Gavin Reeves

9 November 2014
English 111: Paul Anderson
Final Draft
Standardized Tests
Taking tests is a routine everyone is familiar with, from road tests to breathalyzer tests,
tests have become a standard for American living. Since the passing of the No Child Left Behind
Act, new standards have been placed upon teachers and students alike. Ana Klein, Sumita
Bhattacharyya, John Antush, James Aycock, and Norman Augustine discuss how exactly state
mandated standardized testing is effecting schools, teachers, and students around the country.
Ana Klein, John Antush, and Sumita Bhattacharrya agree that standardized testing is obstructing
the education process. In defense of standardized testing, James Aycock and Norman Augustine
both highlight why the standards are necessary. The education of this country's posterity is of
extreme importance, as anyone with a stake in national prosperity should be deeply concerned
with the subject. There is a large debate concerning how effective standardized tests are, and if
they are having a positive or negative effect on the learning process in schools.
In "Can You Hear Us? Voices Raised Against Standardized Testing by Novice Teachers,"
authored by Sumita Bhattacharrya, she writes about the effect that standardized testing is
having on freshly graduated teachers. The two main questions that are being considered are
how standardized testing effects their curriculum, and whether it is allowing teachers to instill
good habits in their students. A popular complaint is that teachers are only teaching to the test
("Can You Hear Us?"). She says a large part of the forced curriculum frustrates new teachers,

2
they wish to encourage the growth of critical thinking skills that can be used in their students
daily lives. Bhattacharrya articulates that "When used alone, standardized tests do not present
a clear picture of student knowledge and skills" ("Can You Hear Us?"). The process of preparing
for a standardized test deeply involves rote memorization. Sumita argue that the education
process no longer reinforces their pupils individual strengths, while suggesting that tests do not
truly reflect student skill and progress. Her statistics suggest that these tests are extremely
damaging for certain minority groups and children from low income families. Some teachers
suggest that the tests shouldn't be used to measure the quality of their students education,
only to rank students against one another. These resulting high standards are causing many
new teachers to leave the industry ("Can You Hear Us?"). Sumita Bhattacharrya's essay suggests
that standardized testing is detrimental to the education system, John Antush highlights similar
flaws in his essay.
In John Antush's dissertation, "Labor and "Ed Deform": The Degradation of Teachers'
Work Through Standardized Testing and the New York City Evaluation System," he discusses
how the requirements have negatively affected the education system in New York through
what he calls Ed Deform, which "...seeks to bring market-type pressures to bear on teachers'
labor" (Antush "Labor and Ed Deform"). He claims that the goal of the new requirements are to
increase the productivity of the education system by re-directing funds towards a strict
curriculum consisting of test preparation, which completely automates the education process.
While educators are being assessed based on their students test scores, they are also being
required to take standardized certification exams themselves. In 2001 many teachers with long
and successful careers lost their jobs when they failed to pass a new certification examination.

3
Antush claims that the new reforms gave all the power and decision making to the government,
stating that "This is the polar opposite of the community-controlled school boards some in the
black community had fought for in the 1960s" ("Labor and Ed Deform"). A comment where he
heavily implies that minorities have been negatively influenced by the new reforms, which
coincides with the statements made in Bhattacharrya's essay. In an article written by a fellow
New Yorker, Ana Klein writes how teachers cope with the reforms.
In Ana Klein's report titled "Managing Standardized Testing in Today's Schools," a
qualitative survey was sent out to twenty educators to evaluate the employment of high stakes
testing in New York. At various grades, students are required to take examinations in various
subjects which are required for graduation. Teachers focus on preparing students for the test,
usually by administering the similar, previously mandated exams. Many of the teachers
reported that the high stakes testing program caused their students much anxiety, thus
teaching test preparation skills are a high priority (Klein "Standardized testing"). In order to
enforce accountability, school districts are required to share their test scores and thus are
ranked accordingly, which also "may create workplace anxiety as poor test results might
warrant school closure or reduction in funding" (Klein "Standardized testing"). This causes a
slew of issues for the teachers, who neglect subjects which students are not tested on. This
confirms Bhattacharyya's fear that teachers are only teaching to the test while simultaneously
confirming Antush's claim that the education system is being automated. These three sources
all share common views.
In the articles written by Sumita Bhattacharyya, John Antush, and Ana Klein they agree
that standardized testing is detrimental to the education process. All three believe that these

4
tests harm the cultivation of critical thinking skills in students. Both John Antush and Ana Klein
come from New York, they worry that the motivation behind standardized testing is purely
politically motivated. Ana Klein takes this further, pointing out the massive amount of pressure
this places on educators to please constituents. John Antush suggest that the next step is to
completely remove teachers altogether, and replace them with online learning. Unlike the
other two sources, Ana Klein does not suggest more reforms, but for teachers to learn how to
cope with the current ones. On the other side of the spectrum, Norman Augustine and James
Aycock speak in defense of standardized testing.
In a "Teacher Voice: In Defense of Standardized Testing," James Aycock argues for
standardized testing, saying that assessments are absolutely necessary to evaluate a students'
knowledge. He begins by explaining how assessments are a form of a data collection, to
determine where his students are at, whether or not his teaching method was effective, and if
he can move onto the next subject or not (Aycock "Teacher Voice"). Aycock suggests "Some
teachers are better than others, some classes are harder (and some easier), etc. As a result, not
all tests are equal" ("Teacher Voice"). Without standardizing the test, there is no room for
comparison, and no way to tell if the education students received is sufficient (Aycock "Teacher
Voice"). On the matter of teaching to the test, Aycock says that "Good teachers define the end
goal first and then plan backwards from there" ("Teacher Voice"). This statement conflicts with
Bhattacharyya's viewpoint, who says that standardized testing causes teachers to overlook
subjects instead. Aycock concedes that tests which lack short answer questions or short essay
questions are lackluster tests (Aycock "Teacher Voice").

5
In Norman Augustines' article "Here's why schools need standardized testing," he
contests many of the main points made in Bhattacharyya, Antush, and Klein's essay. Foremost,
he claims that teaching the test does not "detract from the larger goals of education"
(Augustine "Schools need standardized testing"), he claims that in order to improve something,
there has to be a standard to measure it, A viewpoint he shares with James Aycock. His second
point of contention is when teachers falsify test scores for the sake of keeping their job, or
improving their school's standing in the district. He argues that the majority of educators are
honest professionals, and even if such dishonesty were commonplace, the educators would be
at fault (Augustine "Schools Need Standardized Testing"). This viewpoint that is at odds with
Bhattacharrya, who believes that "some of them merely cheating so that their low-income
schools will get the proper funding they need to succeed" (Bhattacharrya "Can You Hear Us?").
Lastly, he concedes to Klein that high stakes testing does cause anxiety for students, but he
agrees with James Aycock that there is a middle ground, and that there are good and bad tests.
There is a large debate concerning standardized testing and whether it is having a
positive or negative effect on the education industry. Ana Klein, John Antush, and Sumita
Bhattacharrya believe that standardized testing is obstructing the culmination of critical
thinking skills in pupils, and creating a poor work environment for educators. James Aycock and
Norman Augustine argue in favor for standardized texting, suggesting that it is the only
available method of evaluating students and teachers. Standardized testing however, does not
seem to be going away any time soon. Due to the global economy, becoming highly educated
and skilled has become a necessity to remain competitive.

6
Works Cited
Klein, Ana Maria. "Managing Standardized Testing in Today's Schools." The Journal of
Educational Thought 40.2 (2006): 145-57. ProQuest. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/213795793?accountid=35715
Bhattacharyya, Sumita. "Can You Hear Us? Voices Raised Against Standardized Testing by
Novice Teachers." Creative Education 4.10 (2013): 633-9. ProQuest. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1463675832?accountid=35715
Antush, John C. "Labor and "Ed Deform": The Degradation of Teachers' Work through
Standardized Testing and the New York City Evaluation System." Monthly Review 66.2
(2014): 33-47. ProQuest. Web. 28 Oct. 2014.
http://search.proquest.com/docview/1537948813?accountid=35715
Augustine, Norman R. "Here's why schools need standardized testing." Special to the
Washington Post (2013). Bangor Daily News. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
http://bangordailynews.com/2013/08/03/education/heres-why-schools-needstandardized-testing/
Aycock, James. "Teacher Voice: In Defense of Standardized testing" State Collaborative on
Reforming Education (2014). Bluff City Education. Web. 9 Nov. 2014.
http://tnscore.org/in-defense-of-standardized-testing/