Standardized Testing: Drop Them

There are certainly some benefits to standardized testing. As a national test that’s administered in virtually all middle and high schools, these tests leave no stones unturned (except for private schools). These standardized tests reflect whether teachers are exceptionally good at teaching or if they are neglectful of their students’ education. These tests also allow districts, schools, and regions to be rated on quality of education.

Tests also keep teachers accountable for spending class time actually teaching. Although there is debate of whether or not these tests accurately represent how skilled and erudite these students are, it does capture a general idea of how well these students are learning. For example, on a multiple-choice test of math problems, of course a certain student may make minor mistakes or lucky guesses to sway the accuracy of score, but at least the score is in a ball park range.

Although there are certain benefits of standardized testing, overall I think we can get rid of them. In the private school I attended from 4^th-6^th grade, the teachers came together to determine what was important to learn. Teachers focused on challenging students and including life-relevant experiences rather than filling our brains with things on a list. We celebrated Passover just to see what it was like, teachers taught us how to have correct manners, and in gym our teacher taught us skills such as how to fish and how to stay healthy through winters. When I moved back into a public school in 7^th grade, I had found that I was actually ahead of other students in various subjects; I believe the pressures of standardized testing may have influenced that. When teachers are forced to focus on preparing students for standardized tests, they lose the big picture of how these students should be prepared for their future. Teachers may find themselves limited by the standards set upon them.

I don’t remember the names of the exact standardized tests I took, but I remember how I felt towards each subject test. I thought the biology test was an unrealistic measure of how smart I was because it was multiple-choice and focused on specific details that I never even learned in class. It included questions like, “What family and genus is a white-tailed fox in?” I literally guessed on half of the questions. I thought it was fun to take the math test because I am naturally inclined to math and it came easy to me. I didn’t like reading comprehension because by the time I read the passage and started answering the questions, the time was up and I had to mark random answers. It was only until I started studying for the GRE that I realized that the reading comprehension test isn’t about how well you comprehend reading, it’s about how well you are at taking that type of test and what types of techniques you use.

I understand that my personal preferences towards certain topic tests influences how I felt about taking these tests, but my peer students also didn’t like these tests for similar reasons. A few of my friends complained about the math section, wishing it was only reading comprehension, while other friends had the same tendency towards math as I had. Regardless, I think teachers could find better use of their time and lessons if they focused on teaching things they believed relevant to their students rather than what has to be taught for a good standardized test score rating.  

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