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For and against standardized tests: Two student perspectives

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Effects of Standardized Testing on Students & Teachers: Key Benefits & Challenges

A group of high school students sit at desks taking a test.

The use of standardized testing to measure academic achievement in US schools has fueled debate for nearly two decades. Understanding the effects of standardized testing—its key benefits and challenges—requires a closer examination of what standardized testing is and how it’s used in academic settings.

Developing ways to effectively and fairly measure academic achievement is an ongoing challenge for school administrators. For those inspired to promote greater equity in education, American University’s online Doctor of Education (EdD) in Education Policy and Leadership provides the knowledge and training to address such challenges.

What Are Standardized Tests?

Standardized tests are examinations administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. They typically rely heavily on question formats, such as multiple choice and true or false, that can be automatically scored. Not limited to academic settings, standardized tests are widely used to measure academic aptitude and achievement.

The ACT and SAT, standardized tests used broadly for college admissions, assess students’ current educational development and their aptitude for completing college-level work. Standardized academic achievement tests are mandatory in primary and secondary schools in the US, where they’re designed and administered at the state or local level and used to assess requirements for federal education funding.

Standardized testing requirements are designed to hold teachers, students, and schools accountable for academic achievement and to incentivize improvement. They provide a benchmark for assessing problems and measuring progress, highlighting areas for improvement.

Despite these key benefits, standardized academic achievement tests in US public schools have been controversial since their inception. Major points of contention have centered on who should design and administer tests (federal, state, or district level), how often they should be given, and whether they place some school districts at an advantage or disadvantage. More critically, parents and educators have questioned whether standardized tests are fair to teachers and students.

Effects of Standardized Testing on Students

Some of the challenging potential effects of standardized testing on students are as follows:

Standardized test scores are often tied to important outcomes, such as graduation and school funding. Such high-stakes testing can place undue stress on students and affect their performance.
Standardized tests fail to account for students who learn and demonstrate academic proficiency in different ways. For example, a student who struggles to answer a multiple-choice question about grammar or punctuation may be an excellent writer.
By placing emphasis on reading, writing, and mathematics, standardized tests have devalued instruction in areas such as the arts, history, and electives.
Standardized tests are thought to be fair because every student takes the same test and evaluations are largely objective, but a one-size-fits-all approach to testing is arguably biased because it fails to account for variables such as language deficiencies, learning disabilities, difficult home lives, or varying knowledge of US cultural conventions.

Effects of Standardized Testing on Teachers

Teachers as well as students can be challenged by the effects of standardized testing. Common issues include the following:

The need to meet specific testing standards pressures teachers to “teach to the test” rather than providing a broad curriculum.
Teachers have expressed frustration about the time it takes to prepare for and administer tests.
Teachers may feel excessive pressure from their schools and administrators to improve their standardized test scores.
Standardized tests measure achievement against goals rather than measuring progress.
Achievement test scores are commonly assumed to have a strong correlation with teaching effectiveness, a tendency that can place unfair blame on good teachers if scores are low and obscure teaching deficiencies if scores are high.

Alternative Achievement Assessments

Critics of standardized testing often point to various forms of performance-based assessments as preferable alternatives. Known by various names (proficiency-based, competency-based), they require students to produce work that demonstrates high-level thinking and real-world applications. Examples include an experiment illustrating understanding of a scientific concept, group work that addresses complex problems and requires discussion and presentation, or essays that include analysis of a topic.

Portfolio-based assessments emphasize the process of learning over letter grades and normative performance. Portfolios can be made up of physical documents or digital collections. They can include written assignments, completed tests, honors and awards, art and graphic work, lab reports, or other documents that demonstrate either progress or achievement. Portfolios can provide students with an opportunity to choose work they wish to reflect on and present.

Performance-based assessments aren’t a practical alternative to standardized tests, but they offer a different way of evaluating knowledge that can provide a more complete picture of student achievement. Determining which systems of evaluation work best in specific circumstances and is an ongoing challenge for education administrators.

Work for Better Student Outcomes with a Doctorate in Education

Addressing the most critical challenges facing educators, including fair and accurate assessment of academic achievement, requires administrators with exceptional leadership and policy expertise. Discover how the online EdD in Education Policy and Leadership at American University prepares educators to create equitable learning environments and effect positive change.

EdD vs. PhD in Education: Requirements, Career Outlook, and Salary

Education Policy Issues in 2020 and Beyond

Path to Becoming a School District Administrator

American University School of Education, Creative Alternatives to Standardized Test Taking

Scholars Strategy Network, How to Improve American Schooling with Less High-Stakes Testing and More Investment in Teacher Development

The Washington Post Magazine , “The Demise of the Great Education Saviors”

U.S. Department of Education, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA)

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Home / Essay Samples / Education / Learning / Standardized Testing

Standardized Testing Essay Examples

Standardized testing: a system focused on student’s success, not score.

All over the world education is looked upon as valuable. But how do you measure educational intake? In schools of all types for K-12 use standardized testing to measure the student's educational ability. Many argue that standardized testing is more harmful than good, while others...

The Role and Controversy Surrounding Standardized Tests

Standardized tests, often at the center of educational debate, play a pivotal role in assessing students' knowledge and abilities. This essay delves into the world of standardized tests, examining their history, impact on education, and the ongoing controversy surrounding their use. Standardized tests have a...

Negative Effects of Standardized Testing on Students

Standardized testing stresses kids out, most people do not test well, they base a test grade higher than your overall grades. It seems to hurt more than it helps. Their use encourages a narrowed curriculum. In our society, students test score are one of the...

My Views on the Efficiency of Standardized Testing

Although standardized testing shows where students are in school and their knowledge in school. But I believe students should not have to pass the test to pass the test to be promoted to the next grade. Well, different people have different motivations. For some, a...

Standardized Testing Causing Stress in Students

Michelle Obama, most would describe her as a very successful and intelligent individual with all of her accomplishments including graduating from Princeton University as Cum Laude with a bachelor's degree in Sociology and continuing her education at Harvard University law school (Michelle Obama Documentary). Mrs....

Standardized Testing for Homeschool Students

The Stanford Achievement Test is one of the most familiar exams in the education system and is one of the determining factors in whether a student moves to the next grade or not. It is also used to determine whether the school is meeting state...

The Issue with Standardized Testing

Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.” This quote reflects a common feeling among many students. This feeling is by...

The Truth About Standardized Testing

Children’s education is one of the most important and pressing matters in countries all over the world. Everyone wants the best education for their children. The question is though, “What path is the best?” The big push right now is for students to use standardized...

Standardized Testing is Inaccurate

Everyday we go to school, learn about something, take tests, then get graded and given a number. And that number carries along with you throughout your whole life. A number that describes your test scores. A number that emphasizes your SAT scores. A number that...

Why Standardized Testing is Important

How would colleges compare two students from different states without standardized test scores? Standardized tests should be taken very seriously across the United States for many reasons. Teachers, students, and parents must understand the importance of these tests and recognize the positive outcomes of this...

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About Standardized Testing

A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner.

Tests are designed in such a way that the questions and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner, the same test is given in the same manner to all test takers, and graded in the same manner for everyone. There are two types of standardized test score interpretations: a norm-referenced score interpretation or a criterion-referenced score interpretation.

Achievement, Aptitude, and Diagnostic

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