Standardized testing has always been a controversial topic; however, recently there has been a rise in people noticing that standardized testing is not always accurate when it comes to measuring a students academic ability.

When interviewed by the Lancer Ledger, English teacher and testing coordinator Ms. Jamie Cawley said, “I would say that standardized tests are not always an accurate way of measuring a student’s intelligence or potential.” But, it is not just Ms. Cawley who feels this way. A survey was taken of 100 people across Lakeland and they were asked about their opinion on standardized testing. 98% of the people surveyed said that they were not in favor of standardized testing.

The 98% of people who said that they were not in favor of standardized testing had varying opinions. When interviewed freshman Antoni Ristoski said, “Standardized testing is difficult and it adds a lot of pressure and stress onto the test taker. When we get prepped for these tests, the material we review is not the material on the test at all.” This has become a rising issue within standardized testing to the point where teachers can prepare students for long periods of time, and a student still won’t be ready for the material on the test since parts can be different or unexpected. A lot of students just like Ristoski believe testing is incredibly unfair.

On the other hand, standardized testing can offer a student useful feedback about their own learning capabilities. Ms. Cawley added, “They can give students individual information about their own strengths and weaknesses.” For example, while taking the test, students can take mental or physical notes on things that they did well on and things that they did poorly on. Later on they can take the time to look over the material that they needed help with and hopefully get a better understanding on the topic. Also, most standardized testing industries send students an explanation of their results.

The two percent of people that said they were in favor of standardized tests brought up the argument that some of these tests can qualify a student for certain scholarships. Most notably, the National Merit Scholarship. If a student gets a good enough score on the PSAT, they may qualify for the scholarship. When Interviewed by the Lancer Ledger, sophomore Emily Kurzyna said, “I really just study hard for the PSAT because I know there’s a chance I can earn an award that will help me towards college.”

Although a majority of the LRHS community feels that standardized testing is not accurate in evaluating student progress and ability, it can be an effective tool in figuring out what individual students need to work on to become stronger in tested subjects.