Why Testing Is Problematic

In Diane Ravitch's The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and CHoie are Undermining Education, she does an amazing job of explain the flaws of standardized testing.  In Chapter 8, The Trouble with Accountability, Ravitch presents the reader with a plethora of defects and glitches in the testing movement.

I was incredibly moved by Ravitch's proclamation that standardized tests are not in fact precise.  Maybe it is my science background that drew me to the passage, but Ravitch blatantly describes that a test is not a unit of measurement with an even scale.  She states, "The problem with using tests to make important decisions about people's lives is that the standardized tests are not precise instruments.  Unfortunately, most elected officials do not realize this, nor does the general public.  The public thinks the tests have scientific validity, like that of a thermometer or a barometer, and that they are objective, not tainted by fallible human judgement.  But test scores are not comparable to standard weights and measures; they do not have the precision of a doctor's scale or a yardstick.  Test very in their quality, and even the best tests may sometimes be error- prone, because of human mistakes or technical foul ups."

As if this statement isn't enough, Ravitch breaks down all of the flaws with the modern testing system.  For starters, teachers and administrators have developed numerous ways to "game" the system.  Some schools are home to full blown cheating, where an employee literally changes student responses prior to submitting tests for grading.  In other schools, administrators leaked test questions prior to the big day.

At other schools, admissions procedures help to filter the student population of the school.  By requiring interviews, student essays, letters of recommendation, and attendance records, a school has the ability to refine the "random" population that enters the school each fall.  And, this filtering doesn't only happen in the fall.  Often times, disruptive students are encouraged to transfer, and low performing students are encouraged to leave quietly before failing a class.

But, this isn't enough.  Weeding out low scores before they even enter the school and then again before the test isn't sufficient in some schools.  Here, students are asked to stay home on testing days or mysteriously suspended right before testing.

In addition, states have the ability to alter their proficiency percentage.  In some states, the passing percentage has dropped drastically over the years.  For example, in New York, officials made it easier for students to pass tests, falslely demonstrating a large increase in student performance.  According to Ravitch, "in 2006, a student in seventh grade [in New York] was required to get 59.6 percent of the points on the test to meet state standards in mathematics; by 2009, a student in that grade needed only 44 percent to be considered proficient."  Not sure about you, but I am still trying to figure that one out!

Data driven education has forced state officials and school leaders to go to extreme measures to come out on top.  As Ravitch points out, when the purpose of the tests is informational and diagnostic there is no need for foul play.  But when that purpose shifts to accountability,  a state of panic and "whatever it takes" develops.  Data driven and high stakes testing education has not only completely taken over schools in the United States, but it has lead to dishonest behaviors by almost all stakeholders.


Ravitch, D. (2010) The death and life of the great American school system: How testing and choice are undermining education.  Philadelphia, PA: Perseus Books Group.