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Isabelle Donnell

ENG101

Roxanne Dewey

10 November 2020

Standardized Testing and the Effect on Students

Imagine a student taking a standardized test for the first time. Though they had studied

the night before, they now find that the information has completely slipped from their mind. Due

to this, the student begins to stress out and not pay attention to the matter at hand. This situation

is common with many students, as test taking is one of the most common factors that cause stress

among students. Along with this fact, there are also other reasons why students’ intelligence

should not be reliant on standardized tests. Colleges do not prioritize standardized test results,

and the questions on these tests are made somewhat unfairly for certain groups of students.

To begin with, standardized tests cause too much stress on students, which can result in

poorer grades. Many students feel that most of the time, when their test scores are low, it is due

to the amount of pressure they feel in order to do well on the tests. According to Forsythe, a

senior editor on the Crossed Sabres newsletter, 76% of psychologists from New York admit that

state testing is more stressful than district testing (Forsythe). If students are focused on getting

high grades instead of the problems themselves, they will not be able to check their test work to

see if they’re right. Continually, studies have found that students have 15% more cortisol in their

bodies on days of standardized testing (“Tests and Stress Bias”), cortisol being the stress

hormone. This scientific evidence proves that tests are causing unnecessary amounts of stress on

students, even to those who have studied. In my own experience, I have experienced massive
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amounts of stress on days with important tests, such as the SAT and ACT. It has gone so far as to

me feeling incredibly nauseous, which in turn, made me less able to focus on the questions in

front of me. Because of this, I have received lower scores than I would have if I wasn’t stressed

out. Stress seems to be a common factor in low scores on tests; if this is the case, then

standardized tests should not be seen as a major factor in justifying a student’s intelligence.

Additionally, these tests have been proven by colleges to not be crucial to a student’s

standing in college. An article by Nick Morrison states that GPAs are more indicative of a

student’s success in college, not standardized tests (“It’s GPAs Not Standardized Tests”). Due to

the fact that GPAs are cumulative and not based on just one grade, it is more likely that a student

would be ready for college if they had a high GPA rather than a high score on a standardized test.

Not to mention, there have been some problematic situations dealing with these tests, an example

being Felicity Huffman paying $15k to correct her daughter’s SAT scores (Morrison). The fact

that people can get away with this or even attempt to do so clearly shows that standardized tests

should not be an indicator of either a student’s intelligence or potential success beyond high

school. To look at a student and only see one day that they may not have been at their best is

unfair; therefore, colleges should rethink making standardized testing mandatory for some

schools.

Furthermore, another reason that standardized testing should not be crucial to a student’s

academic life is due to the unfairness of the test questions themselves. For kids who are

homeschooled, for example, the questions may not be familiar to them as their “teachers” do not

teach by a list of topics provided to them by the government. If they were to take these

government issued tests, they would automatically be more likely to receive a lower grade

because of the simple fact that they don’t know the layout of the tests. Continually, according to
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the ASCD, test questions that are answered correctly by a large number of students are actually

removed from the test for being too easy (Popham). This is not beneficial for the students at all,

as they are quite literally being removed from the population that receives good grades on the

tests. If questions on these tests are made to get wrong, then who could ever possibly receive an

excellent grade? The answer is only the students with the highest amount of education; that is,

privileged upper-class students and not lower or middle class. This is because some test

questions are based on knowledge that a student acquires outside of the classroom (Popham). By

doing this, the test makers are eliminating the majority of students who have not had these

experiences.

On the other hand, some people believe that standardized testing has done a great job at

measuring a student's academic performance. Some may argue that because the tests cover a

wide range of subjects, such as science, math, writing, reading, and others, that it is a very good

indicator of a student’s overall knowledge (Churchill). However, the second argument Churchill,

a research director at Fordham Institute, makes is that teachers may vary from school to school;

in that case, wouldn’t the generality of the test questions be harmful to students? Teachers can

not possibly know everything there is to teach on a standardized test, in which case, the students

may be learning about topics they may not even need to know. The generality of the tests makes

it difficult to pinpoint exactly what the students need to know in order to pass.

Thus, standardized tests should not be relied upon to gauge a student’s intellect and

success in the future because of factors such as stress, colleges not needing to rely on these

scores, and the fact of unfairness and biases written into these tests. Test makers and colleges

should work together in order to find a better way to understand students’ intelligence as

standardized tests become more and more inapplicable. Once that happens, society may see an
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increase in hardworking students that actually enjoy learning rather than just pushing through it

day by day.
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Works Cited

Ascd. Why Standardized Tests Don't Measure Educational Quality.

www.ascd.org/publications/educational-leadership/mar99/vol56/num06/Why-

Standardized-Tests-Don't-Measure-Educational-Quality.aspx.

Churchill, Aaron, et al. “Bless the Tests: Three Reasons for Standardized Testing.” The

Thomas B. Fordham Institute, 11 Sept. 2020,

fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/bless-tests-three-reasons-standardized-testing.

Forsythe, H. (n.d.). Standardized testing leads to student stress. Retrieved November 03,

2020, from https://www.crossedsabres.org/opinion-2/2017/02/23/standardized-testing-

leads-to-student-stress

Strauss, V. (2020, August 19). Colleges should rethink using standardized test scores for

admissions, major counselors' group says. Retrieved November 03, 2020, from

https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/19/colleges-should-rethink-using-

standardized-test-scores-admissions-major-counselors-group-says/

Tests and Stress Bias. (n.d.). Retrieved November 03, 2020, from

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/19/02/tests-and-stress-bias