Standardized Testing Policy Analysis Essay

Policy Analysis: Standardized Testing in the United States

Introduction

Standardized testing has been a longstanding policy in many educational systems to measure student achievement. Since 1965, American schools have been using these tests as a federal policy instituted in the education system. Although these tests take different forms in various states, they involve all students answering the same questions and having their results scored uniformly. The policy allows for performance comparison between school districts, regions, or states. However, the practice has come under increasing scrutiny in recent years regarding its effectiveness. The high-stakes nature of these tests shown to have adverse effects on students and teachers. While they

Firstly, they offer a limited scope of learning because they cannot fully capture the complexity of student learning. According to Egalite et al. (2016), standardized tests often prioritize a narrow set of skills, such as math ability and reading comprehension, while neglecting other important aspects of education, such as creativity, critical thinking, and problem-solving. The authors argue that while cognitive abilities are important, non-cognitive skills are often overlooked in this educational policy. Additionally, they found that such tests cannot account for linguistic and cultural differences, further limiting their scope in evaluating student learning. These limitations highlight the need for an alternative form of assessment that can capture a more diverse set of student learning outcomes. As such, the narrow focus of standardized testing may lead to an ineffective evaluation approach, which undermines the goal of education or prepares students for success in various contexts. While standardized tests offer a perspective of student performance in a limited number of areas, they should not be relied upon as the core measure of student

According to Knoester and Au (2017), the policy promotes discrimination in the education system by placing low-income and minority learners at a disadvantage. The authors argue that these students face numerous challenges, including attending poorly funded schools with underqualified teachers, which limits their academic progress. Consequently, the policy intensifies racial and socioeconomic segregation in US schools. Similarly, Au (2016) describes standardized testing as a racial project that supports the neoliberal agenda. They find the policy biased towards privileged children as they require a set of knowledge and skills more likely to be possessed by children from affluent backgrounds. Moreover, standardized testing is more about the craft of test-taking rather than a proper understanding of the material. Affluent families, schools, and districts can better afford additional resources, increasing the inequity of such testing. As such, educators in low-performance schools are under extra pressure to raise test scores, which puts even more pressure on these students. Therefore, standardized testing ultimately perpetuates inequities and reinforces the educational achievement