In his article “Standardized tests must measure up” Arne Duncan, the U.S. secretary of education raises the problem of low quality standardized tests. The author of the article believes that there are some flaws in these tests which may further result in a low quality of education. Moreover, standardized tests may contribute to shallow thinking. Of course, it is possible to find certain advantages of such testing and they could be used in the classroom. Nevertheless, it is clear that standardized tests should not prevail in the school curriculum and that they must measure up.
Furthermore, Duncan claims that it is important to improve the whole system of education in general. According to the author, living in a globally competitive economy, it is essential for people to get a perfect education. As Duncan states, the United States used to be leaders in the sphere of education and that it is necessary to raise the bar. The world is developing so fast that it is truly important to keep pace with it and to be ready to adjust to new changes. Duncan emphasizes the fact that students should be taught to higher standards and should be prepared to success. That is the main reason why schools should “leading the way on improving test quality, building assessments that move beyond bubble tests and measure critical thinking skills and writing” (Duncan). The author believes that schools should definitely increase the standards of learning. Duncan concludes that the best way to provide children with great lives is to provide them with great education.
All in all, it is possible to agree with Duncan that standardized tests couldn't be treated as the main method of assessing students's progress. Such tests could be hardly called sophisticated. On the contrary, they work in a superficial way as they check only students's basic skills and knowledge. These tests are not able to teach students to achieve success. As Duncan states, “Success in today’s world requires critical thinking, adaptability, collaboration, problem solving and creativity — skills that go beyond the basics for which schools were designed in the past” (Duncan). Unfortunately, but standardized tests cannot check all these skills. They teach students to complete typical tasks that don't require any deep thought. There are great chances that quite soon students would be doing the tasks offered by standardized tests automatically. Thus, Harris, P., Harris J., and Smith believe that despite numerous assumptions, standardized tests “fail to measure such important attributes as creativity and critical thinking skills. Studies indicate that standardized tests reward superficial thinking and may discourage more analytical thinking” (Harris, P., Harris J., and Smith). Indeed, it is obvious that using only standardized tests, it is impossible to measure such important qualities as creativity, persistence, reliability, self-discipline and many others. Instead, it seems that such tests only encourage shallow thinking. According to Harris, P., Harris J., and Smith, "standardized tests inadvertently create incentives for students to become superficial thinkers—to seek the quick, easy, and obvious answer” (Harris, P., Harris J., and Smith). This is the main thing that could be checked with the help of standardized tests. This data proves that if schools want to prove the quality of their education and to contribute to students's progress it is essential for them to dedicate less attention to standardized tests.
It should be also noted that one of the greatest drawbacks of standardized tests lies in the fact that they cannot be used in order to evaluate students's achievements. However, students's progress is the most important thing in the process of education. As Duncan states, “Parents have a right to know how much their children are learning; teachers, schools and districts need to know how students are progressing; and policymakers must know where students are excelling, improving and struggling” (Duncan). So, in order to check students's progress, most serious tasks should be included into the school’s curriculum. It would be useful to organize some conversations or interviews with the students. Of course, it is clear that standardized tests shouldn't be eliminated at all. For example, they may be used in order to check a certain aspect of learning or to check whether students have any problems with the studied material. Nevertheless, it is evident that standardized tests shouldn't dominate the school's curriculum as they don't show students's real progress or achievements and may contribute to superficial thinking.
Works cited
Duncan, Arne. “Standardized tests must measure up”. The Washington Post. 17 Oct. 2014. Web. 26 Feb. 2016
Harris, Phillip, Joan Harris, and Bruce M. Smith. "Standardized Tests Do Not Effectively Measure Student Achievement”. Gale. 2012. Web. 26 Feb. 2016
