Armed with a pencil and jammed with information, we file into the large gym filled with rows upon rows of desks and packets labeled SAT. This foreboding test determines whether we will jump into the world as successors or as failures. Lit by the sickening fluorescents, the proctors instruct us to begin as my stomach increasingly churns with dread.

Standardized testing has been the center of schooling since the beginnings of organized education. First discovered in early Chinese government applications, this form of analyzing intellectual skills spread through the west, especially through the industrial age where elementary and secondary schools grew in number and in size. Standardized testing was implemented into education at this time as the most efficient way to test and gather results from large groups of students. However, as this form of examination may have been beneficial to the school organizations of the 19th and 20th centuries, it is a detriment to the 21st century students due to its flawed methods, easily fluctuated scores, and lack of a well-rounded analysis.

The SAT and ACT exams were created by the College Board Association in 1926; they have not changed since. Now some would say this 88 year old system “ain’t broke, so don’t fix it.” However, it is “broke” and it needs some good fixing because our lives have changed in 88 years. Computers, smart phone devices, and other technological advances increased our minds’ processing speeds, our capacity to create, and our need for higher stimulation, so sitting in a classroom lecture or bubbling in the “correct” answer for a test will not increase our knowledge but teach us to sit inside the box and think superficially. An example of this sort of testing and learning is the simple analogy practice. Blue: sky as____: grass. You automatically thought green, right? But, one who still possesses their intellectual integrity can argue that there are grasses that are brown, purple, blue, etc. This type of learning confines us to one sole answer and is against our very nature of the creative mind formed from the up and coming century.

People who break free from the bonds of the linear form of standardized learning tend to show “failure” in school just because they think differently than what their teachers implement. A perfect example of this is Albert Einstein. We know him to be one of the greatest physicists in history with his multiple contributions such as his most famous, the theory of relativity. However, none of his early instructors would ever dream of him becoming that successful due to his delayed speech, lack of interest, and declining grades in school. He hated the regulatory exams stating, “The only thing that interferes with my learning is my education.” The former President of the American Psychological Association, Bob Sternberg, had the same issue being called a “big dope” due to his low IQ results and received a C in his introductory to psychology class as a freshman in college. These two bright minds rose above what was expected of them and proved that learning and testing should not be a “cookie cutter” process.

Not only do tests confine our capabilities, but its process offers a copious amount of unreliable results. Studies suggest that 50-80% of scores from standardized tests show a merely fluctuated “window” of a student’s progress (Olson, Lynn 2001). Fluctuations and inconsistencies in a student’s performance vary from lack of sleep, amount of stress, emotional and physical state, ability to concentrate, diet, and many unrelated causes. These seemingly irrelevant causes for dramatic changes in test scores show that the system does not truly examine the progress of the student’s ability rather a small snippet of their present state of mind. In fact, Gerald W. Bracey, a researcher on the practice of standardized testing wrote how these exams only test analytical and memorization skills while leaving out skills that are instrumental to all areas of life such as resilience, motivation, persistence, curiosity, compassion, critical thinking, leadership, integrity, reliability, self-awareness, and arguably the most important, creativity. While brushing these important skills aside, our current school system is breeding a generation that will not survive, much less flourish, in the career world.

Standardized testing is an outdated system of analyzing skills of students in this generation. Our capabilities are well beyond checking A, B, C, or D on a packet in a proctored classroom. However, the world cannot see what we students are made of until we’re given a chance. My hope is that instead of walking into a testing room full of dread, not knowing what to expect, and praying that we remember everything; we can walk confidently, knowing that these tests will show them who we are as an individual and where we shine. We students are the future, and this future requires a strong educational foundation that will lead us above and beyond.

Works Cited

"HeartQuotes™: Quotes of the Heart." HeartQuotes™: Albert Einstein Quotes. N.p., n.d. Web. 22 May 2014. <http://www.heartquotes.net/Einstein.html>.
Olson, Lynn. "Study Questions Reliability Of Single-Year Test-Score Gains."Education Week (n.d.): n. pag. 23 May 2001. Web. 22 May 2014. http://www.edweek.org/ew/articles/2001/05/23/37brookings.h20.html
Sternberg, Bob. "None of the Above - Why Standardized Testing Fails: Bob Sternberg at TEDxOStateU." YouTube. YouTube, n.d. Web. 22 May 2014. htps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=otlmKZeNi-Ut
Strauss, Valerie. "The Myths of Standardized Testing." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 15 Apr. 2011. Web. 22 May 2014. <http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/answer-sheet/post/the-myths-of-standardized-testing/2011/04/14/AFNxTggD_blog.html>.