Loading...
Classful

Over the past decade, the pros and cons of standardized testing have been fiercely debated.

While many parents see the benefits of why testing as good, others feel justifiably concerned that their children are being unfairly judged.

Ask any parent why testing is terrible. The answer you’re likely to receive will focus on the idea that standardized assessment results don’t always correlate with successful career outcomes or the ability to learn.

In the United States, private and public schools use standardized testing every academic year. Most public schools require pupils to undertake standardized testing to ensure that the school and its pupils meet state/federal standards. On the other hand, private schools have a little more leeway, although many will require students from Grade 2 onwards to complete examinations set by government bodies. Different private establishments unsurprisingly have additional rules, which can understandably cause confusion among parents.

Education resources

$3.00
$3.00
$3.00
$2.50
$3.00
$5.00
$3.00
$37.50

What are the pros of standardized testing?

While there are many advantages and disadvantages to be discussed, most education professionals agree that the pros of standardized testing outweigh the cons. Provided assessments are looked at correctly and used to encourage learning.

1. Standardized assessments are a good metric for learning quality

When students undertake standardized assessments, educational establishments gain valuable metrics that measure the level of education provided, mainly when independent organizations set the exams. Exam results data from a neutral source can be compared with data from other schools in the local area, nationally, and across the globe to paint a picture of the overall education level of an establishment. This is useful for parents of prospective students as it provides them with information regarding the standard of education they can expect their children to receive upon enrolling in a particular school.

2. Standardized testing can pinpoint areas that require improvement

When schools receive standardized test data, they can use it to evaluate the overall effectiveness of their education program. It’s not merely a means to assess student’s performance – it’s a useful tool to help establishments reflect on the condition of their curriculum. Students can be compared to their peers in rival schools to determine what’s going right and wrong. From here, schools can identify where they need to invest more resources and time to bring things to a more satisfactory level.

3. Standardized tests help track progress over time

Most schools will find assessment data to be invaluable when it comes to making year-on-year comparisons. From here, it’s easy to spot trends – for example, when a particular department started falling behind in test scores – and then extrapolate why this happened. Whether positive or negative, trends can be easily traced back to their source.

Of course, it’s not just about the school’s performance. Students’ historical assessment data can be monitored to keep an eye on their progress and can be used to identify any challenges they may need to overcome. The same data can identify high-performing students who may be recommended to participate in extracurricular activities or be awarded scholarships later in their education.

Do standardized tests measure educational quality?

In an era where educators are under severe pressure to demonstrate their effectiveness, it seems to be the case that standardized test scores are the be-all and end-all. However, many in the teaching sector believe that the wrong yardstick is currently measuring educational quality – and here’s why:

1. Standardized testing creates pressure to “teach for the test.”

Standardized exams are often put on a pedestal and frequently become an essential part of the academic year for teachers and students alike. Naturally, this has a huge impact on the way teachers teach and how students learn. Educators begin to “teach to the test” if they feel their role depends on how well their students perform in standardized assessments. This can prevent educators from getting creative in the classroom and put pay to any new or experimental teaching methods that could genuinely benefit students. Instead, teaching becomes a case of “every minute matters” as the clock counts down to the next round of assessments, where teachers worry that untested methods might backfire and result in low test scores. Ultimately, this results in less engagement, less risk-taking, and less curiosity in the classroom.

2. Test scores can have an impact on confidence

One of the largest arguments against standardized testing is that it often boils down to the student’s ability to get a simple score on the day of the assessment. Many factors can affect how a student performs during a standardized exam (issues with home life, illness, and lack of sleep, to name just three). Many educators think judging students based on test scores is unfair. There are other ways to ascertain whether students can clearly understand their core subjects (through assignments and coursework throughout the year, for example). A poor score can impact a student’s confidence, resulting in poor morale and less engagement with learning.

3. Not everybody learns in the same way

To paraphrase the Nobel Prize-winning scientist Albert Einstein, if you judge a goldfish by its ability to climb up trees, it will spend an entire lifetime believing it is stupid. Studies suggest that many people tend to engage with education via more hands-on learning approaches instead of having to tick boxes on a multiple-choice test sheet merely. Standardized testing doesn’t take multi-faceted learning into account, and it could, therefore, easily be argued that it does not accurately represent the skill levels of some students.

In conclusion

Standardized testing helps keep our educators accountable (as they should be). The education of our nation’s children is far too important to go unmonitored. However, evaluating the quality of a child’s education with the wrong assessment instruments seems to subvert the fantastic work United States educators do daily.

While schools need to provide evidence of their effectiveness, in the future, it may be worth considering that standardized tests might be the wrong tools for the task. While examinations have their place, a combined look at assignments and coursework in conjunction with tests might be more accurate in measuring success.