Standardized Testing In America

Proponents argue that standardized tests have been deteriorating education in America, but extensive longitudinal studies and national surveys over the past year says otherwise. Standardized testing has been around since 1905 starting with the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. Fast forward fifteen years, the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) was created. In the 1960s, the federal government started pushing new achievement tests designed to evaluate instructional methods and schools. Standardized testing ever since couple years of it’s introduction has stirred up controversy on the basis of racial bias, reliability, and discrimination. Standardized tests are improving education in America as they are inclusive, enforce stricter standards to better prepare students for college, and are efficient …show more content…
To begin with, standardized tests are improving education in America as they are inclusive and non-discriminatory. One researcher witnessed firsthand what an accountability system for systematized tests can do to raise the achievement and developmental levels for students of all race and disadvantages. He states, “Since 1995 the passage rates in reading standardized tests of our African American, White, and economically disadvantaged students increased from 67.6% passing to 88.1%, 69.3% to 85.7 percent, 91.9% to 97.4 percent and 67.6% to 83% respectively” (Hooper 38). This shows that even though the public believes that standardized tests are racially bias and discriminatory towards students, the statistics show significant passage rates for minorities and low-income students on these tests. Some might argue that standardized tests are discriminatory against a certain cohort of students as detailed in this study, “In fact, just 33.2% of