To Test or Not To Test

Standardized testing has long been something dreaded by students everywhere. That one little acronym, ISTEP in Indiana, draws moans and groans by all when teachers talk about preparing for the upcoming test. Practice bubbles are given to make sure the test taker can “fill in the circle heavy and dark and erase completely if you decide to change your answer.” These tests however have “no reliable link from test results to student knowledge; nor were there focused efforts within the classroom to do anything with the results.” This is more teacher-centered as pointed out by the Deubel, the author. Schools are supposed to be about students and their well-being, and clearly a teacher-centered approach isn’t helping the students.


The author says, “I’ve seen many instances of poor teaching practices, inconsistencies in what is taught, and great differences in classroom grading procedures.” I find this really interesting because when I was in elementary, middle, and even high school I never thought that kids in other classes weren’t learning the same thing that I was sitting there listening to my teacher taught. Students in the same grade, class, school, state should be learning the same things. They are being compared to each other. How can the state compare schools and students to one another if they aren’t the same; it’s like comparing apples to oranges.

The idea of changing these methods to make them more efficient and optimal for the student is a great idea. As a student I always did really well on the standardized tests, but when I got to college I realized that I didn’t have a lot of creativity and “out- of-the-box” thinking. I had always conformed to the test and made sure that I did exactly what was expected and what was needed to pass, which didn’t mean being the most different, it meant being the most right or the most conformed to everybody else. Changing a “60 year assessment legacy” however, is tough. People are always resistant to change especially when they don’t know exactly how the change is going to work out.

Changing a long tradition of educational staples can be confusing and angering to many people. Questions like “How much is this going to cost?” “Is this system really going to fix all the problems?” “How are students that have grown up with the old system going to respond to the changes?” These questions are vital to making sure things are going in the right direction with the right goals in mind. Finding the answers to the questions are also important. First the cost will mostly be associated with the research that has to be put into finding and making the best solutions to the problem areas. Research could include making and testing different formats to tests and hiring the professionals and finding schools or kids to tests these new formats will also cost money. Money, though, should not be the most important factor when considering changes that need to be made. Education is invaluable and should be to the highest standard for all students and children involved in order to help them succeed and be the very best in life.

Fixing all the problems to a system is most likely going to be nearly impossible especially because not everybody is always going to agree on how to proceed with changes. But, fixing the most important problems should be the issue. This will be difficult too because even education professionals don’t agree on the basics and necessities needed in education. The best answer is going to come from the top professionals getting together and collaborating their ideas and coming to a consensus that includes some of all the ideas and pros of their ideas. Give and take is the only thing that is going to help the program succeed and education improving for all involved.

Ensuring that all students are comfortable with changes made is going to be important as well. Being uncomfortable in a testing situation is going to cause the student to perform worse or not correct making the test invalid. A slow transition is going to help aid in less confusion and less students feeling uncomfortable. Going over rules and procedures for taking the tests is going to be crucial in the conversion too. Students can’t possibly do well or take the test correctly if they don’t know how.

Deubel addresses the issue of preparing for the test in the article. She cites Douglas Reeves in the matter of testing drills and practicing skills needed to be successful in knowledge content. He brings up the point that too much of one thing can be a bad thing. Students need a healthy balance of the combination of each. They need to practice writing, thinking, analyzing, and reasoning to be really successful. This is true not only in standardized testing but all areas of school. When studying for tests a student can’t just focus on one area or practice in one particular way. Studying with several techniques and methods helps with learning and understanding the material not just memorizing it. In my move from high school to college I learned this the hard way. I was used to naturally performing well in high school because there wasn’t much that teachers demanded you to do or know that wasn’t covered in class. College professors on the other hand require you to know everything that is on the syllabus regardless of it being covered in class. College students have to be much more responsible and actively involved in the learning process. It is more student-centered, which is why, in my opinion, students learn, not memorize.

This article recognized problems that students, teachers, administrators, and parents alike feel on a daily basis. Students suffer because teachers and administrators scramble to come to a conclusion on the best technique and balance to prepare the students for standardized tests and to enable them to learn and acquire information they need to be successful in the 21st century. They also have to worry about the funding that is at risk if the student body as a whole don’t perfom well on the tests. Schools can’t afford to lose their state and federal funding. Parents are frustrated because they can feel that their child isn’t getting what they need and are falling through the cracks of the public school system. They want the best for the children and when they feel that isn’t happening it is upsetting. The best thing for all is change, cooperation and understanding throughout the school system and its participants.