Standardized Testing Critique

The role standardized testing plays in our national education system has been steadily increasing in the past couple of decades and is a point of strong criticism in our society today. Since the passing of No Child Left Behind in 2002, standardized tests are the most valued tool employed by the federal government to evaluate student achievement and school effectiveness. In three separate articles “Standardized Testing Has Negatively Impacted Public Schools,” by Bobbie Solley, “Study Shows Standardized Testing Is Overwhelming Nation’s Public Schools,” by Lyndsey Layton, and “Disappearing Act: End The Testing Fixation Before It Erases More Meaningful Education,” by Virginia Myers, the authors stress that standardized testing does not reflect

The author explains that standardized testing was first implemented in the military during World War I to evaluate which recruits would be suitable for officer jobs and soon became commonplace in the military. After the Elementary and Secondary Education Act passed in 1965 by President Johnson the federal government was, for the first time, supporting public schools financially. With this funding, the federal government required schools show adequate progress and it was determined that this could be best shown by standardized testing. By explaining the history of standardized testing Solley shows how the government infiltrated and revised our public education

She opens her article with an official statement from President Obama in which he asserts his belief that testing is necessary but also admits that there is a problem in the amount of stress inflicted on both students and teachers. By referencing this statement Layton begins her article strongly showing that even the President acknowledges that current standardized testing is an issue. She continues her argument by comparing the average number of standardized tests taken by an American student versus students in other countries, “A typical student takes 112 mandated standardized tests between pre­kindergarten classes and 12th grade, a new Council of the Great City Schools study found. By contrast, most countries that outperform the United States on international exams test students three times during their school careers” (Layton). This is an interesting observation but could be more impactful if Layton had given specific countries instead of a generalization. She goes on to discuss a study that looks at the amount of time spent on testing in each grade level, “The heaviest testing load falls on the nation’s eighth­-graders, who spend an average of 25.3 hours during the school year taking standardized tests, uniform exams required of all students in a particular grade or course of