The Effects Of Standardized Tests On Students In Modern Education

Introduction

Humans have been interested in inaptitude for thousands of years. However, it wasn’t until 1905 when Alfred Binet, a French psychologist, was appointed to distinguish students that required more educational help that the “first intelligent quotient (IQ) test” was created (Cherry, 2019). Through this creation, Binet paved the way for more evolved standard tests to come into existence

In general, standardized tests are a common method to test students with varying scholastic levels to compare them about their academic achievements. This enables schools, colleges, and universities to identify the student’s capabilities of test-taking and his or her rank concerning other test-takers. Moreover, these tests usually examine a collection of what is taught nationally and are used as a basis to measure the goals and objectives of how schools are encountering educational standards.

This paper will discover the extent of the effects that standardized testing has upon students. It will contend that standardized tests cannot interpret the students’ capabilities and that these tests have crucial impacts on the psychological, health condition, and knowledge of students today.

Importance of the tests

No one can deny that standardized tests are crucial in a preset time. According to Study.com (2019), these tests are very important because they are superb target pointers for student execution. The purpose of these tests is to evaluate the student’s mastered capabilities and skills. Some tests such as the SAT measure the student’s understanding in the fields of mathematics, reading and comprehension, and writing skills.

Their Real Purpose

These tests are designed for testing the students’ test-taking skills and not the information included within the test itself. According to Strauss (2014), students studying for these tests are only learning how to take important decisions when answering. Thus, when those students are presented with “different format” questions, they would not be able to correctly answer (Strauss,2014). This will result in a narrowed curriculum and losing important information such as history and other lineups.

Negative effects

The effects of standardized testing are now very well known in the relationship of how they influence education. Even though the process of standardized testing has powerful impacts on educating and erudition, the effects it has on the students’ “physical and emotional well-being” are likewise very alarming and merit consideration. All around the world, teenagers are complaining about overwhelming amounts of “stress” (Simpson, 2016). In a study done by The American Psychologist Association (2014), teens aged 13-17 in the United States are actively reporting extreme levels of stress with 83 percent of these teens stating that school is the main source of this worrying stress. Furthermore, the amount of time that students devote to studying for examinations probably adds to the pressure these students undergo (Simpson, 2016).

Time Consumption

A lot of talks have fixated upon the immoderate volume of time that students spend doing standardized tests. Various late reports such as the one from the Center for American Progress found out that students in middle school spend the largest amount of time, averaging around 15-16 hours, during the semester on examination (Lazarín, 2014). This considerable amount of time clearly affects the students’ mentality and increases their anxiety, therefore, affecting their scores. Additionally, the location of where these students live also largely affects the outcome of the exams. A report done by Teach Plus, Teoh, Coggins, Guan & Hiler (2014) discovered that students living in urban areas spend more time on testing than students living in suburban areas.

Psychological & Health Risks

The concerning psychological effects of standardized testing include increased levels of anxiety and stress that make students really “sick” ('Press Release | Alliance for Childhood', 2001). A previous affiliate of the National Association of School Nurses who worked as a school nurse “witnessed” an expansion of “anxiety-related complaints” due to an enlarged accent on standardized testing ('Press Release | Alliance for Childhood', 2001). Likewise, spending excessive time on testing can have severe wellbeing “consequences” ('Press Release | Alliance for Childhood', 2001). Some of these risks include stomach aches, headaches, queasiness, sleep deprivation, and “acting out” ('Press Release | Alliance for Childhood', 2001). Therefore, studying for these tests for extremely long periods of time is not helpful in any way; in fact, abusing time for them gives the unwanted opposite effect.

Threatening Students’ Passion

One dangerous effect that standardized tests can have upon students is loss of interest and “love of learning”. As stated by Strauss (2014), these exams are developmentally unsuitable for the youngest students. Stressing students to train for standardized tests fails to inspire children and kills their imagination. With this being said, educators must put more effort in attempting to inspire young learners to nourish their imagination and substantially uplift their creative thinking.

False Beliefs

Nowadays, the average of a school’s standardized achievement scores is considered to be a controlling factor of the school’s performance and its faculties’ success. Thus, if people perceive that the average standardized test scores of a school are high, they would automatically think that this school is efficacious. Otherwise, people would think that the school’s staff is unsuccessful. Those appraisals are prone to be mistaken because “educational quality” is being measured using the wrong benchmark (Popham, n.d.). Standardized tests are obviously not excellent methods that should be used to evaluate students because of their consequences.

Consistently, students “spend weeks” studying for standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT, and AIR tests (Ann & Writer,2019). These tests limit numerous chances for students to get accepted into respectable colleges because these tests do not express a student’s fertility, creativity, and “academic abilities” (Ann & Writer,2019). Every student has unique skills and abilities that can be very useful; however, these tests, which are supposed to be fair for everyone, still fail to reflect these abilities and also inventive and creative thinking. Many alternative and effective ways properly reveal the hidden capacities of every student.

Alternatives for Standardized tests

Formative assessment is one method that educators these days use to evaluate students’ overall understanding of a certain subject and academic progression throughout learning sessions. The Formative Assessment Process is a purposeful procedure utilized by educators and students during learning sessions that give noteworthy criticism that is used to change progressing instructing and learning. As stated by THE GLOSSARY OF EDUCATION (2014), the overall outcome of this type of assessment is to gather specified information that can be utilized to advance teaching and student education. It is not the strategy of how the test is made or even its “self-evaluation” that makes it “formative”; nevertheless, it is the method of how the exam is used (THE GLOSSARY OF EDUCATION,2014). The technique of formative assessment is trusted by countless teachers and professionals for successful education.

Another technique for better evaluation is for teachers to allow self-assessment. Teachers must give their students the chance to measure their own learning and mirror their progression. By using this technique, students will not only discover their hidden skills but also will identify gaps in their knowledge.

Test makers must provide multiple formats of one test to express the creative and unique thinking inside every student and also give the teachers a clearer image of the student’s advancement. The tests must contain “multiple choice questions, long answer, short answer, charts” … etc. (Edrics,2018).

Conclusion

Standardized tests are dynamically negatively affecting students around the world. As stated by Strauss and the Alliance, these tests are inappropriate to students because of the risks that occur if studying for them goes too far. The point of these tests is just to compare differences between students. They are very limited in terms of reflecting the students’ aptitudes and innovative skills. Their impacts on students’ mental state must not be disregarded.

To sum up, standardized tests are being rapidly implemented into curriculums and academic systems all over the world. This frightening occurrence will have devastating consequences, such as killing curiosity, that will affect the generations who will create the future. To integrate creative thinking into test questions, the standardized test must be reformed in ways that express capabilities. This will result in turning the tests into much more reliable sources that identify students’ real capabilities. After most, what is more significant: obtaining precise information about a student’s performance, or making sure that every student gets the opportunity to prompt their real potentials?