Standardized Testing Is Overrated. Here's How I'm Working to Change It in My State.

Author: Mark Johnson

From: Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection

Document Type: Viewpoint essay

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"For years, we have demanded 21st-century results from the education system, but we
have only given our students and teachers one-size-fits-all, 20th-century tools and
strategies."

Mark Johnson is the elected superintendent of North Carolina's public schools. In the
following viewpoint, the author argues that students take too many standardized tests.
While Johnson has always harbored concern about frequent testing, he asserts he did
not fully realize North Carolina's public school system needed to revamp how it tracks
student success and learning until after polling parents and teachers about the subject.
The author characterizes the education-industrial complex as archaic and insists that a
system needs to be put in place that recognizes students as unique individuals with a
range of strengths. Finally, Johnson recommends several practical ways to prevent the
over-testing of students.

As you read, consider the following questions:

why not?
2.​ According to Johnson, why should progress checks be introduced during the
earlier years of education, and why are they better for students than
standardized tests?
3.​ In what ways does the author's characterization of the frequency and number
of tests compare to your own experiences as a student? Explain your answer.

As state superintendent of North Carolina's public schools, I often hear from other leaders
that standardized tests help hold students, teachers, and schools accountable.

Accountability is important for our schools. But it's also important for our leaders. The truth
is that the education-industrial complex has built an elaborate testing system over the past
decade that forces our students and teachers to endure too many high-stakes tests layered
on by federal, state, and local authorities.

It's time for a major change.

Since being elected superintendent, I have worked to give a voice to those who have the
most to gain and lose in our K-12 schools. Breaking new ground for the state education
agency, we emailed parents directly a few months ago, asking them what they thought of
standardized testing.

More than 42,000 responded, and 78 percent told us that their child takes too many tests.

Our classroom educators agree. At the end of the last school year, we asked teachers what
they thought of standardized testing. More than 25,000 of them took the time to respond,
and 76 percent said that North Carolina's students are tested too much.

I agree, as both an education leader and as a parent of a child in our public schools.

The concerns from parents and educators do not shock me. I hear them frequently as I
travel across the state to listen to parents and teachers. Clearly, there is too much testing.

On the other hand, parents, educators, community leaders, and education leaders also
agree that we need ways of strategically monitoring progress. Otherwise, how can parents
be assured their children are learning? How will teachers know what their students need?
How will employers know that North Carolina high school diplomas mean students are
ready for their next steps?
This is not a new dilemma. In fact, we have seen two decades of swings back and forth
since the accountability movement went nationwide with the No Child Left Behind Act. It's
an old problem, but fortunately, there is a new solution to it.

For years, we have demanded 21st-century results from the education system, but we have
only given our students and teachers one-size-fits-all, 20th-century tools and strategies.
Now, we can and must work together to transform the education system to better support
all teachers and students.

No child is standard. There is no "average" student. We are all unique individuals with
different strengths. Yet the education system relies on standardized tests that are designed
based on what the "average" student should know.

We can measure our students' progress with fewer and better tests, especially by using
technology to replace outdated testing methods.

New, personalized learning technology allows teachers to get the information they need
about students' progress without high-stakes testing. Especially in the early grades,
progress checks can feel like a normal, engaging lesson instead of an examination. In many
cases, students won't even know we are checking in on their progress.

We are working with local superintendents and state leaders to reform the system of
over-testing that the education industry created. In doing so, we can get back the time for
teachers to do what they entered the profession to do: teach.

Some of the ways we are attacking the problem of over-testing this year are:
●​ Reducing the number of questions on tests.
●​ Reducing the time students must sit for tests.
●​ Changing testing policies to reduce stress at schools around testing time.
●​ Working with local leaders to reduce the number of tests.
●​ Pushing to eliminate tests not required by Washington, D.C.
●​ Giving students other ways to show progress if they have a bad test day.
●​ Using the appropriate amount of technology as a tool for students and teachers
to personalize learning and eliminate tests.

We have already taken action on many of these points, and others are now in progress.

Some of the ways we are transforming our education system are revolutionary. Some are
common sense. All of them require us to hold the education-industrial complex at least as
accountable as we hold students and educators.

We are doing that, and the future is bright for North Carolina's public schools.
Full Text: COPYRIGHT 2024 Gale, part of Cengage Group

Source Citation (MLA 9th Edition)

Johnson, Mark. "Standardized Testing Is Overrated. Here's How I'm Working to Change It in
My State." Gale Opposing Viewpoints Online Collection, Gale, 2024. Gale In Context: Opposing
Viewpoints,
link.gale.com/apps/doc/QBGMPV670653896/OVIC?u=mlin_s_cpmsnhs&sid=bookmark-OVIC
&xid=37753e81. Accessed 23 Feb. 2024. Originally published as "Standardized Testing Is
Overrated. Here's How I'm Working to Change It in My State," The Daily Signal, 30 Jan. 2019.
Gale Document Number: GALE|QBGMPV670653896