Golini 1

Emilee Golini
Adam Padgett
English 102
3 April 2016
The Problems with Standardized Testing
Standardized testing, a concept that has been around for some time now, plays a huge
role in the pubic education system in the United States today. Students of all grades, all around

Comment [1]:
good opening sentence

the country take a countless amount of these tests every single school year. Within the last few
decades, however, people have started to question the effectiveness of all of the standardized
tests that engulf the lives of students several times per school year. If something is so prominent
in the lives of our students that will one day lead our country, shouldnt it be worth while? A
great deal of research being done has shown that these tests are not the best evaluative tools for
most students. There are several issues that have been exposed having to do with standardized
testing. With this being said, standardized testing needs to be greatly eliminated because it
doesnt accurately measure various aspects of a students intelligence, it tends to cause
unnecessary test anxiety, and it uncovers a plethora of inequalities between students.

One of the first, and more important problems with standardized testing is that it doesnt
accurately measure students intelligence. These tests are used so frequently in the school
system, yet they dont accurately measure a students development and capability. James Alvino,
a director for a large academic consortium, claims that one of the major problems with these tests
is that they fail to identify gifted students. Standardized testing only samples a narrow spectrum
of human cognition, and therefore fails to accurately show how gifted a student really is (Alvino

Comment [2]:
is this your thesis?

Golini 2
and Wieler 106). In fact, several studies affirm that a high percentage of high school drop outs
are actually considered gifted (Alvino and Wieler 107). This fact is extremely surprising because
it would almost never be predicted that a gifted student would end up being a high school
dropout. However, since these tests only go surface level and dont uncover how intelligent a
student really is, it causes confidence issues with the student. All of the students in the education

Comment [3]:
this is good information, it grabs the readers attnetion
becuase you would normally think this would happen

system need to feel a sense of purpose for their future, and when something is stopping that from
happening, especially when it is caused by the school, it needs to be stopped. Students have
enough obstacles, outside of school, to overcome that may distract them from school work, and
this excess burden being put on them by the school system needs to be eliminated.
Another aspect of intelligence that standardized testing fails to display is creativity. Since

Comment [4]:
another interesting fact!!

these tests are usually multiple choice, taken individually, and typically very boring, the
creativity that a lot students poses cannot be used. In some students, this trait it something that
makes them unique and has the potential to help them in school, and more importantly, for the
rest of their lives. Betty J. Sternberg, a Connecticut commissioner of education, states, Such
tests do not measure the skills and competencies needed to thrive in todays world-teamwork,
collaboration, creativity, and innovation (Sternberg 1). Not only does standardized testing fail to
incorporate creativity, but many other important life skills that are going to be used in the real
world. Yes, it is important for students to learn and be tested on what they learn, but almost all of
these tests are completely irrelevant and do not prepare them at all for what is yet to come in the
future. This is why standardized testing is a real issue in our school systems and needs to be
addressed.
Another one of the big problems with standardized testing is that it causes unnecessary
test anxiety and stress. Most students already have a lot going on outside of school, so there

Comment [5]:
i think this sentence it kind of fluff in this paragraph you
can end the paragraph with the sentence before this
one

Golini 3
doesnt need to be something else in school causing them stress, especially when it is
standardized testing. Test anxiety consists of psychological and behavioral reactions that occur
when someone is concerned about negative outcomes resulting from poor performance in an
evaluative situation (Zeidner 1). It is suggested that between two and three students in typical
classrooms are highly test-anxious and this impacts their test results. Recently, test anxiety has
become so serious that school phycologists have been getting involved. Six in ten school
phycologists claim that the Common Core learning standards, which include many of the
standardized tests that are given to students, has increased students anxiety (Spector 1). Timothy
Kremer, the executive director of the School Boards Association, even said that teachers and
parents contribute to students testing anxiety (Spector 1). It is a problem when anxiety, that
stems from standardized testing, is causing this much stress for students. School is a place that
students are supposed to be able to learn, developed, and grow in. If standardized testing is
making them feel uncomfortable and affecting their mental state, something needs to be done.

Also the fact that this is affecting teachers as well is concerning. Teachers performance
is, a lot of times, based off of student test scores. Since this is the case, teachers tend to get
stressed out and put pressure on the students to do well because it is a reflection on them. This is
a problem because teachers need to focus on teaching and the well being of their students and
standardized testing really seems to be getting in the way.

Last, but certainly not least, is the problem with standardized testing and how it relates to
inequalities in the school system. There are several different components of learning that
standardized testing fails to uncover in students and because of this several different subgroups

Comment [6]:
expand on this a lot its very interesting

Golini 4
are left out when it comes to standardized testing, and this is unfair to these students. Peter
Sacks, an educator at Harvard, stated that standardized testing tends to especially penalize
women and many minority students. However, it is proven that these students, on average, earn
better grades in college than their test scores would predict (Sacks 26). Much research proves
that including test scores in the admissions process results in fewer women and minorities being
accepted than if just their academic grades were considered alone (Sacks 26). The fact that
standardized testing uncovers the inequalities in women and minority groups is not okay. The
school setting is a place that people are supposed to go to and feel included, not separated
because of gender, ethnicity, etc. In this day in age, we all need be brought together not torn
apart. Standardized testing is causing this and there needs to be a major change.
Another inequality that standardized testing brings forth is problems with economics in
families. Although standardized tests correlate weakly with success in school work, they
correlate very strongly with the income and education of ones parents (Sacks 27). Peter Sacks
states, Call it the Volvo Effect, the data are so strong in this regard that one can make a good
guess about a childs standardized test scores simply by looking at how many degrees her parents
have and at what kind of care they drive (27).

Works Cited

Comment [7]:
just add a conclusion to sum it all up

Golini 5
Sternberg, Betty J. "Schools Need A Culture Shift." Education Week 29(12). 18 Nov. 2009.
Web. 3 Apr. 2016.
Segool, Natasha, John Carlson, Anisa Goforth, Nathan Embse, and Justin Barterian. Heighted
Test Anxiety Among Young Children: Elementary School Students Anxious Responses
to High-Stakes Testing." Psychology in the Schools 50.5 (2013): 489-99. Print.
Sacks, Peter. "Standardized Testing: Meritocracy's Crooked Yardstick." Change 29.2 (1997): 2431. JSTOR. Web. 08 Feb. 2016.
Alvino, James, and Jerome Wieler. "How Standardized Testing Fails to Identify the Gifted and
What Teachers Can Do about It." The Phi Delta Kappan 61.2 (1979): 106-09. JSTOR.
Web. 04 Feb. 2016.
Spector, Joseph. "Common Core Tests Giving Kids Anxiety, Psychologists Say." Lohud.com.
USA Today, Web. 20 Nov. 2015.

1) yes, the thesis is clear. I'm not quite sue what your inquiry question is though but i
understand what you are arguing overall. there are in text citation and all of your work is
cited correctly. I think you title is very relevant to this topic.
2) yes your stance on this issue is very clear and you share your views in a very clear way
3) you don't really offer multiple points of views
4) you do very well at synthesizing your cited information and your own opinion, they flow
together very well. When you are talking about the stress it puts on people you blended your
opinion and the facts together very nicely.
5) I think everything in your paper is working well the only thing you need to do now is right
your final conclusion paragraph.