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Effectiveness of Standardised Testing in Education

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Standardised testing in education, especially public schools used to measure academic

achievements, has faced both support and criticism, fueling a growing debate for nearly two

decades (Brown and Hattie, pp. 287-292). It is an ongoing challenge for school administrators to

develop effective and fair measures of academic achievement; therefore, significantly

understanding the impact of standardised testing in education, including vital benefits and

consequences, closely examines the underlying concept of standardised testing and how it is

incorporated into academic settings (Jo-Anne et al.). Despite the key benefits associated with

standardised testing, standardised academic achievement examinations in education have

remained controversial since their inception. Proponents argue that standardised tests provide an

objective and fair measure of students' achievements and academic aptitude, facilitating

accountability and highlighting improvement areas (Brown and Hattie, pp. 287-292). However,

critics assert that these standardised tests narrow education curricula, perpetuate inequality, and

do not focus on student's full spectrum abilities and performance (Polster et al.; Pietromonaco;

Jackson, p.6; Andreasen et al., pp. 329-348). This essay explores both arguments, advocating for

a balanced approach that acknowledges the effectiveness of standardised testing while

addressing its shortcomings.

Standardised tests are "examinations administered and scored in a predetermined,

standard manner (Baird)." These examinations depend heavily on question formats such as true

or false and multiple-choice that are predetermined and automatically scored. These tests are

widely used to measure achievement and academic aptitude across academic settings.

Standardised tests such as Scottish higher and A-levels are used broadly for higher institution

admissions, current educational development assessment, and examination of student's aptitude

for completing and managing college-level work. Additionally, requirements for standardised
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testing are intended to encourage improvement by holding educators, learners, and learning

institutions accountable for academic performance. These standardised examinations have

become a benchmark used in measuring progress and assessing issues which highlight and

suggest areas of improvement.

Authors Brown and Hattie highlight that standardised assessments in educational

curriculums help inform students of their strengths and gaps and areas of improvement, and such

tests are geared towards motivating students to greater efforts (Brown and Hattie, pp. 287-292).

In many cases, students and teachers are able to predict their performance accurately using self-

reported grades obtained before the standardised assessments; therefore, what is the significance

of standardised tests administered to learners? The authors explain that despite the accuracy and

correlation of self-reported grades and students' actual achievement, this relation applies less

among minority students who are less accurate in their estimates of performance and academic

abilities (Brown and Hattie, pp. 287-292). For instance, Pasifika and Maori students in New

Zealand show a significant gap of two years in academic progress compared to the majority of

ethnic students. However, in a national survey of academic accomplishment, the link between the

students' self-rated aptitude and their performance in writing and mathematics was statistically

significant for the majority of students but statistically non-significant for minority students

(Brown and Hattie, pp. 287-292). Thus, Brown and Hattie explain that standardised assessments

can be used to gain an accurate understanding of their ability and take advantage of student self-

awareness to make a difference in academic settings.

The effectiveness of standardised tests, according to Brown and Hattie, can be further

improved by developing psychological trust and safety in social spaces of academic settings.

Standardised tests are conducted in a public manner, which may have a variety of ramifications
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for individuals involved; however, emphasis on the classroom environment as a social space

provides an alternative to assessments associated with better academic outcomes. Author Harlen

states, "Student self-and/ or peer-assessments, recommended alternatives to standardised testing

require significant levels of psychological safety and trust in the social space of the classroom

(Brown and Hattie, p. 3)". For standardised assessments to be effective and deliver a positive

outcome, students must know that their classmates won't use their admitted failure to learn as a

pretext for mockery or exclusion, that their classmates are providing valuable, accurate, and

constructive feedback, and that their teacher won't be offended if they self-assess and

communicate a persistent lack of understanding (Harris and Brown). Indeed, Surveys conducted

in schools in New Zealand show that students do not associate non-test practices with

assessments, which indicates a higher academic performance and achievement (Brown et al., pp.

159-186; Brown and Hattie, p. 3). In a testament to the power of student involvement in

standardised assessments, Archer reports that the use of TTle writing and reading tests in a

school in Auckland indicated learners were confidently aware that they were learning and

enjoyed it and knew they were assigned to different groups for different aspects of literacy

learning. Therefore, confidence in teachers in academic settings using standardised tests

significantly characterises learners' understanding of assessments and is further associated with

improved academic performance and achievements.

Pietromonaco, in their empirical work, The Effects of Standardised Testing on Students,

explores standardised testing in Western academic settings, specifically the United States, where

such assessments are used to examine instructor's efficacy, individual learners' knowledge, and

state's and district's yearly improvements. These tests include the ACT and SATs, which are

mandated in states as a requirement for students' admission to college. However, these

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standardised tests have faced considerable criticism, including a negative impact on student's

mental impact, causing stress and anxiety, increased cheating and "teaching to the test", which

contribute to the test's inability to illustrate student's true academic abilities and incompetence in

teaching learners critical thinking skills (Pietromonaco, p. 4; Jackson, p. 6). As per

Pietromonaco, significant to academic programs such as the Every Student Succeeds Act and No

Child Left Behind Act, standardised testing is associated with increased stress among students,

consequently impacting learners' physical well-being. Before the No Child Left Behind Act was

signed into law, a group of educators, psychiatrists, and child development experts recommended

to Congress that the bill be reexamined since it would require pupils to take more exams. They

specifically mentioned that "test-related stress is literally making children sick (Pietromonaco, p.

4). In an article referenced in Pietromonaco's empirical work, students reported test-related jitters

and even the most intelligent of students became overwhelmed by the tests, vomiting and crying

prior to the assessments. Stress associated with standardised tests was found to manifest in

children in sleep problems, headaches, attendance issues, stomachaches, acting out, and

depression. Additionally, despite long-term and thorough preparation by students, it was

observed the likelihood of answering questions accurately decreased with increased levels of

stress, showing that learners with the highest stress levels exhibited a thirteen percent chance of a

decrease in the ability to answer questions accurately (Pietromonaco). This negatively impacts

students' academic and achievement outcomes.

Other than stress, standardised tests are associated with test anxiety, which is defined as

the "general anxiety students experience in testing situations (Lowe, p. 1-9)." In a study

conducted by Lowe (p. 1-9), the findings point out that students' cognitive development was

highly associated with areas of worry and task-irrelevant behaviour where learners recognise
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their behaviour attributed to test anxiety, their environment, and thoughts. In addition, anxiety in

young students is linked to their growth because as they grow, their worrisome thoughts become

more clear and comprehensive, especially as they become aware of the pressures placed on them.

Lowe refers to test anxiety as a "function of situational factors" because the academic settings

students are in, the pressure put on them, thoughts, feeling, and responsive behaviour towards

standardised assessments are all relative to the tests (Pietromonaco, p. 7). Standardised testing,

such as college admissions, has considerably high stakes that cause test anxiety, leaving learners

helpless, especially when failure is impacted by external factors such as overwhelming pressure

rather than effort.

Critics have also pointed out the negative impact of standardised testing on teachers,

explaining that instructors often face pressure because these assessments hold them accountable,

where students' grades are used to evaluate the teachers, too. In many states and districts, a

teacher's exam results from the students are a significant component of their total performance

review and might even decide whether or not they are hired there. This has left many teachers

feeling they need to alter students' scores or cheat on tests due to the emphasis put on students'

scores on standardised tests on the federal level. With the implementation of policies that sought

to hold teachers accountable for students' academic achievements, teachers widely adopted tests

and drills to build recall and memorisation rather than teaching logic and deep thinking. As a

result, although students acquired high scores on standardised tests, they exhibited low academic

achievement in overall school performance (Morgan, pp. 67-72; Pietromonaco, p. 10). Critics of

standardised tests widely associated with high-stake testing attributed to administrators and

teachers' increasing pressure to have their students do well in tests consequently due to the

heavyweight accorded to such evaluations.

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Conclusively, the effectiveness of standardised testing in academic settings is a double-

edged concept and practice that warrants careful consideration of the advantages and limitations

of such assessments. Drawing from the essay, the merits of standardised testing are explored,

highlighting the significance of equality and objective data in improving accountability while

addressing issues of mental and physical well-being among learners and a narrowed curriculum,

which increases cheating, especially among teachers and administrators. For increased

effectiveness in standardised testing, a collaboration of the tests and other assessment methods is

significant in building an educational curriculum that values the unique abilities and strengths

portrayed by each learner.

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Work Cited

Andreasen, Karen, et al. "Standardised testing in compulsory schooling in England and

Denmark: A comparative study and analysis." Bildung und Erziehung 68.3 (2015): 329-

348. Polster, P.P., Detrich, R., and States, J. "Standardised Testing: The Controversy

Surrounding It." Oakland, CA: The Wing Institute, (2021).

https://www.winginstitute.org/student-standardized-tests.

Archer, E. "Beyond the rhetoric of formative assessment: Seeking solutions for South Africa in

New Zealand’s Assessment Tools for Teaching and Learning." Unpublished manuscript.

University of Pretoria. Pretoria, South Africa (2009).

Baird, Jo-Anne, et al., eds. Examination standards: How measures and meanings differ around

the world. UCL, IOE Press, 2018.

Brown, G. T. L., E. R. Peterson, and S. E. Irving. "Self-regulatory beliefs about assessment

predict mathematics achievement." Student perspectives on assessment: What students

can tell us about assessment for learning (2009): 159-186.

Brown, G. T., and John Hattie. "The benefits of regular standardised assessment in childhood

education." Contemporary debates in childhood education and development (2012): 287-

292.

Harris, Lois, and G. Brown. "My teacher's judgment matters more than mine": comparing

teacher and student perspectives on self-assessment practices in the classroom." (2010).

Jackson, Samantha N. "Standardising America: Why it should be a method of the past." OUR

Journal: ODU Undergraduate Research Journal 8.1 (2021): 6.

Lowe, Patricia A. "Expression and Level of Test Anxiety in a Sample of Elementary Students."

Higher Education Studies 12.3 (2019): 1-9.

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Morgan, Hani. "Relying on high-stakes standardised tests to evaluate schools and teachers: A

bad idea." The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas

89.2 (2016): 67-72.

Pietromonaco, Cristina. "The effects of standardised testing on students." (2021).

https://digitalcommons.sacredheart.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?

article=1588&context=acadfest