Standardized testing is a common method for assessing the academic performance of students and tracking their growth or addressing learning gaps. It is also in benchmarking or setting a baseline for comparing student performance across different comparative points. Results are also critical in evaluating the performance of teachers and educational or learning institutions, holding them accountable, and guiding their instruction. Results from government-initiated assessment tests also inform education policies and curriculum development.
A standardized test generally involves using a standard testing instrument with a standardized set of questions. It is also characterized by uniform administration conditions, scoring procedures, and interpretation. Any test given in the same manner to all test participants, and scored and interpreted in the same manner for everyone is a standardized test. Nevertheless, despite its pervasive use across different education systems in different countries, standardized testing has been criticized due to its limitations and alleged ineffectiveness.
Pros: The Benefits and Advantages of Standardized Testing
1. Instrumental in Developing Education Policies
One of the general advantages of standardized testing centers on the fact that it has been very useful in the development and implementation of education policies. This is critical in regulating the education system of a particular state or country. In addition, because standardized tests demonstrate the scope and limitations of a standardized curriculum, it also defines the scope of the roles and responsibilities of teachers and educational institutions.
In the 2003 book “Kill The Messenger: The War On Standardized Testing,” Richard Phelps, an education researcher, explained that standards lead to the design and deployment of a common curriculum. He noted that a common curriculum is based on public consensus. Hence, without a standardized approach to teaching, teachers and institutions will have a high degree of freedom when it comes to developing and implementing lesson plans.
2. Produces Empirical and Objective Results
The fact that standardized tests produce quantitative results that can be empirically documented means that the numerical scores have a comparative degree of validity and reliability. The same results can be generalized and replication. Note that a study by N. R. Kuncel and S. A. Hezlett demonstrated that standardized admission tests are valid predictors of several aspects of student success across different academic and applied fields and disciplines.
It is also important to underscore the fact that standardized tests are developed by professionals with doctorate degrees and specializations in testing and measurements. Phelps argued that not all teachers have a relevant level of competencies in testing and measurement or are equipped to design standardized tests. Hence, the individualized tests they produce are not guaranteed to produce results that can accurately represent the performance of students.
3. Encourages Accountability of Learners and Educators
Another advantage of standardized testing is that it can promote responsibility and accountability not only among learners but also among teachers, institutions, policymakers, and even parents. Administering standardized tests allows teachers and institutions to recognize how their students are performing compared to students from other schools. This can enable them to further review and recalibrate their teaching methodology to accommodate learning gaps.
Moreover, because the results of standardized tests are quantitative and empirical, students can track their performance and father compare their progress relative to their peers. In the same manner, these results provide parents or legal guardians with information about the performance of their children and the competencies of their teachers. Note that parents or legal guardians also have a critical role in addressing the shortcomings in academic growth.
4. Suitable in Benchmarking and Determining Best Practices
Remember that standardized testing is used to assess the performance of students, educators, and institutions. The results can be compared with benchmarks or baselines determined by a particular government regulatory body or even by professional, industry-specific trade organizations, and other non-profits. This is essential in encouraging accountability among learners and educators and supporting the development and implementation of education policies.
Institutions and relevant bodies often gauge the performance of their curriculum by comparing test scores from across the nation or the world. Several international benchmark tests have been administered to schools to determine their alignment with global standards or practices. These include the “Trends In International Mathematics and Science Study” or TIMMS and the “Progress In International Reading Literacy Study” or PIRLS.
5. Useful in Recognizing Cases of Academic Dishonesty
Standardized testing seems to support academic dishonesty. Different instances of test leakages have been extensively documented and publicized. Surveys have further revealed that an overwhelming number of students have cheated at least once on their exams. Some teachers have also rigged test results to promote their interests. Critics have raised these points whenever they argue against the standardization of performance assessment in education.
However, according to Phelps, because cheating is easier with standardized testing, it is also easier to detect and thereby, easier to prevent through penalization. An analysis of test results and their comparison with other facets of academic performance can reveal notable patterns of cheating or misconduct. This can be helpful in pinning down cheaters, providing appropriate sanctions, and sending a message across the academic community.
Cons: The Limitations and Disadvantages of Standardized Testing
1. Disregards Different Learning Styles and Challenges
Each student has a particular leaning toward a specific learning style. American scholar and university professor Cathy N. Davidson, in her book “Now You See It,” contended that the use of standardized testing demonstrates a one-size-fits-all approach to learning in which learners are placed in an assembly line. This disregards different learning challenges and nuances in learning predispositions. It also discourages critical and creative thinking.
A review by D. I Rubin and C. J. Kazanjan showed that standardized tests and strict curriculum do not necessarily increase student performance. This suggests a misalignment between the purpose of imparting learning and promoting development. H. Morgan also mentioned that the results of standardized tests do not account for the real capabilities. These tests do not assess skills in reasoning, creativity, research, and interpersonal communication.
2. Limits the Methodologies and Creativity in Teachings
Similar to the argument that standardized testing disregards differences in learning styles, there is also an argument that it limits teachers and instructions, especially in delivering instructions and employing other teaching methodologies. Rubin and Kazanjan noted that classroom interactions or student-teacher relationships center primarily on practicing for a standardized test. This often leads to disregarding challenging topics and activities from the curriculum.
Morgan also noted that standardization promotes an approach that harms teachers because of the mechanical and restrictive style of teaching it requires. Teachers do not have the power to change the curriculum or use other approaches and end up using methods and materials which they did not take any part in creating. Standardization demonstrates the minimal control of teachers over the learning environment. This can lead to alienation.
3. Ineffective in Gauging Real Academic Performance
There are three specific factors that influence the academic performance and specific test scores of students according to education and information studies professor W. James Popham. These include what the students learn in school through formal instruction, what they learn outside of the school through their interaction, and their innate intelligence and competencies. Popham pointed out that teachers and schools only have control over one of these three.
Several teachers have also raised concerns over the extensive use of standardized testing and contended that standardized tests only measure the current knowledge of students while failing to account for academic progress for an entire year and other facets of learning. They also noted that the immediate supervisors of learners are the best creators and facilitators of tests because they have first-hand awareness of the needs and abilities of their students.
4. Promotes Unhealthy Competition Among Educators
One of the primary purposes of using standardized testing within a jurisdiction is to regulate and evaluate the teachers and learning institutions. However, according to Morgan, the entire process is problematic because it rewards educators based on the scores of their students. This compels them to disregard collaboration with other teachers or institutions and withhold competencies or skills and knowledge in teaching to maintain a competitive advantage.
Morgan further explained that collaboration among teachers and institutions benefits the students because it enhances teaching and the entire learning environment. Hence, in a system that uses standardized testing to gauge the performance of educators, students are placed at the losing end because teachers and their schools use methods to outperform their contemporaries. Students end up becoming solely dependent on their immediate learning environment.
5. Marginalization of Minorities and Learners with Special Needs
Another disadvantage of standardized testing is its negative impact on certain subgroups of the population. Rubin and Kazanjan, as well as Morgan, noted that students of color and those who come from impoverished families and communities often receive instructions that are unaligned with their cultural, social, and economic predispositions. Standardized tests disregard the challenges that can affect the academic performance of these subgroups.
Morgan also mentioned that standardized testing encourages bias in education. Some teachers and schools are predisposed to admitting a disproportionate number of affluent students because they represent a subgroup that often scores well on standardized tests. This also means avoiding students with special needs because they tend to score low. A large pool of students from better-performing subgroups advances the interest of these teachers and schools.
6. Reinforcement of the Capitalist Agenda for Education
The purpose of modern education is to equip students with the competencies required to become productive members of society. Critics of the standardization and rigid regulation of education have argued that the current education system exhibits an attempt to advance a capitalist agenda. Schools are likened to factors where teachers work based on strict production guidelines to produce students that would be used as commodities in the labor market.
Rubin and Kazanjan said that there are pedagogy theorists who believe that the capitalist agenda of education is to reinforce class inequality by producing and maintaining a tiered workforce. Standardization regards students as commodities. Thus, instead of producing lifelong learners, most education systems have the sole purpose of producing test-takers who eventually become non-questioning workers who fit perfectly into the capitalist workforce.
FURTHER READINGS AND REFERENCES
- Davidson, C. N. 2001. Now You See It: How the Brain Science of Attention Will Transform the Way We Live, Work, and Learn. New York: Viking Press. ISBN: 978-0-67-00-2282-3
- Kuncel, N. R. and Hezlett, S. A. 2007. “Standardized Tests Predicts Graduate Students’ Success.” Science. 315(5815): 1080-1081. DOI: 10.1126/science.1136618
- Morgan, H. 2016. Relying on High-Stakes Standardized Tests to Evaluate Schools and Teachers: A Bad Idea. The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues, and Ideas. 25(1), 97-106. DOI: 10.1080/00098655.2016.1156628
- Phelps, R. 2003. Kill The Messenger: The War on Standardized Testing. New York: Routledge. ISBN: 978-1-41-28-0512-4
- Popham, W. J. 1999. “Why Standardized Tests Don’t Measure Educational Quality.” Education Leadership. 56(6): 8-15
- Rubin, D. I. and Kazanjian, C. J. 2011. Just Another Brick in the Wall: Standardization and the Devaluing of Education. Journal of Curriculum and Instruction. 5(2), 94-108. DOI: 10.3776/joci.2011.v5n2p94-108