Cause and Effect Essay: The Negative Effects Of Standardized Testing

“Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” -Albert Einstein. This quote relates to standardized testing. The standardized testing process does not allow students to prove their abilities, as it is restricted to certain units and topics. Individually, we all have strengths and weaknesses. Rather than solely measuring students' knowledge on a test, there should be more opportunities to assess their intelligence. Standardized tests limit students and teachers, cause anxiety, and do not accurately represent students' intelligence.

Students aren’t learning, they’re memorizing. A student who performs well on a standardized test does not mean that they will know what they need before entering college/university. The sole significance is that the student had to manage to memorize and cram the information before the test, and they are likely to forget the information as quickly as they learned it. So, the test, which is meant to evaluate their knowledge, may not even be an accurate representation since they may not have learned this information but only memorized it.  

Standardized tests cause stress. Some people claim that stress doesn’t affect the student, whether it’s during or after the test. While it is true that stress could not affect the student at all. However, for most students, there are long term effects. Researchers have found that too much stress has negative physical and psychological effects, especially when the brain is under development. If you’re under a lot of pressure, it will be difficult for you to maintain your normal thought process, which is necessary to answer test questions accurately. Anxiety becomes the determining factor of how well students test, not whether they know the material. Test anxiety affects most students, which means they don't perform at their best since they are overwhelmed by the experience of taking a test. Furthermore, a student may have a deep understanding of the subject, but they might not receive any recognition for it due to their performance on a test.

Standardized testing limits both teachers as well as students. Because standardized exams are a major deciding factor in college applications, teachers must develop a curriculum based on the tests and prepare students continuously in order to pass. Students' learning habits can be altered through constant preparation for this test.  The influence of students thinking that grades are more important than what they are learning, if they get the chance to, they will cheat in order to achieve a high grade.  In fact, more than a dozen school districts across the country have been caught cheating on test scores, according to The Washington Post. Students also learn in a variety of ways, so this does not provide them with the best academic opportunities. Every student has a different method of learning. It is not fair to define intelligence based only on a test. Some students also tend to do better with group projects or class discussions and presentations. Students’ self-esteem could also be lowered if they are underperforming, even if their talents lie in areas not included in the test. Such a situation could limit their ability to learn in the future, and not be confident in their own talents and abilities.

Intelligence cannot be accurately defined by a number, as it is much more complex than that. Therefore, a number shouldn’t determine a student’s academic future. Standardized testing promotes memorizing, not learning. These tests cause anxiety, have negative psychological and physical effects on students, limits learning, affects graduation rates, self-esteem and learning fundamentals. It's a ranking, not a ranking of quality. It's a value assessment based on the amount of data available. I hope that in the future we will find more effective and value-based methods for assessing students' learning abilities.