The main problem is, schools are addicted to standardised tests. 

For the last two episodes we have discussed why schools are problematic - or why they are not - but at the end of the last episode I expressed another concerning aspect I found in our education system, which is standardised tests. Disclaimer: this is not scientific research on why they are problematic, but I will refer to some papers that I read. There are a lot of brilliant papers out there if you want to learn more about various aspects of standardised tests.


Why Do They Exist?

Standardised tests come to existence to replace oral tests. With the rising number of students, the university board felt that it is too much work to interview the prospective students one-by-one. Therefore, a set of tests are created to "automatically" sort the candidates. The most popular standardised tests in the world, SAT, first existed around the 1920s for the same reason: too many university applicants. This set of tests seemed working so well, that most countries decided to adapt it in their education system. I remind you once more, this test was actually created for university application, not to decide if a student could graduate high school or not.

Then, why do we have it more than once every year? Simple, human loves tests, and at first there was no reason actually why we do not implement them to "grade" students every semester or so. What's better than knowing the "quality" of the students every time? Seems nice, right? No need for oral tests, teachers only need to check if the answer the students chose correct or wrong. 

With the emergence of computers, it looked even much better. This is where the first time computer-graded tests came alive. We even got rid of the marking process! We only need to make a set of problems and the corresponding answer, submit it to the computer, let students do the test, and scan them. What a life. Let's do it 100 more times, then!

The Artificial Tests

If the tests were only meant to check students' progress of understanding, go on. However, this was not even the reason why these tests exist in the first place. They are meant to grade the quality of the students. (Even farmers grade their cows manually, we grade humans with a certain number of questions). More importantly, we assign grades to them. Student A is 80/100 in reading, 90/100 in math, and so on. On top of that, the grade that we assigned is used to determine the students' future - i.e. determining if the student deserves to study at a certain course in a university.

What do you mean? We should not select students? Of course not, the situation in most countries is there are a lot more applicants than seats, so a selection is a must to ensure the quality of the university education itself. So far, standardised seems the only way to select them. However, should it be the only one?

One of the best traits of humankind is our ability to adapt. Each person has its own speed to adapt to a new situation, but the more we do, the more predictable it is. The same thing is happening with standardised tests. The fact that we are actually doing them not only once or twice, but from my experience at least twenty times (or more), is making them too predictable. The main problem is, schools are addicted to standardised tests. 

The more we have it, we actually lose the meaning of the text itself. When these tests become a routine, there is no point anymore. Students adapt naturally, they shift their focus from actually learning the materials to preparing themselves for these tests, and we cannot blame them for this. Consciously or not - this is what happens when something occurs too often. 

These tests are becoming too artificial, and this is what I mean by our students are well-trained, not well-educated. They are extremely prepared for these tests, but not to the actual things happening around them. Furthermore, this is not where it ends.

Circle of Education

Have you ever read a headline "son/daughter of a farmer managed to get into the best university"? I am sure you have. When such things happen, it becomes hot news. However, have you ever wondered, why this is such a rare thing? There are a lot of low-class students, but this is such a rare phenomenon. The problem is not in the economy of the family of these students but in the entrance test itself.

This entrance test already occurs a dozen times, and as I said before, this already becomes a routine and it is totally predictable. Who benefits from this? Remember the last episode? Extra courses. They invest not in the education itself, but the exams. They learn every single exam available and make a prediction on what the next exam will be, and most of the time it is pretty damn accurate.

When the focus of the students in the exam, there is no reason why they are not attending these extra courses. They cost sometimes a lot, and the more you pay, there is a better chance you will get accepted to your dream university since these elites courses invest a lot to make these predictions. 

However, these low-class students cannot afford these courses, so they have to fight the system and learn the natural way, which is just practising by themselves and depending on what the school gave them. If their motivation is strong enough and they have enough skills, they could get accepted. What are the chances? Pretty low, I would say. The students, who attend the courses, are pretty much dominating the market.

As the chain reaction, middle-high class families, who could afford these extra courses, could ensure their children to get into these universities. By getting into good universities, they will get a good job, a good salary, and so on. On the other hand, low-class students will not get the same opportunity.

The entrance exam itself is not rigged (as far as I know), but the system is. The more you could pay, the better the chance you could get accepted into your dream universities.


The Importance of These Tests

Standardised tests are not useless. There are indeed a lot of things we could benefit from them. However, it is not should be the pinnacle of our education system. Sure, we could do these tests a dozen times, but the problem is how significant are they to the students? What happens if they fail one? Or two? Or the most important one?    

There is no problem with standardised tests. The problem is for what we are using the results. The fact that these tests decide 90% of the decision that could make impacts for the students is the problem. School nowadays is too dependant on these tests, and as the result, the students are also becoming dependant to them.

Imagine, the only thing as the decision-maker if someone could graduate high school is just a set of tests for a couple of days. It is indeed a double-edged sword since it makes regular teaching seems irrelevant. We lost the essence of education by pushing these tests over the limit.

There is nothing we could change about standardised tests. Forever it will be the same multiple-choice. Technology may adapt, from circling an answer on a piece of paper to clicking a correct answer to your monitor, but the main idea of these tests are and will always be the same.

The only thing we could change is their significance. Are we still going to use a set of tests to define the quality of our students? Is there any better way?

Let that sinks in, I will give my answer on the upcoming episode. Until then, stay safe, stay healthy, keep learning.