In an effort to improve education, especially in the United States, standardized testing has been instituted. But does it really work? This overview is not intended to answer the question of whether or not standardized testing works but to present both sides of the argument both for an against it.

The theory behind standardized testing is very simple. Every student is taught the same material in each subject so that a standardized test can be created and given to each of them. This will serve as a good barometer as to the student’s progress.

Those who support the theory say that with standardized tests there is nothing left to chance or discretion of the teacher. Every teacher is different and therefore every teacher has a different style of teaching, which includes how they create tests for their students. Some teachers create what would be considered difficult tests while other teachers create what would be considered very easy tests. In this case how well a student does on these tests would be directly related to the teacher they happened to get. With standardized testing and each teacher teaching the same material, this variable is eliminated. Thus, every student is taught the same, tested the same and therefore can be evaluated the same. Read the rest of this entry »