Emma Henry

English 101: Writing my generation

February 15, 2017

The standardized test known as the SAT began in the 1920s in the United States. The

SAT is an exam that most students must take to get into college or are required to take the exam

as a job requirement. Many states have standardized tests, the MCAS for example, that students

begin taking as early as third grade. These tests are meant to test a students grasp in English,

Mathematics, and Science. How do these exams shape how students are taught? Creativity is

being smothered by the need for schools to acquire good scores on these exams.

Schools have focused on preparing students to do well on taking these multiple choice

exams. This is in opposition to having instruction that encourages creativity in students. A

psychologist named Robert J Sternberg also wrote about schools lack of creative instruction. The

former professor of both Yale and Tufts wrote, Becoming an expert in the skills required for

taking multiple-choice tests may crowd out the skills needed for other life challenges--namely,

those required for creative and wise thinking. (Sternberg). Even in advanced placement (AP)

courses the entire course was geared for the students to acquire passing grades on the exam that

occurred at the end of the course. There always seemed to be a mad dash in school right before

we were going to take the state-wide exam, known as MCAS, to review even though that is

actually all we had been doing up to that point in the school year. Sternberg went on to point out

that school has become an instruction on how to do well on standardized tests and that it should
also work on the importance of creativity and wisdom. He went on in his article to give explain

three reasons why creativity and wisdom should not be shoved aside as it is being in schools. The

first reason he gave was that the human race would still be in the stone age without creativity

(Sternberg). The second was that wisdom is arguably more important than intelligence and

creativity as wisdom is what makes a good leader, not intelligence which makes an intelligent

leader. Lastly he pointed out that both creativity and wisdom assist us in our daily lives to solve

problems. These are excellent points as to why students need to have less of an instructional

course building up to test after test after test.

In the article The case against standardized testing, Quinn Mulholland writes about the

accountability that is put on schools with these standardized tests. Mulholland points out that

this increased focus on test prep has had a profoundly negative impact on the quality of

education many students receive. (Mulholland). Also there have been laws, such as the No child

left behind act, that puts increased pressure on schools to crank out good results from their

students. This pressure is often felt as eleven teachers in Atlanta were caught trying to tamper

with tests. Mulholland writes;

The law required states to administer math and reading tests every year to students

from third to eighth grade and imposed increasingly harsh punishments on schools that

failed to make adequate yearly progress on these tests. (Mulholland)

In 2011 almost half of schools nationwide were considered failing as there was not an

acceptable progress on tests. Following these poor results some administrators and schools have

pressured students who were not performing to their standards to drop out or go into a special

education program. That could actually hinder a childs education. By dropping out they actually
stop their education career and if they are put into a special education program that could harm

their confidence and their test scores could become even worse than they were if they would be

taught in a non-test prep format.

Though it seems schools are preparing students on how to take and pass a test and not

allowing activities that promote creativity and wisdom. The question that should be considered is

how are we going to fix the problem of standardized tests and their influence on schooling.
Work cited

Sternberg, Robert J. "Testing for better and worse: our testing culture may be making us smarter
but at the expense of the wisdom and creativity we'll need to flourish in our world." Phi Delta
Kappan, vol. 98, no. 4, 2016, p. 66. Academic OneFile,
libraries.state.ma.us/login?gwurl=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=AONE&sw=w&u=mlin_s_
wheaton&v=2.1&it=r&id=GALE%7CA477340486&asid=3102d3fc32a91dd6ed2e989c1efd24bb
. Accessed 15 Feb. 2017.

Mulholland, Quinn. The case against standardized testing - Harvard political review.
Diversity. Harvard Political Review, 14 May 2015. Web. 15 Feb. 2017.