Scantrons and Stress: Let’s Test a Better Future

All students understand the stress and anxiety that come with standardized tests, but are they truly an adequate measure of how smart someone is? 

There are many factors that can contribute to flaws in standardized testing for students such as test anxiety, home life, types of intelligence, and more. For instance, some students may have difficulty with subjects like math or science but perform amazingly in other subjects like English or art. In the article, “Effects of Standardized Testing on Students & Teachers,” the American University says, “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.” Some students may be better at more tactile or auditory types of learning. They also may be more productive in group settings, which ultimately may be more effective once they exit school and enter the real world. 

Standardized tests can turn students into numbers, which completely overlooks the creativity and the uniqueness of each student. These tests can take out the main factors that make learning meaningful. They often focus on memorization of definitions and formulas that they will forget after the test rather than having students think critically. Because of this limited and narrow approach, many students miss out on developing critical thinking skills and, instead, become more stressed and focused on test-taking strategies. 

Standardized testing also increases unequal opportunities since students with more access to tutoring and resources tend to perform better. This leaves other students behind in the learning experience and creates a stressful environment that values competition over growth. If schools shifted their focus from test scores to a more open and broader view of learning, students could be better prepared for a world that values creativity and the ability to adapt.

The article, "The Case Against Standardized Testing”, from The Harvard Political Review states, “Even within the tested subjects of reading and math, an overemphasis on standardized testing hurts the quality of instruction students receive. The current system of accountability, which uses the same tests to measure trends in achievement and to evaluate teachers, necessarily promotes teaching to the test.” This highlights how an overemphasis on standardized tests can even damage teaching quality. When tests are a large measure of student and teacher successes, it promotes teachers focusing only on test-related content so their students get better grades. This can limit a student's good understanding of a topic and their creativity. This focus on teaching test-related topics undermines the quality of education and gets rid of meaningful learning in most subjects.

Instead of standardized tests that undermine a true learning experience, we could move to different types of "testing” methods. We could move toward PBAs, performance-based assessments, including videos, presentations, essays, poems, portfolios, and even sculptures. What all of these things have in common is that they restrict the amount of stress that comes along with tests. From “Standardized Testing is Still Failing Students” by neaToday, “PBA allows students to demonstrate knowledge and skill through critical thinking, problem-solving, collaboration, and the application of knowledge to real-world situations. In other words, it helps students prepare for college, career, and life.” Something like a multiple choice test is very black and white, which may make sense up until the end of high school and even college, but after school, there is normally more than one correct answer to everyday things. 

The earlier students are taught to use their critical thinking skills and think outside of the box, the better. PBAs are extremely beneficial for students, especially those who have trouble taking tests. Students should be able to learn in their own way and show their knowledge in other ways than taking a multiple-choice test. While multiple-choice tests can have some benefits, PBAs allow students to be more creative in their testing.

Standardized tests have a narrow approach to learning and cause unnecessary stress for students. There are other alternatives like PBAs which offer a more diverse learning approach and can allow students to express their learning in their own best way.

By Kelsey Krizansky