There is a view that schools should do away with standardized tests. I agree with this suggestion because such tests do not accurately measure students’ academic capabilities, cause unnecessary stress, and lead to superficial approach to studying.
One main reason why I am in favor of this view is that standardized tests do not accurately measure students’ academic capabilities. Such tests are mostly given in the form of multiple-choice questions, meaning one has a chance to find the correct answer just by a guesswork. This, in turn, can lead to students with poor performances during the lessons achieving the passing score purely by chance.
Another significant point is that these tests cause unnecessary stress. Students often compete with their peers to obtain a higher score and by overthinking about the future results, they can underperform during the exam and not reach their true potential. This situation becomes even worse with the pressure from parents who usually happen to compare their children with other students.
A final argument is that relying on standardized tests can lead to a superficial approach to education. Many schools assess both teachers’ and students’ progress according to the correct answers found. This pattern often results in teachers leaking the questions and forcing students to memorize them to boost their exam results. Understanding the subject, in such cases, falls out of priority, which, in reality, should be the main focus of the schools.
In conclusion, standardized tests usually fail to gauge students’ performance accurately, increases academic pressure, and may prevent students from truly enjoying their studies. Therefore, I support the suggestion that schools should eliminate such tests.