My Problem with Standardized Testing
In my sociology class on Wednesday, we had a discussion on school, probably the second most important social institution in our society (after the family). We talked about how school forces conformity, the sad reality that blacks have a lower graduation rate than whites (and the causes/effects of that truth), and also had a pretty cool talk about the pros and cons of public school and private school. But my favorite part was when we talked about standardized testing.
An assessment to see if a student is performing well is valuable, and even necessary. But making this assessment the focus of your education is absolutely the wrong road to take.
Here's the thing: there are approximately 14.9 million students in high school in America this year. And trying to make sure that every single one of those 14.9 million students learns what they're supposed to learn is an insanely difficult task. And it's even harder to check if your methods are working out right. I get that. I understand that the way that schools check if their teachers and their teaching models are working out is to test the students to see what they know.
But it's not being done right.
There are so many problems with standardized tests. How can you tell what a student has learned based on a bunch of filled-in bubbles and a percentage score? YOU CAN'T. You can't measure the impact (positive or negative) that a teacher has had on a student or how much the student has gained from a class / series of classes based on a test score, or even several test scores. That's not individual. That's just a statistic, and often, a meaningless one. Students are more than just numbers, and their education is more valuable than test scores. I know that it's hard to recognize any value with something numbering nearly 15 million. I mean if I had 15 million dollars in my bank account and I lost a single dollar, I probably wouldn't be too mad.
BUT THE AMERICAN CITIZENS THAT YOU ARE MOLDING ARE WORTH MUCH MORE THAN DOLLARS, AND ARE MUCH MORE COMPLEX AND VALUABLE THAN NUMBERS.
The problem is that we have created an education system that not only values the results of these tests, but shapes the whole experience around them. We spend so much time preparing for tests that we stop worrying about learning and we just want to do whatever it takes to pass them. Teachers don't teach things based on what's most important, but what's going to be tested on. Students memorize tactics for taking tests, even to the point that they would choose to study ways to pass a test than study the material they're going to be tested on.
And that's ridiculous.
An assessment to see if a student is performing well is valuable, and even necessary. But making this assessment the focus of your education is absolutely the wrong road to take.
The problem is that tests ask the wrong questions. They should ask, "What did you learn? Where can you go with this information? Why is this valuable?" Instead, they ask, "Did you remember the things we told you you were going to be tested on?"
But even worse than that, standardized tests aren't reliable in any way. My freshman language arts teacher once told us that he never paid attention in his classes, but he always did well in contradiction to the lack of effort he put in because he knew how to take tests. I don't think that's necessarily a crazy occurrence. Some kids are really good at taking tests, and some aren't. Some have to study really hard to get a B-, and some don't have to study at all to ace it. That's unfair. A kid who didn't learn anything can pass a test because it's just a flawed system. Plus, there are just too many variables What if you're tired? What if you're hungry? What if you have a headache? What if your mom died three days before and you're too busy holding back tears to focus on the calculus that you're ordinarily really good at?
Try and represent that with a bunch of bubbles and a pass/fail score. I dare you.
I freaking dare you.
Don't you dare tell me that these tests are useful, because they're not. The potential to educate a large amount of human beings is exciting and powerful, but telling them that they aren't good enough because they didn't choose the correct answer too many times is detrimental and worthless. Everyone has different talents and abilities and you can't appreciate that through a test score. You can't create a cookie-cutter mold for every student in America to fit in without missing out on some of the best parts of their potential. You can't force everyone to be the same, or learn the same things. And when you try, you're just creating a limit for them. And that's a shame.
That, kids, is my problem with standardized testing. Please feel free to share/comment on this post because I'm looking forward to a discussion on this topic. Don't hold back.
Also, if you want to read some other good stuff on this subject, check these out:
(I particularly like this last one because not only does it point out the problems but it offers some solutions)
