Since the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (NCLB) was put in place, some parents, teachers,

and administrators have made their opinions known against something they believe is

detrimental to public education and American children: standardized testing. According to

NCLB, all children in the United States must demonstrate proficiency in reading and math.

While each state can determine its own level of proficiency, whether children move on to the

next grade, or even graduate from high school, depends on passing a standardized test (Wilcox,

2019). Across the United States, children from minority communities have been more likely to

miss out on a diploma because of low scores on tests required by law (Austin, 2012).

Standarized tests have many advantages. Proponents of large-scale assessments say they are an

objective and accurate measure of students' abilities. The results show how students, or groups of

students, compare with each other according to broad standards. Ideally, every child in the

country should receive the same education, and the tests can help educators find where

educational improvements are needed (Wilcox, 2019). Sonja Brookins Santelises, vice president

of K-12 policy and practice at The Education Fund, acknowledges that too much attention is paid

to test preparation, but that we need to work together to close the achievement and skills gap

among students (Santelises, 2020). The founder of the nonprofit StudentsFirst and former

chancellor of Washington D.C. public schools, Michelle Rhee, also sees standardized testing as a

resource that can narrow this gap. She states. "It's not uncommon for a student to receive A's and

B's on their grades, but still lag behind their peers in other districts and states across the country.

And without standardized testing, the child's principals, teachers and parents would have no idea

(Rhee, 2020)."

On the other hand, opponents of standardized testing strongly believe that these assessments are

problematic and have devastating effects on our educational system. There are no studies
showing that standardized tests, a multi-billion dollar industry controlled by three major U.S.

corporations, have positive effects. Some teachers may complain that they are forced to focus

their teaching strictly on what appears on the test, leaving little or no time for subjects that are

not included in these assessments, such as art, social studies and science. I personally believe that

standardized tests are one more metric for learning, but not the only one that should be taken into

account. Students' aptitudes go beyond an alphanumeric score. Factors such as creativity can

hardly be measured with numbers, but they are just as important for students' development.
References
Austin, G. (2012). Why Do Minority Test Scores Still Lag behind Whites? Retrieved from Diversity Journal.

Rhee, M. (2020). What's my quote. Retrieved from https://whatsmyquote.com/author/michelle-rhee

Santelises, S. B. (2020). Education Week. Retrieved from Parents Are Watching Like Never Before. ‘Trust
Us’ Isn’t Enough: https://www.edweek.org/teaching-learning/opinion-parents-are-watching-
like-never-before-trust-us-isnt-enough/2020/12

Wilcox, M. (2019). Colors New York. Retrieved from Colors New York.