Is Standardized testing necessary?

Recently, many countries around the world are willing and working hard to change the way, and the policy of their countries’ education. That’s because they have found some errors in their current education. Sure! I doubt that no one in the world will be able to proudly say, ‘’we all have a perfect education system, which needs no alteration at all!’’. So, in order to change the problems detected, many professionals went on to search for the reason, and ended up with the conclusion; “It’s all because of ‘Standardized testing’.”

So, what is standardized testing in general anyways? A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. And this part is important. Standardized tests need not be high-stakes tests, time-limited tests, or multiple-choice tests. The opposite of a standardized test is a non-standardized test. Non-standardized testing gives significantly different tests to different test takers, or gives the same test under significantly different conditions (e.g., one group is permitted far less time to complete the test than the next group), or evaluates them differently (e.g., the same answer is counted right for one student, but wrong for another student).

Standardized tests are perceived as being fairer than non-standardized tests. The consistency also permits more reliable comparison of outcomes across all test takers.

Standardized testing has lots of benefits. First, Standardized testing provides aggregation of useful information. Second, results can be empirically documented have a relative degree of validity and reliability. Third, results which are generalizable and replicable are also provided. Standardized tests, which by definition give all test-takers the same test under the same (or reasonably equal) conditions, are also perceived as being more fair than assessments that use different questions or different conditions for students according to their race, socioeconomic status, or other considerations. Finland, with the most prestigious education in the world, uses standardized testing very efficiently, unlike most of the other countries. Finnish schools use measure the exact level of a student through standardized testing, in order to figure out students who needs extra help, and supports them in a polite manner, rather than forcing them into a harsh and tough competition with others. As we can see from the Finnish example, standardized testing itself has no problem, but has so many benefits, by using it in a correct way. What all education should seek for is not the replacement of the standardized testing, but how we can pursue the standardized testing to maximize its benefits.

So what's your opinion about the standardized testing? Should it be replaced with a different type of test?

Thank you for reading this, and is ready to hear from all of you!

Are standardized tests beneficial?

Standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid-1800s and their use skyrocketed in nowdays. In my opinion, standardized tests are harmful for students in that they can deteriorate the true purpose of education.

Standardized tests measure only a small portion of what makes education meaningful. According to late education researcher Gerald W. Bracey, PhD, qualities that standardized tests cannot measure include "creativity, critical thinking, motivation, curiosity, endurance,enthusiasm, empathy, self-awareness, self-discipline, leadership, compassion, sense of beauty, sense of wonder, honesty, integrity." Thee real education teaches hwo to live happily and wisely with academic knowledge learned from schools and academies. On the other hand, students just take multiple-choice format test which encourages a simplistic way of thinking in which there are only right and wrong answers. Those ways of learning are not applied in the real-world situations. As a result, standardized tests are not beneficial for students because they cannot teach students important things which will be needed in the future society.

A lot of students get stressed out when they think of the exams coming soon. In fact, who doesn't get stressed out by those? There are standardized tests like school exams all around us, like TOEFL, TEPS or JLPT. But a lot of people cast doubt on its necessity. In my opinion, they are inevitable for two reasons. First, it is the easiest way to see what the student has accomplished, and second, it is the most effective way that has been devised so far.
First, standardized test is the easiest way to evaluate a student's ability. It can ask the main idea or essential information of the topic students have learned in the simplest way. It can ask everyone the same question, therefore showing the students ability in a very clear and objective way. Other methods, such as interviewing could sometimes be very subjective because it requires the interviewer's opinion a lot but standardized tests can block subjective opinion from coming in.
Second, it is the most effective method that people have come up with so far. A lot of people cast doubt on its need but no one could come up with a better idea that would be satisfying for everyone yet. Although it has some disadvantages, we cannot deny that standardized tests can satisfy more people than other methods such as interviewing or writing essays. There is no better testing method better than standardized test that has been invented so far, so we have no choice but to stick to it yet.
Standardized tests are the most effective way to evaluate a students' ability and the best method that has been devised so far so in my opinion, standardized tests are necessary.