Arguments Against Standardized Testing

Since the No Child Left Behind Act was mandated in 2002, test scores in our schools have steadily declined. In spite of this, proponents argue that standardized testing is an objective and effective method to measure student achievement and to hold teachers accountable. Unfortunately, this is the farthest thing from the truth. Standardized tests are neither fair nor effectual, there overuse and misuse promotes a narrow curriculum which forces teachers to "teach to the test" instead of teaching to the student. This instruction style inhibits creativity and undermines our country's ability to produce innovators and critical thinkers. Additionally, state tests are tied to consequences for districts, schools, teachers as well as students. Therefore,

You work with the child all year and eventually you carry him to a fifth-grade level. That's a two-year jump in half the time. However your school tests at sixth-grade levels, so the child receives no credit for his improvement. Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP) only focuses on whether a student is proficient at the time of testing and does not take into account academic growth over the course of a school year. This is a disservice to the child who worked so hard to advance and for the teacher who dedicated themselves to help the student grow. Situations like these make standardized testing a completely unreliable method to measure student achievement; in addition to, an unfair policy of attaching student test scores to teacher accountability. In this case and in many like it, the result of the student's poor test showing would cause the teacher to receive a poor evaluation though the student improved substantially. Advocates for standardized testing claim that tests hold teachers and schools accountable. The Obama administration's "Race to the Top" project forces states to use standardized test scores to assess teachers performance, although these exams are an imprecise indicator of teacher effectiveness. This "Test and Punish" approach has led schools to completely abandon basic aspects of school curricula. Class time spent on music, art, and physical sciences have been replaced with hours of test prep. Supporters of standardized testing say that the exams provide incentives for hard-working educators and that it helps them reach a new academic standard. However, this reward and punish system for teachers has encouraged many instructors to cheat the system. There have been dozens of recent cheating scandals in multiple cities across the U.S. and all have been directly linked with pressure to raise test