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Amy Davies Nash

Professor Joseph Griffin
ENG 252
22 October 2014
The Effects of Standardized Testing
We are all affected by education, either indirectly or directly, and have experienced the
process of standardized tests being administered in schools. The tests certainly have evolved
from the days when I was in elementary school from the fill-in-the-circle scantron tests to
completely electronic tests. The one thing that has not changed is the emphasis that school
systems and our communities place on them. I realize that there are many opinions to the way
that success should be monitored and recorded; however, this paper is not to give my own
opinion on which methods should be used. I will display the positive and negative effects and
influences that standardized tests have on the community, on education as a whole, and on the
students. These effects can only be accurately related to American students from elementary to
high school-aged in an effort to focus on as few variables as possible. I will not mention race,
demographics, or even culture, but only the community and students as a general whole. I hope
to simply educate on a few basic effects that we have inevitably experienced ourselves or will
see in the lives of our children, grandchildren, or neighbors.
The positive involvement of a community in the schools is a much needed and valuable
staple in the success of education. The interaction of parents, community leaders, and public
servants in the schools needs to be transparent, and standardized testing has been one method of
opening the doors of understanding and community involvement. People generally have the need
to count and measure things, such as measuring the probability of the stock market, measuring

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the caloric content in food, and measuring the pressure in the air. In an effort to measure the
knowledge that students have obtained, standardized tests have been a constant or a standard in
education. Educators can, as accurately as possible, explain to parents what percentile their
children are placed in as a result of the standardized tests. When correctly administered and
taken, these tests can calculate accurate data of the level of understanding each student has in
each subject area (Wasswemann). A negative outlook on these tests comes when parents,
lawmakers, and taxpayers have the idea that the administering of standardized tests is a process
in which they need no involvement. Instead of looking at the data received from standardized
tests as a roadmap of what a student needs to succeed, many people view the data as a direction
to which they may find someone else to blame or hold accountable for students who are behind
the rest of their class (Bily), rather than involving themselves in the formula. This negative act of
blaming others can only discredit the actual purpose of standardized tests.
Teachers have been able to successfully achieve good representation of students ability
by teaching the students a concept of a lesson, or a required formula, or standard needed to
complete the assignment correctly. A good teacher will always measure the level of
understanding of the concept, formula, or standard by testing their knowledge. Practice is
accompanied by critique from the teacher. Its the feedback from the teacher that lets students
know if theyre on the right track to mastering the required skills (Bily). By taking standardized
tests with as tight variables as humanly possible in the atmosphere and setting, teachers will be
able to observe the truth about the knowledge of their students. Having the kind of data that is
recorded in standardized test results can give teachers and all educators, who are involved with
each student, the satisfaction of not guessing or talking in generalities anymore. They feel as if
theyre starting to crack the code (Bily). When testing environments are not consistent with

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every other school that is also taking that test, its information is not accurate to its full potential.
Too often teachers will feel the high pressure that is involved in the standardized tests and they
may unconsciously change their behavior causing the students to sense the nervousness in their
teacher. Many nervous teaches have emphasized the correct answers for their students and or
offered a valuable reward for completing the test above the proficient level (Bracey). When this
happens, it totally defeats the purpose of standardized testing and depreciates the value of active
education. Educational rubrics for lessons, which have the goal to teach students a standard that
they will need to know for the standardized tests, are not given any elbow room to be creative to
each individuals understanding and perspective (Farley). Because of the emphasis placed on
standardized tests, school curriculum has been narrowed and dumbed down . . . encouraged
teaching to the test, and created demoralized teachers, disengaged students and rising minority
dropouts (Wall Street Journal). When teachers teach to the test theres really no learning
going on (Carlon). Spending so much time preparing for tests doesnt allow for much time for
individual exploration from the student (Doroull; Zubtow).
Standardized tests and tests in general play a positive role in the lives of students if
administered and taken properly. Having students prepare for and take tests teaches them to be
independent and deep thinkers (Bily). Preparing for tests forces students to realize that teachers
are not their only source of knowledge, but teaches them that they must gain the ability to locate
the appropriate information and then process and apply that information at the right time and in
the right way. Many state standards require higher-level thinking and reasoning skills (Bily).
The process of taking tests in a controlled environment will only prepare them for further tests
and expectations in the schools of higher learning and in job situations where they will have to
think for themselves. On another note, these standardized tests teach students to be narrow-

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minded and only measures the amount of factual knowledge (recall) and not aspects of thinking
and learning (Bily). Standardized tests has been thought to have negatively impacted students
creativity (Anonymous) because of the rigidity of the format. There are two ways that a student
may participate in class: actively or superficially. Being active involves participating in the
learning process by finding connections to other resources to solidify understanding. A
superficial student would be one who copies down answers, guesses a lot, and skips the hard
parts. Standardized tests are thought to only measure and support students superficial
thinking (Kohn). These tests encourage parrot learning or learning to copy what one is
expected to know. They are only able to retain what they have learned for a short period of time
because they dont make connections to what they already know and understand (Wassermann).
When administered correctly and in correspondence with the state regulations,
standardized test can positively impact students learning; when administered improperly and
inconsistently, standardized tests are harmful to the learning of students (Wright). Many people
will argue for the need and effectiveness of standardized tests. There are many opinions about
this topic, both positive and negative. After all is read we should remember what Cynthia A. Bily
said in response to an argument for the need of standardized testing, Its like saying, since
standardized tests are not perfect, eliminate testing until they are. We would be waiting a long
time to test the students of America if we waited until perfection especially since we are all
imperfect. We do need to monitor progress, but the question is how. We need to know what is
and is not working and why. I do not have the answers to solve all of the standardized testing
problems however; the intentions of the tests are good and once all peoples intention match that
same honesty and enthusiasm, we will be able to effectively monitor our students progression.
Perhaps being aware of the negative and positive impacts of standardized testing will make us

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fellow students, parents, and teachers more sensitive to our own actions when interacting with
the testing process.

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Works Cited
Anonymous. What impact has the additional emphasis on standardized testing had on student
creativity in physical education? Journal of Physical Education, Recreation & Dance,
Mar 2014, Vol.85(3), pp.53-54. Web. 22 November. 2014.
Bily, Cynthia A. Standardized Testing. Christine Nasso, publisher, New York, 2011. Print.
Bracey, Gerald W. Standardized Testing, Unstandardized Kids, Is Part Of: The Phi Delta
Kappan, 1990, Vol.71(9), pp.732-733[Peer Reviewed Journal]. Web. 22 November. 2014
Carlon Ami. Culture and Standardized Tests Native American issues and examples. Alexander
Street Press.; Microtraining Associates. North Amherst. 2005. Web. 22 November. 2014.
Farley, Todd. Making the grades my misadventures in the standardized testing industry
Sausalito, Calif. : PoliPointPress ; LaVergne, Tenn. : Distributed by Ingram Publisher
Services. 2009. Web. 22 November. 2014.
Kohn, Alfie. Standardized testing and its victims. Education Week, Vol.20(4),
p.60,46. Sep 27, 2000. Web. 22 November. 2014.
Richard P Phelps; Defending Standardized Testing. EBSCO Publishing (Firm), Mahwah,
N.J. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates Achievement tests -- United States; Education
Standards. 2005. Web. 22 November. 2014.
Sproull, Lee and Zubrow, David. Standardized Testing from the Administrative Perspective, The
Phi Delta Kappa International. Vol. 62, No. 9. Pp. 628-631. May, 1981. Web. 22
November. 2014.
Wright, Robert E. Standardized Testing for Outcome Assessment: Standardized Testing for

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Outcome Assessment: Analysis of the Educational TestingSystems, Phi Delta Kappa
International, Vol.83(1), p.28-40 [Peer Reviewed Journal]. 2001. Web. 22 November.
2014.