The annual standardized testing process has been a major part of everyone’s academic career for 20 years. It all really started with No Child Left Behind, which began 2002. This act, in a nutshell, created a national education standard for school kids. This sounds good, in theory, however, the standardized testing has been proven to do more harm than good to students.

In 2013, the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) published an article highlighting the top 15 reasons why standardized tests are problematic. All of the points they make in this article are great, however, I believe number 7 is the most important. “Because so much emphasis is placed on standardized test results these days, teachers are spending more and more time “teaching to the test.” If there is something that is interesting, compelling, useful, or otherwise favorable to the development of a student’s understanding of the world, but it is not going to be on the standardized test, then there really isn’t any incentive to cover this material. Instead, most of classroom time consists of either taking the tests or preparing for the tests, and this shuts out the possibility of learning anything new or important. For example, because the No Child Left Behind Law (NCLB) only tests reading, math, and science that means that art, social studies, physical education, history, and other subjects are given far less attention than used to be the case.” With that being said, testing makes school less enjoyable for students because they learn what they have to learn; not what they want to learn. 

In my academic career, I can name several tests I’ve encountered, such as: PSSAs, CDTs, Keystone Exams, 3 Advanced Placement Exams, SATs, and many more. SATs and their scores have their own problems as well. Colleges and Universities base their admission to their schools based on students’ SAT scores. This is a terrible idea because a genuinely smart person may not be a good test taker, and therefore, may be denied admission because of it. Lets face it, how many times are you going to have to analyze calculus problems for a BA in History or Art? It’s just not realistic. 

SATs and their scores have another problem- employers. When someone applies for  a job, their SAT scores may determine whether they get the job or not. To add to this, some employers require SATs to even apply. Then, when someone applies for the job, they could be an incredibly smart person, but not get the job because their test scores aren’t high enough.  

Another reason the standardized testing system is flawed is the cost, both to schools, and students. In a study released by EducationWeek, standardized testing costs states over $1.7 billion annually, which is $65 per student. In 2021, Daily Orange published an article about this same topic, which focused on a 2015 study. This study showed that between Pre-K and 12th grade, students take 112 state-mandated tests in their career. Again, at a huge expense to schools. The $1.7 billion could be and should be used for better programs and extracurricular activities, however, these activities are the first to be cut from school programs due to “lack of funding.”