopted. Testing gradually became more high-stakes, and in 1900 the College Entrance Examination
Standardized test scores are used to determine many factors affecting students. These factors include whether or not the students qualify for tutoring services, whether or not the students can transfer schools, whether or not the students can graduate, whether or not the students can be placed in advanced programs, and whether or not low-achieving students should be held back a grade. (Solley; Harris et al., “Standardized”). Teachers are evaluated based on students’ scores, and consistently poor scores seemingly reflect a bad teacher or teaching style. Teachers’ reputations are determined by how well their students perform on standardized tests (Bhattacharyya et al.). The reputation of schools is also dependent on test scores. In the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act, the law began requiring schools to make yearly increases in test scores. Failure to do so would lead to the school being labeled as needing improvement ("Introduction to Standardized Testing"). This led to schools having to allow students to transfer or having to offer free tutoring. More severe penalties ensued if the school did not make adequate progress four years in a row: the school would be labeled as needing corrective action, and potentially forced to replace the entire staff ("Introduction to Standardized Testing"). With such high stakes, the pressure on teachers and students to prepare for the