Standardized Tests: Lowering the Standards

Standardized Tests: Lowering the Standards of Education No Brick in the Wall Left Behind") Standardized achievement tests are a major part of school curriculum in America. This kind of test was first introduced to our schools in 1947 when the Educational Testing Service (ETS) was first established and administered a standardized test at 50 leading universities. (Schmitz 1991) the use of these tests spread and it was accepted into our culture that this is an accurate way to measure a student's intelligence and academic potential.

High schools have been administering tests such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Test (ACT) as prerequisites for being admitted to any college for many years. These tests have seeped their way into all levels of school, and students from pre-kindergarden to high school have become accustomed to taking multiple standardized tests throughout the course of their school career. "During the past decade, the use of standardized multiple-choice tests has exploded..

equivalent to each child taking over 60 standardized tests while completing the kindergarten-through-12th-grade school program." (Neill) These tests are administered supposedly as a way to help ensure that students are receiving the best education possible, but their accuracy and validity has been challenged by many individuals and organizations. The possible benefits of standardized tests may seem to be outweighed by the harm they cause. The issue of standardized tests is relevant to all educators.

These tests are an unavoidable part of the school experience, especially in light of President Bush's "No Child Left Behind" initiative which has a strong focus on standardized tests as an educational tool. The number of standardized tests being used has grown significantly in recent years.

They are not only being used as a way to monitor student's achievement, but "exams are now required in many districts for entry to school, placement in programs, promotion from grade to grade, and high school graduation." (Neill 1990) Additionally, test results are used to determine classroom, school, and district funding, as well as impacting the future of individual educators that are judged by them. An increasing number of very basic and fundamental decisions relating to education are being based largely, or even solely, on standardized test scores.

The result is that schools are being dominated by these tests. Curriculum in the classroom is based on what students need to learn in order to get high test scores. The teaching methods used are chosen based on how well they prepare students for multiple choice tests. The resources that can be used in the classroom are limited by how they fit into the test-preparation and the funding that is available to the class, based on test score results.

Educators must acknowledge the significance of these tests, whether they are proponents and believe that the "expansion of testing enhances accountability and strengthens school systems," (Neill 1990) or if they believe that these tests are harmful to education and individual students. Standardized tests have been put into place with the backing of some very appealing arguments. The theory is that students must be placed into segregated ability groups so that their individual needs can be met.

Students who are prepared, for example, to begin reading more advanced literature rather than reading primers may theoretically be identified by test scores. Students who need additional assistance in certain areas can also be identified and then teachers can work with them on developing those skills. Students can be placed into these tracking groups without teachers having to take responsibility for the decisions. Standardized tests are also, supposedly, a way of ensuring that schools are providing a quality education and teaching students the information and skills they will actually need.

It is a way to prevent schools from slacking off and not pushing students. These tests are used also in determining funding for the school, as those who have high tests scores are awarded money to help maintain their excellence, while those who have low test scores are in need of more funding for improvement. Many parents also find these tests to be appealing because it allows them to find out how their child compares to his or her peers in academic ability.

The makers of these tests and those who support them claim that the tests are "objective" and that they have very beneficial applications in education. Those who oppose standardized tests voice a great many concerns.

"One problem with achievement testing is that a few minutes of performance time can end up directing a young child's entire educational career." (Schmitz 1991) When tests are administered to young children that take extended periods of time to complete, such as those which take six to eight hours with only short bathroom breaks, the child's naturally shorter attention span may affect performance on the tests.

Many test makers compensate for this by making the tests very short, some only comprised of 20 to 30 questions total, which means that only one or two incorrect responses will seriously affect the grade. "A few unusual answers, a minute of inattention, even the need to go to the bathroom may lower a score from brilliance to mediocrity. " (Schmitz 1991) Standardized testing does not take into account factors such as varying developmental rates among children and testing environments, and the biased nature of the tests is a serious problem.

All major intelligence tests used in this country are based on the experiences of white, middle-class youngsters....Test bias keeps numerous low-income and minority-group children out of "gifted" and "talented" educational programs.

Moreover, it fills classes for the "educable mentally retarded" with two to three times more lower-income and minority children than middle-class white children." (Schmitz 1991) student that performs poorly on tests once may never be able to break out of a vicious cycle, as he or she will be placed into the low-ability classes, and therefore learn less, then the student will test poorly again. This student, labeled as inferior, will suffer from self-esteem problems.

In conclusion, there may be a small number of benefits that can be reaped from standardized tests. Unfortunately, most of those benefits have nothing to do with the best interests of our children. These tests track students inappropriately into ability-levels, where students who scored poorly on tests will be "dumbed down." In some schools students may be held back due to these test results regardless of classroom performance.

The methods used to teach children to score well on these tests is actually counterproductive to higher thinking skills, and the limited curriculum that teachers use in test-driven classrooms is less interesting and unrelated to real-life. Standardized tests are used to reproduce class and racial divisions and hierarchies. They are created so that upper class white males will get high scores, and perpetrates the myth that inequality in class is created by differences in intelligence and ability rather than by inequality of treatment.

This myth of equal treatment and meritocracy convinces citizens of.