Week 15 Journal: Standardized Testing

In your Reading Journal, predict how you think your colleagues will respond to the prompt:

   Before taking a deep dive in the reasoning for or against standardized testing, my initial idea (and my prediction of my colleagues ideas) is that standardized testing is better than the alternative of not having a standardized assessment system. I believe that standardized testing provides a lot of benefits for schools across the country. They provide set standards for everyone and serve as a summative assessment towards the end of the year. However, most teacher's also recognize the strain that standardized testing takes on students,teachers, and schools to succeed. But teachers also recognize that standardized testing allow students all across the state or country to be held to the same standard and evaluate which areas could use more support. 

In your Reading Journal, jot down main points for and against standardized testing. Be sure to use evidence from this week's readings and Arlo Kempf's TED Ed video.

          Pros of Standardized Testing 

• Can be useful if it is used for the job intended and is designed effectively 
• Has increased educational accountability across states and the country 
• Results can be used to inform educational change on a broad scale 
• Good scores are incentivized so all schools are striving for the best education
• Can help focus instructional programs on meaningful learning goals
• Ensures greater equity in expectations for student learning 

Cons of Standardized Testing 

• Can not be useful if it is not used for the job intended and is designed poorly
• Pressure can lead to students developing testing anxiety 
• Those with testing anxiety would perform less than their capability 
• Push for educational accountability has led to a dramatic increase in the number and types of high-stakes assessments that educators must consider.
• The results sometimes are unreliable or invalid if the test was designed poorly or did not ask questions to get the intended result 
• Good scores are incentivized; schools may make it their mission to do well on standardized testing, moving away from inquiry led education
• Schools with Low scores on standardized testing are met with sanctions on students, teachers, or administration  

In your Reading Journal, describe how, if at all, colleagues’ (and your!) responses compared to what you predicted.

After reading through 20 of my colleagues responses and collecting data on which option they chose, I found that 18/20 of my colleagues believe that standardized testing is better than the alternative of not having a standardized assessment system. Their reasoning  ranged from "Without some form of structure, it would be difficult to gauge where our students stand in terms of making leaps towards our targeted goals and educational standards" as Hannah Zieber said to "I think the accountability of teachers is just as important as the accountability of the students, and I am afraid if the teachers did not have the guidelines in place, that the education of the students would suffer" as Linda Kassof stated. Both of these points are valid and I wholeheartedly agree. 

However, I believe standardized testing is a waste of time because of how I see its been used at my own school. There is a stress put on standardized testing where students are preparing months in advance, other contents are pushed to the side closer to testing, and students become very stressed as they fear they will fail. The push at my school has not been for student learning but great test scores to share with our donors. From talking to other teachers in other schools, this is not a unique phenomenon among charter and private schools. Emily Wetherell stated "my school has so many assessments that students take throughout the year for data purposes that I think valuable instruction time has been lost, and I have seen student attitudes toward the assessments shift to not caring how they do because there are so many of them". I have also seen this occur in my own school as I have lost over a week of instruction to tests so far this year. For students mental health and overall learning as individuals, I still believe standardized testing is a waste of time.