It was in 2009 when the United States was slapped with an educational ranking of 31st in the world, moving down from a previous ranking of 18th in 2000.  Why is it that the United States is lagging behind in education while many other countries like Finland, Ireland, and Japan are speeding ahead? 

Although there could be several factors leading to this decline, perhaps the largest obstacle between the United States and a better education system is the role of standardized tests.

One might argue that standardized tests must be in place to ensure that teachers are teaching students effectively, and it allows schools and individuals to be easily compared on a level playing field.  However, while testing offers a level playing field to assess students, it is simply not worth the time, money, and stress.

Even though the United States has participated in standardized testing since the mid-1800’s, the drastic increase in the amount of testing reached students when the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was enacted for all 50 states in 2002.  This act forces each state to create a curriculum that public schools must follow in order to make sure every school is meeting the state’s core standards.

It is no coincidence that since the NCLB was put in place, the United States dropped from 18^th to 31^st in worldwide educational rankings.

The increase in standardized testing has also led to states spending outrageous amounts of money on the for-profit testing industry in order to administer the tests.  Some states spent as much as 5.3 billion dollars on testing between 2002 and 2008.

It is unjust that billions of dollars in educational funding go towards standardized testing, when it could go to schools’ academically enriching areas, such as art and music, which would increase the quality of education for all students.

Additionally, the quality of education for students is reduced because of the fact that some funding that schools rely on is distributed based on test scores, creating pressure for the teachers to teach to the tests.

This way of teaching takes away important critical and creative thinking from a classroom and replaces it with Scantrons and multiple-choice questions.

Not only is money a problem with required state-administered tests, but also it is an issue with tests that many colleges require, such as the SAT and the ACT.  A recent New York Times article explained how SAT scores, in particular, are directly correlated with income, and grades are not.

Why, one might ask, does income correlate with SAT scores, while it does not correlate with academic grades?  The SAT, like many other standardized tests, is made up of content and “tricks” that are difficult to learn without a tutor or an expensive test-prep class, which many excellent students cannot afford.

This leaves many students with high grades unable to afford these classes and with a smaller chance of receiving a high SAT score than students with lower grades and more money for test preparation.

Wake Forest University is an example of a school that no longer requires standardized test scores for admissions.  After making their application “test optional,” their ranking went up to the top 30 universities in the nation according to U.S. News & World Report rankings.

They also noticed an increase in the average GPA of the incoming freshman and that the number of applicants in the top 10% of their class was in the low 60 percent range before going “test free,” and now 79% of their applicants are in the top 10% of their high school class.  It was additionally noted that the diversity of the student body at Wake Forest was increased after making standardized tests optional.

Test scores should have a smaller value in our education system.  A test should not determine the acceptance letter from the college of one’s dreams, or the amounts of funding public schools receive.

In order for the United States to have a better education system, students should learn critical thinking skills and real content, not simply how to take a test.

Standardized testing is creating an education system in which knowing how to fill in “bubble sheets” becomes more valued than crucial knowledge and skills students will need in their future lives.