The Dangerous Effects of Standardized Testing

  Standard testing has become been integrated as a normal part of a student’s life all around the world. Children, in New York, no more than eight years old are expected to sit down for three hours, and take the state test, all while being told that middle schools look at this test while considering their applications. Throughout a person’s life, this doesn’t change. Depending on which schools you choose to apply to, you may be required to take the SHSAT, ISEE, SAT, or the ACT, and a plethora of other tests.

The problem with this is that these tests become a large source of stress. If someone is told that a test they’re taking is essential to their future, and without a good score they won’t do as well in life, then it immediately puts an unhealthy amount of stress on the test taker. This is a huge issue in some high school admission tests. At least you can take the SAT multiple times, but the SHSAT is one test that entirely determines what school you go to. It’s important to think about the kind of message this sends students. Not only is it an unhealthy amount of stress to put on a student, but it’s also a very unrealistic expectation to set for a student’s impression of how the world works. 

Not only that, but standardized tests don’t accurately reflect the merit of a student. Not only are most tests only taken once or twice, creating students who could’ve done better if given an opportunity to take it more than once, or students who were reasonably stressed out and therefore not able to do well. On top of that, most standardized tests only focus on English and Math, with the rare exception of focusing on science as well. Plenty of students excel in fields outside of these subjects, but aren’t given a chance to express their skill to schools. Because of this, standardized tests you take early on in life create a self repeating cycle. If someone takes a test to get into middle school, and doesn't do as well, that immediately makes it harder to get into a better highschool because of the quality of education they’re receiving, but also because of the reputation of their middle school. Following this, when it comes time to apply for colleges, students have to work twice or three times harder to do well because of the reputation of their highschool and the standardized tests they have to take to get into a good college.

Many people believe that standardized tests are an equalizer for lower class families, as the test administered isn’t classist and puts children of all socioeconomic standards on equal footing. At first glance, this seems true, as the same test is administered to everyone; however, standardized tests are still extremely classist. Because students with richer parents can afford more opportunities, like tutoring and preparation supplies, they have a higher chance of doing better.

Despite all these problems, standardized testing is still ingrained in the lives of students. Instead of considering all aspects of someone’s life, schools consider a single grade on a single test, largely damaging the future of students who didn’t do well on a test.