One issue with standardized testing is that we don't completely grasp what they are measuring. On the surface, they appear to be intended to provide an objective assessment of knowledge, or perhaps even inherent intellect.

1. High-Stakes Testing's Psychological
Impact
One issue with standardized testing is that we don't completely grasp what they are
measuring. On the surface, they appear to be intended to provide an objective assessment
of knowledge, or perhaps even inherent intellect.
However, a recent study conducted by Brian Galla, a psychology professor at the University
of Pittsburgh, in collaboration with Angela Duckworth and colleagues found that high school
grades are more predictive of college graduation than standardized tests such as the SAT or
ACT.
This is because, according to the researchers, standardized examinations have a big blind
spot: they fail to capture "soft skills" such as a student's capacity to adopt strong study
habits, take academic risks, and persevere in the face of adversity. High school grades, on
the other hand, tend to do a better job of identifying the intersection of resilience and
knowledge. That is, arguably, where potential is turned into actual achievement.
When we interviewed Duckworth, a psychologist and expert on gauging human potential, in
2020, she stated, "The more I understand what testing is, the more bewildered I am." "What
does the score indicate?" Is it someone's intelligence, or something else? How much of this
is due to their recent coaching? What percentage of it is true talent and knowledge?"
Nonetheless, standardized assessments remain a foundation of American education. They
have a significant impact on whether students graduate, what college or institution they
attend, and, in many ways, what professional prospects are available to them. Despite the
fact that they only take a few hours to complete—a tiny fraction of the time students spend
demonstrating their learning—the tests are infamously high-stakes.
High-stakes tests, by various criteria, are an inequitable indicator of ability and
accomplishment. According to a 2016 study, test scores are stronger predictors of wealth
than ability: "Scores from the SAT and ACT examinations are good proxies for the amount of
money students are born into," the researchers concluded. Even children who perform well
on the tests frequently pay a high emotional and psychological price. "Students in countries
that performed best on the PISA [Program for International Student Assessment] often have
lower well-being, as measured by students' satisfaction with life and school," wrote Yurou
Wang, an educational psychology professor at the University of Alabama, and Trina Emler, a
researcher at the University of Kansas.
In other words, we've probably certainly assigned too much weight to high-stakes
assessments, and the stress of the testing is now causing major health problems for pupils.

2. FLARES IN BIOLOGY
According to 2018 research, as high-stakes tests approach, cortisol levels, a biological
marker for stress, climb by an average of 15%, a physiological response associated to an
80-point decline in SAT results. Cortisol levels in students who were already experiencing
difficulties outside of school—for example, poverty, neighborhood violence, or family
instability—increased by up to 35%, a level that is likely to impair cognitive processes and
alter test scores beyond recognition. Is it possible that high-stakes examinations sometimes
measure the influence of stressors such as depression, family divorces, or the tests
themselves, rather than knowledge?
The researchers also discovered that cortisol levels dropped dramatically in a small group of
students during exam season, which they attributed to "shutting down in the face of the test"
rather than dealing with stress more effectively—in effect, hitting an emergency shut-off
switch.
"Large cortisol responses, whether positive or negative, were associated with poor test
performance, possibly imposing a'stress bias' and making exams a less trustworthy predictor
of student learning," the researchers found. They warned that this is a serious concern, not
just because elevated cortisol levels "make focus difficult," but also because "prolonged
stress exposure" burns out children and raises the chance of disengagement and academic
failure.
SLEEPLESS NIGHTS AND IDENTITY CRISES
Nancy Hamilton, a University of Kansas psychology professor, addressed the negative
impacts of high-stakes assessments on young adults in a 2021 study.
Beginning a week before important exams, college students kept a daily diary of their study
habits, sleep regimens, and mood swings. Hamilton's findings were troubling: exam anxiety
permeated daily life and was "correlated with bad health behaviors, including dysregulated
sleep patterns and poor sleep quality," resulting to a "vicious cycle" of cramming and poor
sleep.
Hamilton said to Edutopia that instead of focused about the academic subject to be studied,
many students became preoccupied with the life-changing ramifications of the tests. As they
tried to sleep at night, they worried about getting into a good college, finding a job that paid
well, and disappointing their parents.
Without pauses, high-stakes assessments can lead to a slew of problems, including
increased anxiety, excessive caffeine consumption, smoking, an unhealthy diet, a lack of
exercise, and poor sleep quality, according to Hamilton.

3. Test results are frequently tinged with existential dread. Laura-Lee Kearns, an education
professor at St. Francis Xavier University, reported in a 2011 study that high school students
who failed the state standardized reading test "felt degraded, humiliated, stressed, and
shamed" by the test results. Many of the children were successful in school and considered
themselves to be academically advanced, so the disconnect prompted an identity crisis in
which they felt "they did not belong in classes they previously enjoyed, and even caused
some of them to question their school class placement."
"I liked English, but my self-esteem plummeted after the test," a student said, reflecting a
common feeling. "I really had to consider whether I was any good at it."
EARLY PSYCHOLOGICAL INFLUENCE
High-stakes testing typically begins in third grade, when young pupils experience their first
fill-in-the-bubble scantrons. While the tests are often used as diagnostic tools (supposedly to
help adapt a student's academic support) and to evaluate teacher and school performance,
they can have a slew of unexpected outcomes.
In a 2005 study, researchers stated, "Teachers and parents believe that high-stakes
assessments lead to higher levels of anxiety and poorer levels of confidence in elementary
pupils." They noted that high-stakes testing produces "anxiety, fear, impatience, anger,
boredom, sobbing, headaches, and loss of sleep" in certain young kids, before concluding
that "high-stakes testing causes damage to children's self-esteem, overall morale, and
enjoyment of learning."
When asked to sketch drawings of their test-taking experience, the students in the study
predominantly portrayed it negatively—a depiction of a "nervous" student predominated.
"Students were concerned about not having enough time to complete the assignment, not
being able to figure out the answers, and failing the test," the researchers added. The
children drew themselves with "unhappy and angry facial expressions" in practically every
artwork. Smiles were scarce, and when they did appear, they were either to express
satisfaction that the test was done, or for unrelated reasons, such as being able to chew
gum during the test or being thrilled about an ice cream party after the test.
MANUFACTURED ENERGY
Tests such as the SAT and ACT are not intrinsically detrimental, and students should learn
how to deal with somewhat stressful academic settings. In fact, outright prohibiting them may
be detrimental, depriving many pupils of an important opportunity to demonstrate their
academic abilities. Making them a matriculation requirement, and incorporating them so
heavily into internal ranking and admissions systems, unavoidably removes millions of

4. promising students. In a 2014 study, for example, researchers examined 33 institutions that
had test-optional rules and discovered significant gains.
"The numbers of potential students with outstanding high school GPAs who have shown
themselves to everyone except the testing agencies are rather big," the researchers
observed. High-stakes assessments are too often used as arbitrary gatekeepers, excluding
students who would otherwise flourish in college.
High-stakes tests may be on the decline, if recent events in California are any clue. The
University of California removed SAT and ACT scores from its admissions process last year,
dealing a "resounding blow to the power of two standardized exams that have long
dominated American higher education," according to the Washington Post. Meanwhile,
hundreds of colleges and universities that discontinued testing because to the pandemic are
evaluating its worth, including all eight Ivy League schools.
In the New York Times, Bob Schaeffer, FairTest's Public Education director, stated, "This
indicates that test-optional is the new standard in college admissions." "Highly selective
schools have demonstrated that they can make fair and accurate admissions decisions
without using test scores."
In the end, it's not the tests that are problematic; it's the almost fetishistic power we give
them. We can keep the insights generated by the tests while restoring sanity and
proportionality to a damaged system. Simply put, if we deemphasize high-stakes
assessments, our pupils will do the same.