Standardized Testing Ethics

The Ethics of Standardized Testing Often when the term standardized testing is used in the United States it is referring to the tests given in our public education system. However, standardized testing doesn’t only refer to multiple choice tests given to children at the end of the year to see if they can move on to the next grade. A standardized test is any test that is scored and administered in a constant, or “standard”, way (Procon.org, 2015). These tests are designed to control for as many of the variables that can influence the assessment (Thomas & Allen, 2012). Standardized tests are used in work settings, licensing, in addition to their use in education. Since the 1800s standardized testing has been used in the American education system

competencies? and teachers’ effectiveness. According to Gustafson, this leads to a rigid environment that is not conducive to learning for students of low SES. Gustafson uses his real life experience as an educator to illustrate how the emphasis on standardized testing is negatively affecting students of low SES. For example, Gustafson recounts an eighth-grade student of low SES mentioning his accent and asking where Gustafson was from. Gustafson told her he taught in Chicago the previous year, the student response was, “That’s not in Brownsville, (Texas) is it?” (60). Critics may argue that the student lacked intelligence, but according to Gustafson the problem is a lack of experience. By assuming all students in the American education system share similar cultural experiences—in this case, domestic travel—the tests privilege some students and disadvantage

In their overview of seven articles Ford and Helms present the negative effects internalized racial stereotypes have on African American test scores. Dixon-Román et al. addresses the same types of internal feelings. Dixon-Román et al. describes these feelings as “racial paranoia, fear, and social distrust” (p. 25). These feelings create a mindset that can lead students to achieve lower scores. Most professional testing associations in the U.S. would deem these tests as “unfair” because they are affected by a “measurement of supposedly irrelevant constructs” (Ford and Helms, 188). Unfortunately, this argument has not altered the use of standardized tests as they continue to lessen the chance of African American student