Fixing Education pt. 2: Why We Need to Ditch the Testing
We’ve been intensively testing kids with state standardized testing since 1994 with the Improvement of America’s School Act. This law tied federal education funding for states to a requirement for state wide testing.
In 2001 No Child Left Behind (NCLB) made the additional requirement that all schools show improvement in student test scores or risk closure. This relying solely on test scores for assessment of progress was resisted by the teacher’s unions and ultimately has led to the need for schools to “teach to the test.”
In 2009 we got “Race to the Top” which was supposed to incentivize states to do better. Didn’t work.
Around 2010 most states adopted Common Core. It’s goal was to “rescue” American schools and students from “mediocrity.” In 1983 the National Commission on Excellence in Education published, A Nation at Risk: the Imperative for Educational Reform. The commission included 18 people. Most (12) were administrators. There was only one teacher on the commission. The reason for their dark and worrisome findings was that national test scores on SAT’s had gone down. But they weren’t very good at their own math. Because while the average score had gone down the actual scores were split between some that were much higher than previously and others that were low. A more accurate interpretation of the data suggested there were some groups that needed the more attention to succeed. But none of this was analyzed by the group. Instead, with only one teacher on board, they wrote up Common Core recommendations for all students. One teacher. No child development experts. No cognitive scientists.
In 2012 states were allowed to apply for waivers to NCLB if they continued state testing of students and assessment of teachers and principals.
In 2015 we got, Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) which attempted to hand some control back to the states, but still required student testing and the posting of those test results.
And yet, we still have large numbers of kids graduating with low reading and math levels. Soooo, we have many years of data that tell us thaaaat…standardized testing does not help kids learn.
We also have a ten year old study showing that states were spending 1.7 billion a year on standardized testing. So pretty reasonable to assume that by today’s dollars were looking at a minimum of 2 billion dollars a year spent on testing that has not helped anyone. That’s Billion with a “B.”
Now some will say that the cost per student is low, but that’s a mistaken approach. Average teacher salaries and compensation packages vary by location, but we’ll pick $70,000. So with 2 Billion we could add 28,571 additional teachers. Regular teachers. Special education teachers. Or we could use the money to raise teacher salaries and attract a higher skilled work force. Or we could build new schools so that each one is smaller and more personal. We could use the money to repair decrepit facilities with lead pipes. We could improve food services. We could facilitate teacher education in cognitive science.
10 million American kids between 5-17 years old live in poverty. The biggest risk factor for poor student learning is…poverty. This is not even debated. The evidence is so clear. In addition, the best way to increase student outcomes is to raise their family’s financial status. This finding is consistent across many studies. So, we could give 200 dollars per year, per child to poor families. May not seem like much, but if you’re poor and your car breaks down that can be a life saver. It’s enough to buy a back pack or school clothes. Remember we are talking 2 Billion a year. Every year. That adds up. So many options when you pool together 2 Billion dollars. And frankly, next year testing will cost 2.5 Billion and the next, 3 Billion.
In addition, it’s not like the testing does no harm. It does a lot of harm. First, teachers are forced to “teach to the test.” Most will tell you that they can much more accurately, and in real time, assess how a child is doing without a standardized test. I can tell you that my kid’s schools spent an entire month of class time preparing for testing. An entire month that could have been spent focusing on activities that inspire a child to reach for knowledge and learning.
But, you say, the testing is to show us if the teachers and schools are doing a good job. It’s not for the kids. Right? So second, tying teacher salary or job security to how a student does on a test is not an accurate measure of teaching skills. Again, the biggest risk factor for poor student learning is…poverty. Not something a teacher really has any control over.
Third, asking students to take tests to solve an adult problem, like “how do we make schools better,” is truly unfair to kids. It’s our issue. We grown-ups should be able to handle the concern without laying a huge burden on our kids. Perhaps you think, “Oh, it’s not so bad.” However, childhood anxiety and suicide attempts are steadily rising. That rise in childhood anxiety correlates with the onset of Common Core.[1] Frankly, you can ask any kid what causes them the most anxiety in life and (barring family trauma) they’ll usually tell you it’s school. Parents will usually tell you the same thing.
So we have this thing we’re doing that hasn’t helped improve schools or learning. It costs 2 Billion a year that goes to the testing companies not schools. It makes teaching harder for teachers. It makes the teaching career less desirable for teachers. It doesn’t provide us with useful data as test scores do not predict life outcomes. It causes enormous anxiety in children. And it teaches nothing.
Other countries with more successful school systems do testing differently. They limit standardized tests to late in schooling or they don’t do it at all. They assess within the child’s classroom with tests given by the child’s teacher.
So why do we continue to use standardized tests? Because humans like to have answers to things. Here’s a problem. Here’s an answer. And once we’ve got that answer we do not as a species like to let it go and look for a new one. We really don’t like to say, “That was wrong. It didn’t work. Let’s try again.” So instead we just keep changing the name of our program from Improvement of America’s School Act to Common Core to No Child Left Behind to etc. Same, same. We have to throw out the whole idea of trying to assess school or teacher performance by testing kids.
Once we throw it out we will then be free to take a fresh look at the issue of building quality schools and find a new and better approach.
Next week: Why Common Core etc. Failed and What to Do Instead.
Watch for the following Fixing Education articles over the next weeks:
pt 3: Why Common Core/ No Child Left Behind etc. All Failed
pt 4: Why Accountability Failed and What The Real Focus Needs to Be
pt.5: Neuro-atypical Learners Are One Third of All Kids. What Does This Mean?
pt.6: Class Size
pt7: Free Post Secondary Education. Why it Matters
pt8: Charter Schools. The Good and the Bad
pt9: Poverty and Education
I’m working on a book about public education reform and special education issues. If you are a parent, teacher, or school professional, I’d like to tell your story. Everything will, of course, be confidential. You can reach me at: 241kcawley@gmail.com
You can also follow me and read previous essays on my free Substack site: Kathleen Cawley for Navigating Parenthood or on Medium.
Some References: (you can expect this list to grow)
2. What Happens When 48K Student District Commits To The Science Of Learning, The74million, Holly Korbey, 9/23/2024
3. History and Background of Student Testing, Education Writers Association, 6/20/2023
4. A Nation At Risk, analysis by Wikipedia
5. The Manufactured Crisis: Myths Fraud and the Attack on America’s Public schools, David Beliner and Bruce Biddle, 8/26/1996
6. Report: How A Non-Profit Charter School Can Be Run For Profit, Peter Greene, Forbes, 3/19/2021
7. Chartered For Profit: The Hidden World Of Charter Schools Operated For Financial Gain, Network for Public Education
8. California Strikes a Major Blow to For Profit Charter Schools, Derek Black, Education Law Prof Blog, 9/10/2018
9. Peter Gray, A Brief History of Education, Substacks Play Makes Us Human, 6/24/2025