Standardized testing has a huge effect on student motivation and achievement. Intrinsic motivation can easily lose its effect under the high-stakes pressure, as it is substituted by the urge to pass the scores instead of being interested in them. Such an environment creates more anxiety and academic risk-aversion that leads to a lack of true engagement and resilience.
Curricula are confined considerably by the rule of standardized testing. Subjects that have not been tested are marginalized. Instead of engaging in a variety of learning activities., classroom instruction becomes a practice of doing tests over and over again (a so-called teaching to the test) with the need to memorize rather than that of holistic growth.
There is evidence that standardized testing widens the disparities in education. The students who attend under-resourced schools are usually not well prepared hence come at a disadvantage. Low scores contribute to negative self-view, decreasing motivation, and decreasing opportunities to be better than the self-perceptions, thus aggravating preexisting outcome differences.
Although standardized tests can be used to yield aggregate data to determine overall attainment gaps and used to distribute resources, their usefulness in diagnosing was minimal. These potential benefits are obscured by their present-day high- stakes application, which takes a huge toll on the fundamental educational priorities.
Conclusion:
The main impact of standardized testing is to weaken intrinsic motivation, to make curricula confining and to increase inequities. This has pathologized the high-stakes applications of it throughout the learning process, prioritizing scores over learning. They include lessening the pressure of testing, differentiation of assessments and greater emphasis on critical thinking to enhance motivation aimed at attaining fair educational results.
