Standardized testing in schools, thus, has remained one of the most leaders of discussions for years. Despite the fact it seeks to assess Academic performance of the students uniformly, it has its merits and demerits. It is essential to comprehend these benefits and demerits in order to define the potential of a bar-coding system in the system of education.
The first advantage of a standardized test is the comparability of students’ performances that are tested through the assessment tools. This consistency aids educators together with policymakers to evaluate the extent to which students within multiple academically various schools and districts are performing. This protects the students from differing assessments in different local settings leaving none behind.
Also, standardized testing is useful to provide essential information on the development of curriculum. In other words, it helps the schools to understand challenges experienced by children and make necessary changes in the learning process. Managers, policy-makers, educational professionals and students can all benefit from this data driven model and, in turn, enhance the quality of teaching and learning in the education system.
However, the following is a summary of advantages and disadvantages of standardized testing. Thus, one significant drawback: these tests do not take into consideration the variety of learners’ abilities and their approaches to learning. Pupils from different stratum or those with learning disabilities may equally record low results and may therefore be ‘categorized’ as poor students.
Further, standardized tests can cause anxiety and stress to the learners. This is particularly so, since these tests normally have a standardized format that does not give much room for innovation to the learners. Such a sense of thinking and evaluation of students on the basis of only results may in fact downplay creativity and critical thinking. This pressure therefore causes a shift to focus on the tests and exams, subsequently reducing the breadth of learning and development expected of students.
Conclusion
Overall, standardized testing is a useful tool in evaluating the performance of students, but the drawbacks of the tool cannot be overlooked. To be more effective in benefiting the students the system should advance towards the types mentioned in section 3 and decrease the pressure mechanisms. Therefore, it is advisable to offer a more blended and less rigid model of assessment to ensure that all students receive equal support at school.
