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Kennedy Burr

Prof. Cook

ENG1101

6 December 2019

Standardized Testing: to Test or Not to Test

As another school year is underway, the dreaded testing season grows nearer. Year after

year, the same debate occurs among students and staff of schools. The question remains the

same, is standardized testing the best way to gather information? Standardized testing restricts

the curriculum able to be taught, limits diversity amongst students, and places a lot of stress on

students and staff. After researching many viewpoints on this topic, it is apparent that the

negatives to standardized testing greatly outweigh the positives, or proposed positives.

Each year, the state gives out the specific curriculum that needs to be taught by all

teachers. This outline of topics that must be taught puts a major strain on the ability of teachers

to give their students a well-rounded, full education. Each teacher has their own opinion on what

their students should know and what information will benefit them. With this curriculum,

teachers must teach topics for a test, not for the benefit of the scholars. This allows for many

gaps in the student’s bank of knowledge which teachers are not at fault for, but the standardized

testing syllabus. As an article by the National Center for Fair and Open Testing states, “if

instruction focuses on the test, students will not learn these skills, which are needed for success

in college and often in life.” This shows that if states keep requiring teachers to teach for the test,

scholars will miss out on information that would have helped them in their future.
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In today’s world, we encourage each other to love ourselves and embrace our differences

because they are what make us stand out, however, standardized testing assumes that every

student is the same and attempts to test them all the same way. On this topic, Thomas Armstrong

states that, “they have different cultural backgrounds, different levels of proficiency in the

English language, different learning and thinking styles, different family backgrounds, and

different past experiences.” In this piece from his article, Thomas discusses the many ways that

students within our country are unique. Testing them all with the same test will never give

factual, collectable data because each scholar will take a different approach on the test.

Another downside of standardized testing is the tole it takes on the mental health of

students and staff. The teachers are restricted to particular topics that they must teach just how

the state wants it so that their students can pass the test. How well the students score reflects on

the teacher, and their abilities. However, the teachers have no say on what they want to teach or

how far to go in each topic, so it is not a fair way to evaluate the educators. The students who

actually have to take the tests also undergo major stress. In Sarah Brigg’s article, she states, “a

Harvard University study found that standardized testing actually increases the drop-out rate.”

This shows that the pressure to score well causes scholars to spin out of control. Standardized

testing has no positive effect on students and educators, it only weakens their mental toughness.

On the opposite side of the debate, there are those who believe that standardized testing is

a good thing in the education world. James Aycock is an educator who supports the process of

standardized testing. The testing is a way to collect data on the students, staff, and districts of

many schools. In his article, James states, “if everyone is taking different tests, then you can’t

compare scores. If you can’t compare scores, then you can’t measure teachers, schools, or
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districts.” He claims that having the same test for everyone is the only way to gather data on the

ability of students and staff.

This claim, however, is completely absurd because the data that is being collected is not

factual. Every student learns and tests differently and all teachers have a unique way of teaching

their subjects. Trying to evaluate them all with one test is simply impossible. The idea that this

data is reliable and helps to assess students and staff is foolish. The people who push for

standardized testing to gather information on the schools do not understand that this data is

simply misconstrued. Every teacher, student, and district are different so having one test for all

of them is outrageous.

Standardized tests cause nothing but negative effects on everyone involved in the

process. Educators are unable to teach what they feel is important for the students to know and

how far in depth they can go is limited by the standards of the test. Scholars are missing out on

valuable knowledge and crucial life-skills. Without learning these skills, students will suffer in

their future endeavors. Not only are scholars missing out on many learning opportunities and

important strengths, they are being beaten down by the pressure of these tests. The stress that the

students are put under when preparing for these tests is unmeasurable and only negatively affect

their ability to show their worth on the test. Between the negative effects on students and staff,

along with the misconstrued data, standardized tests have no benefit to anyone.
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Works Cited

Armstrong, Thomas. “15 Reasons Why Standardized Tests Are Worthless.” American Institute,

institute4learning.com, 28 Febuary 2013,

https://www.institute4learning.com/2013/02/28/15-reasons-why-standardized-tests-are-

worthless-2/

Aycock, James. “Teacher Voice: In Defense of Standardized Testing.” SCORE, tnscore.org, 20

May 2014, tnscore.org/in-defense-of-standardized-testing/

Briggs, Sarah. “6 Reasons Standardized Testing Is, At Best, Problematic.” TeachThought,

teachthough.com, 29 August 2017, www.teachthought.com/pedagogy/6-reasons-

standardized-testing-is-at-best-problematic/

Sireci, Stephen G. “Standardized Testing is Useful.” Gale In Context, go-gale-com.sinclair.

Ohionet.org, 1 January 2008, https://go-gale-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Viewpoints&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&se

archResultsType=MultiTab&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=3&docId=GALE

%7CEJ3010478202&docType=Viewpoint+essay&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAY-
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MOD1&prodId=OVIC&contentSet=GALE%7CEJ3010478202&searchId=R1&userGroupName

=dayt30401&inPS=true

“Standardized Testing Has Serious Limits.” Gale In Context, go-gale-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org, 1 January 2008, https://go-gale-

com.sinclair.ohionet.org/ps/retrieve.do?tabID=Viewpoints&resultListType=RESULT_LIST&se

archResultsType=MultiTab&searchType=BasicSearchForm&currentPosition=2&docId=GALE

%7CEJ3010478203&docType=Viewpoint+essay&sort=Relevance&contentSegment=ZXAY-

MOD1&prodId=OVIC&contentSet=GALE%7CEJ3010478203&searchId=R2&userGroupName

=dayt30401&inPS=true