Standardized tests are an inaccurate representation of a student’s intelligence

Johannah Larson

In the past decade and overwhelming number of standardized tests are towering over the U.S. public school systems. Students are not benefiting in any way by taking these long and complicated tests. The only thing that these test results can show is which students are good at test taking, not their intelligence level. 

Teachers no longer teach the material in a way that they can learn more, but now they just help students with trying to pass the test. When a certain number of students pass a standardized test, it makes the teachers look good. 

Instead of actually comprehending a topic in school, students are trying to temporarily memorize test questions so that they can make an exceptional grade. This hinders the students from learning and taking in all the information that is vital for their future outside of high school 

Some people are naturally bad at test taking. This does not mean that they are dim-witted, but they crack under pressure and do not perform to their highest extent.  

Many people cannot take test well when they know there is a time limit. Speed does not reflect intelligence. During a test, the student does not know what concepts are going to be thrown at them. It takes time for them to go back into their memory and must recollect all the steps they have to do to find the correct answer. 

 Also, there is often two remarkably similar answers, with one being deceptively wrong. Why would the test makers expect students to perform well, when they do not make the answer choice straight forward? They are trying to confuse the students so that they must think more critically, but all that they end up accomplishing is confusing the students.  

Overall, it is safe to say that standardized testing does not accurately show the intelligence level of students.