Standardized Testing Foe

Standardized Testing: Friend or Foe? Standardized testing has been around for decades. Whether used for funding, elementary school ratings or college entrance profiles, it has impacted learning, and not in a good way. The brunt of this impact is on elementary school students as young as 7 years of age. Standardized testing is something that is not necessary. This type of testing is irrelevant to where children stand academically. Furthermore, it also negatively influences the mind of children, making them stressed and anxious. What is student achievement? It seems like anyone you ask has a different answer. Student achievement, however, is not synonymous with high standardized testing scores. According to education economist Richard Rothstein,
The curriculum in place has no room for anything other than learning how to pass these tests. Ariel, an honors English teacher, states that “[m]y curriculum now contains only two books, instead of the 12 I used to teach. Any books I teach outside of the curriculum will harm my students' scores on the tests that evaluate them and my performance.” (Williams). This is truly saddening, as students do not get the chance to be creative, to learn for themselves. Everything done in the classroom is about the tests. What standardized testing is teaching children is alarming. Paula, an elementary school teacher, speaks on how “[c]hildren are getting the message at a very young age that if you pick the right choice between several options you can be successful” (Williams). There is no critical thinking, no place for failure. Children are learning that the only thing that matters is passing, or getting a good grade, no matter what the cost. This is no way to learn, yet this is what is being taught in elementary schools across the
It is immense, and it is damaging. According to Joseph Spector, “[s]ix in [ten] school psychologists said the Common Core learning standards, which includes state exams for students in third through eighth grades each April, has increased students’ anxiety” (Spector). Over half of school psychologists agree that these tests harm students, causing them stress that a young child should not have at that point in his or her life. Spector goes on to say that “[t]he report contended that the test anxiety is more common at the elementary-school level, saying students more often showed ‘internalized’ symptoms such as excessive worry and withdrawal”. This stress shapes young children’s minds, and does so detrimentally. Marian Wilde writes that “[o]ne recent study from the Stanford School of Medicine indicates that the number of children, ages 7-17, treated for depression more than doubled between 1995 and 2001”. This is extremely distressing as it speaks on how the strain of taking standardized tests is taking a toll on children’s mental