Standardized exams have been apart of my life since a very young age. Starting in the first grade, the state of Georgia has required me to take the Criterion-Referenced Competency Test (CRCT). At the age of six, there is an immense amount of pressure to be taking such a test, and there is no true purpose to it either. Only students in third, fifth, and eighth grade are required to pass the CRCT to be promoted to the next grade so ultimately, our performance on the test did not determine much either.

I took this test in both first and second grade. When I entered the third grade in 2012, the Georgia Board of Education decided they would no longer be administering this test to students in first and second grade during the spring. Their decision for this was due to budget restraints; however regardless of the reason, it was one that I highly agree with. There is no logical reason for children that young to be put under extreme pressure to do well on a test of which they don’t even know the purpose. I know I sure didn’t at that age.

Additionally, these tests not only put a strain on students, but on teachers as well.

In 2015, there was an investigation which revealed more than 178 administrators and teachers from 56 elementary and middle schools in the Atlanta Public School System participated in cheating on the standardized CRCT. Imagine the amount of pressure placed on someone to put that much on the line. These administrators felt the need to go to such extreme measures which resulted in them losing their jobs and facing criminal charges.

This test has since been retired and replaced by Georgia Milestones Assessment System. This new test focuses on students analysis skills rather than their ability to guess between four answer choices.

Although a better alternative, it still puts just as much, if not more, pressure on students. I have taken both the CRCT and the Georgia Milestones and because the new test is no longer only multiple choice, scores took much longer to come in. In fact, even after taking it in seventh grade, my teachers in eighth grade still hadn't received them by the time the new school year began. Ultimately, this takes away from the purpose of standardized tests, which is to provide teachers with a report to help guide what to focus on during the next school year.

Even after leaving middle school, standardized tests are still an important aspect of my life because tests like the ACT and SAT determine what college I can receive an acceptance from and ultimately, what my future may hold. Certain students are automatically placed at a disadvantage as there has been a proven correlation between test scores and family income, with lower-income households producing lower-scoring students and vice-versa.

With these tests, it isn’t uncommon for students to cheat.

There is an unspoken fact that if you do not do well on these tests, you will not be accepted to the college of your choice. This answers the question of why students pay thousands of dollars on tutors to study things that they will surely forget after taking the test.

Colleges are aware of how little these standardized tests determine, so why do they still hold scores in such high regards when accepting students into their school?

I believe that the importance of standardized tests should be decreased. It is important for the Georgia Board of Education as well as the College Board to be aware of the stress these tests place on students as well as how ineffective they are in determining a students abilities. Many students do not do well on tests simply because of the high pressure environments, and it is important for those with higher levels of authority to acknowledge this fact and begin to think of and implement new ways for students to be tested.

It is not only necessary in improving our education system but also long overdue.