Why Is Standardized Testing Effective

One hundred and thirteen, that’s the number of standardized tests the average student takes from prekindergarten to twelfth grade according to preliminary research conducted by the Council of the Great City Schools (Helfing para.9). If that seems a little extreme to you, you are not alone. Standardized testing has become an increasingly common way to measure anything from student knowledge to the effectiveness of the school, especially after the initiation of policies such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race To The Top (RTTT). But at what costs? Standardized testing does not consistently measure the intelligence of the student or the quality of the education, yet it has become the main focus of schools across America and has become a million
In 1983 a professor of education at Harvard University, Dr. Howard Gardner, developed the theory of multiple intelligences. This theory states that there are eight different ways in which a person is intelligent. These different forms of intelligence are as follows: linguistic, or word smart; logical-mathematic, or reasoning/numbers smart; spatial, or picture smart; bodily-kinesthetic, or body smart; musical, or music smart; intrapersonal, or self-smart; and naturalist, or nature smart (“Multiple Intelligences” para. 1-2). It is not difficult to pinpoint which of these intelligences standardized testing primarily measures. For students who are not linguistically or mathematically gifted, the tests do not accurately show the students’ intelligence. According to a study completed by researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard University, and Brown University, an improvement in standardized test scores only improves one type of intelligence. This intelligence, ‘crystallized intelligence’*, is a memory based ability, meaning that while these improvements in test scores show an increase in the ability to remember facts, it does not display an increase in “fluid intelligence”, or the ability to use logic and reasoning (Bidwell para. 1-5). If standardized testing is not measuring the intelligence of students,
Standardized testing has become the main indicator of a student’s success, which can cause these students to feel significant stress. As one professor of psychology at the University of Michigan, Scott Paris, said, “Standardized tests provoke considerable anxiety among students that seems to increase with their age and experience.” Other researchers have found that stress can cause a decrease in memory capacity. Studies including the use of Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) have even shown that the experience of being in stressful situations chronically can cause “selective atrophy of the brain” (Edelstein para.3-5). According to Nicky Hayes, the editor of Foundations of Psychology, this “exam stress” can present itself in a variety of symptoms including the inability to concentrate, irregular eating habits, and irregular sleep patterns among other responses (Edelstein para.