Is Standardized Testing Necessary?
By: Ashley Weng
Standardized tests are exams used worldwide to accurately assess a student’s academic abilities. They are consistently scored, and questions and time limits are created uniformly. In many countries, these tests are used to gauge students' and schools’ academic performance, and are a large part in determining the future of many young adults. Its main goals in tracking students' progress are to identify which schools or students are in need of additional support and to ensure accountability within educational systems. Still, many argue that standardized tests only promote stress and anxiety among young adults and that these exams are inaccurate and do not fully reflect a student’s capabilities. As many schools and policymakers discuss this topic, it is important to understand both the benefits and the consequences of standardized testing.
Standardized Testing Causes Stress
One of the main reasons standardized testing is argued against is the stress that it causes students. Rather than fostering an eagerness to learn, these tests instill anxiety and fear in kids across the country. Since many are told that a singular test could define their entire future career, it places a large burden on the shoulders of many and could also affect the way they perform on this test. Nancy Hamilton, a psychology professor, says that “high-stakes tests can cause a host of cascading problems… including increased anxiety levels, overconsumption of caffeine, smoking, an unhealthy diet, lack of exercise, and poor sleep quality”(Terada). The stress that comes from standardized testing is an issue that should not be overlooked, as it could lead to bigger problems later in life for these young adults. Also, many students who perform worse than they expected to on these tests fall into a rabbit hole of self-doubt and humiliation. Due to pressures they may have experienced from parents or peers, these students could collapse under the weight of letting others, or themselves, down.
Studying for standardized exams along with the stress of other school work can create lots of anxiety and mental issues within young adults across the nation. Image by NeaToday.
Inaccuracy
As well as causing students to collapse under stress, standardized testing also provides an inaccurate assessment of a person’s abilities. Many standardized tests give students few to no opportunities to achieve a sufficient score. So, if someone takes one of these tests on a bad day, when they aren’t in the right mindset, it could negatively affect their final score. When something like this happens, the test isn’t accurately reflecting the students’ capabilities. Along with this, Alissa Holland, an instructional coach who works for public schools, says, “Standardized tests can create test anxiety and some kids even have test phobia because they have just this one chance at getting it right”(Long). Going back to the point about stress made earlier, anxiety can even negatively affect test scores as well, causing students to unfocus and score worse than they could have done. Standardized testing also provides a very limited snapshot of a student’s abilities. There is only so much that can be determined from a score. While they often test for math or grammar skills, they often completely disregard soft skills, such as communication and teamwork abilities, which are just as important, if not more so.
Standardized Tests Provide Benchmarks
However, others argue that standardized testing can be beneficial because it gives uniform benchmarks for schools and students across the world. To prevent bias in assessing what a student can or can’t do, standardized testing is a great way to achieve consistent information about a person's capabilities. Educators can use these scores to look at where their students are falling short, and “by pinpointing these disparities, educators and policymakers can develop targeted strategies to bridge these gaps and ensure all students get the support they need”(Tunnell). Not only can schools use these test scores to their advantage, but students can as well. For example, on the SAT, students have the option to retake the test multiple times so they can improve their score. By reflecting on previous scores, they know which skills they need to work on so they can boost their score and study effectively.
Educational Equity
Along with providing useful benchmarks for students and educators, it also boosts educational equity and fairness. Because everyone takes the same test under the same conditions, no biases are involved when it comes to scoring the test. Also, standardized tests help to make sure every student has the resources to succeed academically, since “Fair, reliable, and valid exams provide an essential mechanism for quantifying the problem so that resources can be allocated and investment made in the schools and districts with the greatest need”(Jordan). These tests can make a huge difference in the futures of many young adults if they are provided with the resources and support that they need. Standardized test scores can also help students who are not financially able to participate in a lot of extracurricular activities or those who come from a low-performing school when it comes to college applications. These tests serve as a tool for these students to show their potential to colleges when they may not always have the chance to do so. At the end of the day, standardized tests serve to improve and create equality in education for all.
Some students need more help and resources than others in order to achieve the most out of their education. Standardized testing helps to spot the students who need additional help so they can get the support they need. Image by Interaction Institute for Social Change | Artist: Angus Maguire.
Conclusion
Ultimately, standardized testing can be a useful tool when it comes to giving benchmarks and promoting educational fairness, but it also boosts stress, and test results can be inaccurate at times. At the end of the day, it is extremely hard to measure anyone’s educational success, since many students excel in their own ways. Although standardized testing provides a shallow understanding of a student's academic capabilities, it at least provides a generalization of where each student or school is at. For now, it would be difficult to completely remove these exams if need be, since they are such an integral part of education systems today. However, building into the future, more aspects might be involved in the process of standardized testing to make sure that it can be as accurate as possible and examine a full range of students' skill sets.
References
Terada, Y. (2022, October 14). The psychological toll of High-Stakes testing. Edutopia. https://www.edutopia.org/article/psychological-toll-high-stakes-testing/
Long, C. (n.d.). Standardized Testing is Still Failing Students | NEA. https://www.nea.org/nea-today/all-news-articles/standardized-testing-still-failing-students
Standardized tests: The benefits and impacts of implementing standardized tests. (n.d.). https://www.educationadvanced.com/blog/standardized-tests-the-benefits-and-impacts-of-implementing-standardized
Blobaum, D. (2024, March 27). How Standardized Testing is Essential to Promoting Equity. National Test Prep Association. https://nationaltestprep.org/how-standardized-testing-is-essential-to-promoting-equity/
