Introduction
Standardized testing is perceived to be a problem in the education sector and military in the United States. This policy has been applied in public schools and military education settings to base promotions in the military on standardized testing. Results obtained from standardized testing determine how teachers, parents, and administrators see the performance of students in classes. The results also give students perception about their understanding of course content. Many people in the United States have an opinion that public schools need to shift from standardized assessment tools to an approach capable of enhancing student performance. The proponents of standardized testing support the movement citing the importance of the program in improving student performance. Standardized testing tool exposes students to too many tests, yet there is no evidence that the tests enhance student achievement.
The effects of standardized testing tool in the United States expose suffering to teachers, communities, and organizations in the country. For example, standardized testing exposes teachers to emotional and cognitive dilemmas as the program exposes students to a need for continuously standardized test scores (Brady, 2008). Consequently, education program has become result oriented, thus compelling teachers to change preferred teaching methods in favor of other mechanisms that are not capable of imposing critical thinking to students. This information indicates that standardized teaching has the impact of creating rote in the education system as teachers are compelled to improve the teaching process. Throughout the teaching programs, teachers engage in functional and dysfunctional approaches designed to enhance the performance of students in achieving excellent results. The pressure to improve student test outcomes compels students to develop anger and lose positive self-efficacy.
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At the community level, standardized assessment tool increases the level of discrimination. According to Au (2016), the United States has been perceived as one of the countries that offer the best education. However, standardized testing assumes that all students have the same backgrounds, thus forming the basis for standardized testing. Proponents of standardized teaching argue that this education policy creates a chance for people from diverse regions to exercise equality based on socioeconomic spectrums. Students from some races may find it challenging to understand English or may be unfamiliar with computer technology. Though standardized testing may expose such students to new skills, promotions based on this approach leads to social discrimination because students have different educational backgrounds. Consequently, standardized testing reveals some students to low grades associated with the learning experience, thus promoting the problems to employment and promotions at the workplace.
Distance learning can be an alternative approach for saving students especially in higher learning institutions from the many tests that narrow the education curriculum. Students are also adversely affected by this policy. For example, uniform assessment tool has exposed students to a narrower curriculum that limits student learning. In the United States, mandatory standardized tests consume approximately 20 to 25 hours of students’ time per year from kindergarten to the eighth grade (Wiliam, 2010). These statistics count only the mandatory standardized tests meaning that the time converted to exams may increase in situations where teachers provide tutor written tests. As a result of the much funding required for this system, several schools in the entire United States have shifted the education program to create a room for standardized tests. The application of standardized teaching in schools does not provide an opportunity for schools to expand the school time per year to accommodate standardized tests without compromising scheduled class teaching. For example, the period between 2002 and 2009 marked a 40% decline in hours spend teaching social studies, music, and other art subjects in the United States (Au, 2016). The reduction of the time in art subjects were recovered through the increase of 2 hours in studying mathematics. This information indicates that a remedy is needed to ensure that the learning program accommodates all the subjects that a student should learn through the entire school life.
Common assessment tool also increases the level of government spending per child and parents in promoting education to children. Though America may be in a position to afford the costs incurred in financing standardized testing, some states and parents with children in private schools may find the process expensive. For instance, New York spends only $7 per student in support of a standardized based approach (Wiliam, 2010). This amount may appear to be low to the state, but it becomes expensive for parents educating students in private schools. In other regions such as the District of Columbia, Hawaii, and Delaware spend more than $60 per student, making standardized testing an expensive process. For instance, the District of Columbia spends approximately $114 per student, showing that the government diverts most of its resources supporting standardized teaching.
If the government and education sector do not change standardized testing for a better promotion testing option, it will lead to consequences such as decline in world education ranking. Uniform assessment is perceived to have narrowed the education system, thus affecting the quality of education received by students in America. For instance, the standardized testing tool was implemented in the US education system in the United States in the year 2002 (Gaille, 2018). After seven years, the policy contributed to a decline in US ranking in mathematics by about 13 points. According to Gaille (2018), the United States mathematics was ranked 18th and it dropped to 31st position by the year 2009. This information shows that the promising results for standardized testing as a tool for assessing promotion will never achieve the promised results. Instead, it will contribute to a decline in education performance in the United States.
Moreover, there will be a reduction in education competence capable of expanding its effects to other institutions in the United States. For example, the military institution in the United States adopted the standardized teaching that was previously used in education systems. For example, the US military has taken large scale standardized tests such as Scholastic Assessment Tests and American College Test when recruiting and placing military personnel. The application of standardized testing has subjected the army to a high level of criticism because the representation process is not representative of all the communities. In situations where the military starts recruiting people, many applicants send their resumes and participate in the standardized testing approach. However, the military administration does not provide the basis for promoting equality in selecting the candidates. According to Shepherd (2017), the problem associated with liability testing has been in the United States since the period of the First World War. The standardized based approach was applied in selecting the individuals participating in military activities. However, the process contributed to high levels of criticism as it promoted the level of discrimination in the United States. Failure to remedy the issue will exceed other institutions, thus minimizing the level of competence in US institutions.
The adverse effects of standardized testing in education and military promotion in the United States have drawn the interests of different stakeholders in the country. The key stakeholders in the education system such as community members, students, the board of directors, book publishers have expressed their interests in eliminating standardized testing tools from schools. For example, in the year 2013, a board of directors ordered city public schools to remove the standardized testing initiative from the school’s exam program (Strauss, 2015). The decision by the board of directors fueled the demonstration as parents and teachers called for a need for scaling down the limited number of standardized tests students should take per year. In effect, some teachers failed to implementation failed to administer standardized tests showing interest in having some changes in the testing tool used in the education system. Students from different states also called for a need for changes as they demonstrated their interests in avoiding an education system that success was only based on standardized testing. According to Strauss (2015), 20% of students in New York demonstrated their interest in experiencing a change from the standardized testing approach.
Publications such as online, blogs, articles, and journal authors have experienced the problems associated with unformed assessment approach. In most cases, scholars reveal all the issues that the standardized assessment tool has caused to education and other institutions that have implemented a standardized tool for promotions. For example, Shepherd (2017) explored the issues of standardized testing in the education system and the US military. The findings indicate that the process has contributed to discrimination both in schools and military recruitment because tools are absent for leveraging students and applicants from different communities.
In an attempt of making the process engaging to others, there is a need for applying oral campaign and written publications. The focus will be educating the public on the harm that standardized testing education assessment and military promotions cause to the United States. In effect, there is a need for implementing strategies that minimize the impacts and maximize benefits (Strauss, 2015). Though the issue has been discussed by many stakeholders, there is little knowledge on the effectiveness of the changes that ought to be made in the standardized testing policies.
Conclusion
The standardized testing tool has adverse effects on the education system and military promotions in the United States. There is a gap between the promised outcomes for this approach and the obtained findings, thus drawing public interest advocating for change in the process. Consequently, there is a need for remedying the situation to minimize adverse effects and maximize results. For example, reducing the number of standardized tests to be exposed to students per year can be a suitable approach. However, standardized based promotion should be eliminated from the military to promote equity and increase the ability of selecting skilled people in the sector.
References
Au, W. (2016). Meritocracy 2.0: High-stakes, standardized testing as a racial project of neoliberal multiculturalism. Educational Policy, 30(1), 39-62.
Brady, A. L. (2008). Effects of standardized testing on teachers' emotions, pedagogy and professional interactions with others.
Gaille, B. (2018, May 8). 18 Advantages and Disadvantages of Standardized Testing. Retrieved from https://brandongaille.com/18-advantages-and-disadvantages-of-standardized-testing/ .
Shepherd, K. J. (2017). Measuring Up: Standardized Testing and the Making of Postwar American Identities, 1940-2001.
Strauss, V. (2015, October 24). Confirmed: Standardized testing has taken over our schools. But whos to blame? Retrieved from https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2015/10/24/confirmed-standardized-testing-has-taken-over-our-schools-but-whos-to-blame/ .
Wiliam, D. (2010). Standardized testing and school accountability. Educational Psychologist, 45(2), 107-122.
