20 Advantages and Disadvantages of Standardized Testing
Standardized testing is nothing new, it has been part and parcel of education for decades now. But recently there has been an upsurge in its usage and more learning establishments are using this method to grade and assess student’s progress.
There are advantages and disadvantages to standard testing. It can help to quickly assess a student’s competence in a particular subject and measure it against a pre-set benchmark. On the other side of the coin it doesn’t take into account students who may just be poor at sitting examinations.
As technology improves and standardized testing is more widely used then it is important that we understand and adapt to suit the pros and cons of standardized testing. Without doing this we may well be letting many otherwise talented students slip through the net.
In this article we set out to explore standardized testing and examine the benefits and the downsides of this method of testing.
In the first section we will look at the advantages of standardized testing.
The Advantages of Standardized Testing
Some of the advantages of standardized testing may not be immediately obvious, in this section we will list some of them and a few may come as surprises.
1. It is an objective and consistent measurement of attainment
Because standardized testing is graded by computer there is no emotion or outside influences taken into account. Lecturers and teachers at schools and colleges may well have vested interest in a student’s performance, as may the institutes themselves. With standardized testing this does not factor.
2. It is quick and cost effective
For examination boards it has always been a logistical nightmare getting thousands of test papers graded and the results all ready and approved in a tight timescale. Standardized testing cuts this time by a massive percentage and cuts the labor costs of grading thousands of test papers.
3. It has a positive effect on student achievement
In a recent survey 90% of the partaking students said that standardized testing had a positive impact on their learning. They reported that standardized testing had helped them grasp the subject matter and understand the material that was presented in the tests.
4. It is a consistent method of comparison
Because standardized testing can be rolled out across a wide network of teaching establishments the results produce accurate data that can be analyzed to show statistically areas of weakness in certain areas or schools.
5. Changes are easily implemented
Roll outs of any changes across a host of schools and colleges can be time consuming and a logistical nightmare. With standardized testing any changes can be applied easily and timeously. Simplicity is inbuilt with standardized testing making any changes comparatively easy to achieve.
6. Standardized Testing can help identify poor performing teachers
It’s not just the students that can benefit from standardized testing, school districts can benefit too. With the removal of the teacher form the grading process it is more likely that poor performing teachers can be identified when looking at the statistics from standardized testing.
7. Standardized testing can help identify good teachers
Following on from the last point, standardized testing can also be used to identify good teachers. A good teacher has a wide range of skills and a thorough understanding of the curriculum. This skill set is something that can show in the results their pupils attain in a test.
8. Standardized testing helps students learn how to prioritize
The goal of standard testing is to make sure the students have a good grounding in the basic subject matter that will help guide them through academia. Standardized testing focuses on these key areas and helps the student to prioritize on the subjects that matter most.
9. Standardized testing allows for equality
A standardized testing system sets out to challenge each student in exactly the same way. In other systems it is possible to treat some students differently due to mitigating or other circumstances and this can create an unequal system.
10. Standardized Testing allows schools to focus on educating
In some cases, there is so much preparation and post-exam work to be carried out that teachers can be overrun with work and the education of pupils may suffer as a result. Because standardized testing is efficient it eases this workload.
Disadvantages of Standardized Testing
Of course, no system is perfect and that is certainly the case with standardized testing. In this section we set out to explore the disadvantages of standardized testing.
1. It hasn’t had a big impact on student learning
Since it was widely introduced in 2002, the United States has dropped from 18th to 31st in the performance of mathematics results in students. While not all of this can be attributed to standardized testing, it is acknowledged to be part of the cause.
2. It doesn’t account for accentuating circumstances
People are different and students often have different strengths and weaknesses which teachers can often allow for, both in tutelage and in marking. With this method no such circumstances are accounted for.
3. There is no personal touch
Sometimes to learn you need to make mistakes to improve, teachers can take a student aside and explain where a mistake was made in a test and show them how to correct the error in the future.
4. Standard testing can be Predictable
Some students have reported being able to figure out the answer to test questions simply by noticing patterns in the test and predicting what the answer could be.
5. Standardized testing produces only raw data
In standardized testing there is no shades of grey, it is either wrong or it is right and sometimes an answer can be absolutely perfect, yet by just the slip of a pen an student can get it wrong. A teacher would notice this.
6. Students can feel alienated
To be taught for a whole semester by a teacher they have come to like and trust and then have a test given to them by someone who doesn’t know their struggles or weaknesses can leave students feeling alienated.
7. Lack of Feedback
The impersonal side of Standardized testing does not allow for any feedback to either the student or the teacher.
8. Teachers can feel insecure
For a teacher this can feel like it’s as much themselves being graded as the students.
9. Computers can be wrong too!
Just because a computer graded doesn’t mean it’s right, we rely on computers in every field of life and we have all experienced what can happen when a computer gets it wrong.
10. Standardized Testing Can Lead to Narrower Curriculums
Recent studies have shown that education is increasingly narrowing towards subjects covered by standardized testing. Subjects such as social studies and creative subjects have seen decreases in the time allocated to them since the inception of standardized testing.
