Standardized Tests Are a Plague: Here’s Why

Key points:

• Standardized Tests Are Not Inclusive and Often Create Unnecessary Stress
• Educators should shift the focus from standardized testing to ensuring that students become independent learners.
• See related article: What is the status of K-12 assessment?
• For more assessment news, check out eSN’s Innovative Teaching page

Standardized testing has long been a contentious issue in the field of education. While the primary goal of standardized testing is to measure student achievement and establish benchmarks for educational standards, it comes with unintended consequences. This article delves into the multifaceted impact of state testing on various aspects of education.

Standardized Reading Tests

In recent years, the landscape of reading instruction has undergone a spectacular transformation. Teachers are now undergoing a shift from the immersive experience of novels to a regimen of skill and practice exercises. The pressure to align curricula with the test format has led to prioritization of stories. This change, while intended to improve test performance, comes at a cost. It deprives students of the opportunity to lose themselves in the rich tapestry of novels, fall in love with books for long periods of time, and develop a deep and lasting connection with literature.

Furthermore, this myopic focus on test preparation diminishes the joy of reading for pleasure. By limiting students to reading short stories (designed to mimic the test format), we risk stifling their exploration of the diverse genres, complex characters, and critical thinking skills that occur in the context of experiencing a well-crafted novel. The long-term unintended consequence is a generation of students who may excel in meeting the demands of an exam, but who miss out on the deeper transformative power of literature to shape students’ minds and hearts.

Standardized Math Tests

The evolution of mathematics education has been marked by a shift toward conceptual teaching methods as students no longer memorize procedures. In other words, students are now tasked with understanding the underlying principles when engaging in mathematics. For example, instead of simply learning that the decimal point moves when multiplying or dividing decimals by a power of 10, they grasp the dynamics of changing digits. The shift toward deeper conceptual insight and understanding is a positive development.

However, standardized tests have lagged behind in adapting to this new pedagogical approach. While modern mathematics education emphasizes not only arriving at a solution but also understanding the reasoning behind it, standardized tests remain obsessed with the final answer. This dissonance creates a misalignment between classroom instruction and testing expectations. By failing to take into account the importance of explaining mathematical thinking, these tests fail to accurately assess students’ true understanding and problem-solving skills. In this way, the same tests intended to measure mathematical competence inadvertently hinder the development of critical thinking and comprehensive understanding of mathematical concepts.

Miscellaneous

In addition to the specific areas discussed above, state testing is intertwined with a number of broader concerns. Research consistently highlights that standardized assessments perpetuate racial disparities, placing marginalized students at a disadvantage. Additionally, the high-stakes nature of these tests can lead to increased levels of anxiety and stress among students (and their families), which could impact their overall well-being and mental health. Furthermore, standardized tests do not consider multimodal approaches to both teaching and assessment.

A compelling alternative to state testing is the use of portfolio reviews. This method offers a more comprehensive view of student progress and encourages a growth mindset. By displaying a variety of student work, portfolios allow educators to assess individual strengths, growth, and areas of improvement more accurately. This shift toward portfolio-based assessment not only aligns with modern pedagogy but also ensures a more equitable assessment of student performance, regardless of their background or circumstances.

However, in a changing landscape where holistic admissions processes are gaining ground, standardized testing continues to exert a disproportionate influence on college admissions. Many higher education institutions recognize the limitations of relying solely on test scores and are striving to take a more comprehensive approach to evaluating applicants. However, state tests, which have a large impact on high school academic records, do not reflect this shift toward more holistic assessment.

Placing undue emphasis on standardized test scores can cause colleges to overlook other crucial dimensions of a student’s profile, such as extracurricular activities, personal essays, and letters of recommendation. This narrow focus on test performance can prevent the admissions process from truly capturing students’ diverse talents and potential. As universities aim to create vibrant and diverse communities, it is imperative that they reevaluate the weight given to standardized test scores and consider a more balanced and multifaceted approach to admissions.

It is time for education policy makers and stakeholders to engage in continued debates, challenging the status quo and advocating for a more balanced and effective approach to assessment in education. While memorization is important to some extent, educators should be able to shift their focus from standardized testing to instilling in students skills (research, critical thinking, project-based learning, etc.) that allow them to explore various topics with minimal of time. help from their teachers to become independent students.