Standardized Testing Leaves Many Children Behind

While standardized tests have been around long before the passage of NCLB, these types of initiatives have increased the focus on using such assessments to evaluate student learning.  From 3rd grade on, students in America's public schools have become conditioned to an educational environment that centers around "preparing for the test."  While I both support and appreciate the intent of legislation such as NCLB (to improve our educational system and ensure that ALL students have access to a solid education), I do not support the measures that have been implemented to accomplish those goals.  Instead of improving a student's overall educational experience, I fear that the exact opposite has happened.  Instead of preventing children from being left behind, far too many have been cast aside in the wake of standardized testing.  It is time that politicians, as well as those charged with directing the course of our system of public education recognize the harm that is done by these types of assessments.  It is time to decrease the focus on standardized tests, and increase the focus on exposing our students to a well-rounded curriculum and enriching educational experience.

A large part of the original aim of standardized testing was to measure student abilities in order to ensure that they were placed in classes of the appropriate level...another well-aimed intention.  However, this too has led to negative consequences, most notably the tracking of students.  Still, since the onset of standardized testing, our public schools have seen their use spiral almost out of control.  Unlike students of my generation, whose testing experience was limited to the CAT, PSAT, and SAT, today's students have grown up with a barrage of EOG, VOCATS, and EOC testing.  By the time a student has reached the 12th grade, I wonder how many times they have heard the previously mentioned acronyms, or the phrase, "this will be on the test."  I have no doubt that the number would be staggering.

My point is this...standardized tests do have some value.  They can be used as ONE of many measures to evaluate student progress and learning.  However, they should not be used as the sole measure to determine student proficiency or promotion.  And, furthermore, the results of standardized testing should not be given such credence when it comes to evaluating the effectiveness of schools, or the administrators and teachers who work there.

WHY do I say this?  Because, although the are both pros and cons to the use of standardized testing, I believe that the negatives far outweigh any positives that accompany such tests.  While a complete list of cons would be far too long to include in this blog (entire books have been written on the subject), that list would include the following:

• The focus on using standardized test to evaluate schools, administrators, teachers, and students has led to a "dumbing down" of the curriculum.  Students are no longer exposed to a well-rounded curriculum, as many electives and non-core courses have been eliminated all-together.  Research shows that this actually has a negative effect on student learning.  Furthermore, this prevents many students from being exposed to hands-on opportunities for learning, and also delays their exposure to skills that might be used to secure employment after high school.
• Fearful of poor evaluations and potential ramifications, many teachers have begun to "teach to the test."  Instead of exposing students to a variety of content, teachers have focused their planning and instruction efforts towards preparing students to score well on EOG or EOC testing.  In addition to robbing students of opportunities for deeper learning, this often leads to unethical behavior from teachers.  One example of such behavior would be teachers providing students with questions and/or answers prior to a particular standardized assessment.  Recently, teachers and administrators across an entire school district in Atlanta took it a step further, altering student answer sheets in order to boost test scores.

• Overwhelmed by the pressure to succeed on tests, many of our nation's students fall victim to test anxiety and other related problems.  Eager to please parents and teachers, and fearful of being held back, the pressure can be too great for young people.  In addition to mental and physical health issues, this can also lead them to participate in unethical behavior such as cheating, etc.
• Research has shown that many standardized tests are flawed, filled with multiple types of bias and inaccurate questions.  Minority students and students from backgrounds of poverty frequently struggle the format and style of questions included on tests, and often perform poorly.  Regardless of background, many students struggle with questions that seem to have more than one correct answer, or even worse, NO correct answer. 

Yet, despite such issues (and the research), the testing continues...for whatever reason, policymakers continue to hail testing as a great way to measure student achievement.  For whatever reason, those "in charge" fail to recognize the cons that are apparent with respect to standardized testing.  In fact, the United States is virtually the only country in the world that uses standardized testing to such a degree.  Other nations assess student learning and progress using a variety of indicators and, when students are tested, more objective measures are used.  Interestingly enough, despite the lack of focus on testing in other countries, their students tend to perform BETTER on standardized tests than those from our country's public schools!

At some point, the move to improve instruction and student performance in our schools must involve a shift away from standardized testing.  I believe that the time for that shift has come...the time is NOW.  While some tests have recently been eliminated, those choices were made based on economics...not in the best interests of students.  It is time to put the interests of students first.  In a time of data driven decisions, it is time for policymakers to take a hard look at the data and come up with a better plan.  Testing is not a cure-all.  Instead of providing the solution, testing itself has become a part of the problem.  Until change is enacted, I fear that problem will become worse.