In the United States we have been blessed to live in a country that offers a public school system to all, but the best way to compare our public school system is an assembly line. Students start off school depending on the year they were manufactured rather than based off interests and the ranking of how they learn. The problem with standardized testing is that it’s a one size fits all type of scenario, but the way the mind works should not be categorized as a one size fits all. Different people learn in different manners and specialize in different topics.

According to, Ken Robinson, the video RSA Animate-Changing Education Paradigms, We still education children by batches… If you are interested in the model of learning you don’t start from this production line mentality. One test that you take shouldn’t justify if you have what it takes to move onto the next grade. As stated on the RSA video,  …I know kids who are much better than other kids at the same age in different disciplines. You know, or at different times of the day, or better in smaller groups than in large groups or sometimes they want to be on their own. (Robinson, Ken)  If people have different personalities and look different and just overall are different, then they are not going to be able to test in the same manner.

The history of the problem is that not everybody is reaching their full potential with the tests and no one is seeing that kids are missing out on multiple opportunities. One test will determine a good portion of someone’s future. The state test determines whether or not the placement of the student can go up, and the SAT has a big part in determining which college one gets accepted into. As a solution to the problem, if most students aren’t meeting the requirements of the state test they drop the passing score. In the United States for public school system the slogan they go by is, No Child Gets Left Behind, but on the contrary it could also be used as, no child gets ahead.

It’s wrong to believe that one test on one day should measure a student’s ability on learning. It’s not fair. Who’s to say that student is going through a traumatic event and isn’t emotionally or mentally stable? It makes no sense to base everything that person has learned throughout the entire year on one day. There are kids that aren’t good at testing but are still incredibly smart individuals.

If standardized testing is going to stay it would seem more reasonable to make it even across the nation with one solid score and one solid test. It’s almost impossible to compare students from different states together because they’re all on different levels.  Standardized testing is a difficult subject. Yes, there are upsides and downsides to the subject but how a person’s future is based on one test is unrealistic.