Standardized Tests Cannot be Measuring Tools One time-restrained, meaningless multiple-choice test is relied upon to evaluate everything a student has learned and everything a teacher has taught in a year. Hours of educational opportunities wasted, all for standardized tests that have the ability to measure nothing. After the No Child Left Behind Act was passed in 2002, the emphasis on standardized testing has unfairly increased. Standardized testing is not an appropriate measure of a student’s ability because it forces teachers to teach the test instead of the content, measures only a small portion of educational qualities, and uses up valuable resources such as time and money. Standardized testing shifts the focus from learning the content to teaching strategies on …show more content…
“States spend $1.7 billion per year on testing, an enormous increase over the $423 million states spent in 2001 before NCLB” (Mulholland). The money from taxpayers could fund more important aspects in school, such as music, sports, and art programs, which help children develop important skills. Some may argue that standardized testing in the only way to see if schools are keeping up with the curriculum, and is also a tool to maintain the best learning environment for students. However, there is more to the curriculum than what tests can measure, and these tests make an artificial learning environment by being timed and not allowing collaboration or evaluating other skills that are used in the “real world”. Instead, the nation should turn to portfolio or project based assessments that are spread out over a longer period of time in order to truly examine a student’s ability. This is a better alternative because it measures more important thinking skills, encourages more modern types of learning, and is incorporated into the work students already