Another problem with standardized testing is that if a question is answered correctly by a vast majority (eighty percent or more) of people taking the test, that question is often eliminated from the test. These tests are meant to show “comparative interpretations” so important questions that many teachers may focus on extensively are often taken out because too many students are getting them right. As James Popham, UCLA professor, puts it, “the better the job that teachers do in teaching important knowledge and/or skills, the less likely it is that there will be items on a standardized achievement test measuring such knowledge and/or skills,” which does not make sense in testing academic achievement. So, although teachers on a large scale deem a subject very important and teach as it is so, the subjects value is diminished for testing purposes (Popham).
Jesse Hagopian, author of More than a Score, calls the power of
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The test serves as a god and the data from test scoring is “divine” to certain officials. Quality teaching that entertains critical thinking is diminished with the god of standardized testing. According to Hagopian the members of this testocracy are often some of the wealthiest people in the world and are people far removed from what goes on in an actual public school. They have never seen the practical, day-to-day effects of the policies they place in schools. It is interesting to note that Bill Gates and Barack Obama, two prominent members of this group, do not even have children attending schools that take standardized testing or have Common Core. They do not want the education for their own children that they promote and instill in the rest of the nation. Their children go to schools where they can blossom in creativity and hands-on exercises