Standardized testing today is a worldwide phenomenon that supposedly ranks the intelligence of students on a level playing field. States have been in a competition over the highest test scores, the better your rank the more funding you receive. This does not stop at state competition, nations recently have been competing at a global scale and rankings come out for every subject each year. However standardized testing like the SAT, ACT, and state tests have had an overall negative impact on the education of the youth. The first form of the standardized test comparable to today's standard, was created in the early 19th century by Horace Mann (History of Standardized Tests). His format included an essay, and concerns around the standardized testing were voiced …show more content…
Positive aspects of the testing included a rise in education, an efficient way to compare students and an even playing field for all those testing. However, the test is outdated at best due to a population increase and larger spectrum of educational differences; standardized testing has led education down the wrong path in recent years. Instead of removing all standardized testing for good, the toxic parts of the testing culture should be removed and serious reforms should be made.
There are a lot of great ways that standardized testing is extremely useful, more so in today's society. It is an easy and efficient way to grade students on a level playing field, therefore people can be subjected to the same testing. Due to the massive numbers of population today, inventions like the scantron sheet are needed in order to produce a test on this scale. This method of testing uses the exact same questions and grading scale for all students, which is exactly what Horace Mann wanted (Who Invented School Tests? History of Standardized Testing). Time has passed since he first implemented this idea, and it is very outdated therefore past its use date in modern society. Using this model