Is standardized testing beneficial for students?

Standardized testing is beneficial to students because it shows how much they progress, makes students study harder, and standardized testing allows the teachers to know which areas the student needs help in. Standardized testing is like putting a bar to see if the students can reach it. Though it can be incredibly dull for the students, it has benefits. Blue ribbon and charter schools must have a high percentage of exceptional standardized testing scores to be classified as good schools.

One way standardized testing benefits students is that it shows how much they have progressed. The way standardized testing works as it tests students in math and English and later in science to ensure they are up to date in all their studies. It helps the state know where the students are,  and if students have relatively high grades on standardized testing, then the school’s reputation goes up. Most good schools are known for being good because their students have high standardized test scores; similarly, if a school has students with low test scores, the state can look into it and see what needs to be done to make the school better.

Another way Standardized testing is beneficial to students is that it motivates them. Even though, for most students, standardized testing is incredibly boring, it does motivate them to study for it. No one wants to get a low standardized test score, and since the scores go to the teachers and the state, many students study harder because of it making standardized testing helps the student’s focus rates. This makes standardized testing work both ways, students hate it, but it also gives them enough motivation to pay attention in class and at least try to do well on it. However, Eliyah Duong ’27, a student at Leonia High school says “For most of the Standardized test, the emphasis is really on memorization, not really to apply things in real life. And does memorization equal intelligence? No it does not.” While this may be true for some content-based standardized tests, most English standardized tests (including the PSAT and SAT) measure a student’s ability to comprehend new reading passages rather than regurgitate memorized information. Standardized math testing exclusively tests a student’s ability to apply concepts and skills they’ve learned in classes which sometimes includes memorizing formulas (although most geometry formulas are actually provided for you on the PSAT and SAT).

The final way standardized testing is beneficial to students is because it lets the schools know which areas the student needs help in.  This can be shown if the student say doesn’t do well in math but excels in English. Then the teachers know to help the student in math as that is where he may be lacking a little. 

Leonia High School has consistently tested above state averages for years, and looks to continue this trend.