W. Patric Gregory on the Benefits of Standardized Testing

While standardized testing has been a part of American education since the mid-1800s, it wasn’t until President George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 that standardized testing experienced a dramatic surge. The act mandated that all 50 states implement annual standardized testing, and these tests have become the basis of school curricula across the country.

In the intervening years, standardized testing has attracted broad support, but also its fair share of criticism, much of it undeserved. The following points illustrate why standardized tests not only work well but are also one of the best ways to determine whether a student is ready for the next stage of his or her academic development.

Objectivity and Uniformity
One the principal advantages of standardized testing is objectivity. There is no agenda or any other external influence when tests are developed, and all responses are graded on the same scale by computers, so they’re free from possible bias from teachers and administrators.
With conventional testing, on the other hand, a teacher’s personal bias may influence how he or she constructs a test, even if subconsciously. Often in these cases, a teacher can either make it easier for students, in order to inflate test scores, or make it harder, in order to challenge their students. They may also harbor implicit biases about a student if they know, or even suspect, who that student is.

Because it mandates that the tests are the same for every student at each respective grade level, standardized testing is also evenhanded. This uniformity reveals where students rank not only among their class peers but also across other school districts – in the region, in the state, even nationally.

Benchmarking
Standardized tests focus on math, reading, writing, and science because proficiency in these subjects is more predictive than others of future academic success – whether students are moving to the next grade or graduating to secondary education. Standardized tests can help teachers and administrators identify where students are struggling with these subjects and how a curriculum could be improved. They can also provide hard evidence to parents who may not understand why their child is struggling. In fact, 93% of parents say that standardized tests should be used to identify areas where students need extra help.

Standardized testing records the success and progress not only of each student but also of each school relative to its peers. This can lead to insights into what the top schools are doing right and what the lagging schools might do to improve.

Setting the Standard
It goes without saying that parents want the best education possible for their children. By providing them with objective, uniform feedback, standardized testing helps make that possible, by allowing them to make highly informed decisions on the best schools to select.

It also goes without saying that the goal of everyone involved in education is to provide every student the opportunity for the best education possible. Endorsing and promoting standardized testing is one critically important way to ensure we’re doing our part to accomplish that goal.

About the Author

W. Patric Gregory is an experienced business professional from Glastonbury, Connecticut. Patric currently serves as the owner and CEO of Highway Safety Corp, a company that has contributed to the highway construction industry for over 40 years. As leader of the company's senior management team, Patric is a seasoned strategist and innovator in his field.

To learn more about W. Patric Gregory, click here.