of numbers or categories.” They have an established format and set materials. Also, they present the same tasks and require the same response modes from all test takers.At first glance, the reasoning behind today’s standardized tests sounds reasonable. In theory, they give every student a solid picture of achievement and an equal opportunity for advancement in education. However, standardized testing is problematic at all ages and levels of schooling. The problem with standardized tests is that they tend to kill off the kind of education that matters most. After years of memorization of subject matter and tests, who were once intellectually excited grade school children have become either bored or grade obsessed high school students. Anxiety over upcoming tests and a constant concern for higher grades replaces the excitement of accomplishing real tasks and exhibiting real skills. “The great majority of standardized tests are marketed by commercial test publishers, who have prepared them for use in a broad array of educational institutions in many different settings. This means that they are based on educational objectives common to such diverse schools, and rarely will these common objectives coincide with the specific objectives of the individual classroom teacher or project director” (Goodwin and Driscoll 60). Testing experts claim that standardized tests actually interfere with learning and student achievement by educators that use them. “Critics…state that these tests measure disjointed facts and skills that have no use or meaning in the real world. Often tests questions do not match the curriculum of schools, so the tests cannot measure how well students have learned the curriculum” (Woolfolk 541). There are many reasons for caution when dealing with standardized tests.Reasons for caution in the use of tests include the possible loss of a student’s self esteem; the distort...
