Talking Teaching: A Case for Standardized Testing

While the United States’ education system is unique in many ways, embracing the proven, standardized testing practices of countries like South Korea can lead to better outcomes for American students.

Published June 1, 2004

By Rosemarie Foster
Academy Contributor

In France it’s the Baccalauréat. In Germany it’s the Abitur. In those countries, these are the standardized exams that every student must pass to graduate high school and attend college. But in the United States there’s no such requirement – at least not on a national level. Only two states have standardized “exit exams” that students must pass before moving on to the next grade or graduating: the Regents Examinations in New York and the North Carolina Testing Program. Despite a public school system that is generally quite good, statistics show that U.S. students lag behind their European and Asian counterparts by as many as four grade levels in such fields as math and science.

“Students in those countries know a lot, lot more. So we’ve got a problem,” asserted John H. Bishop, PhD, associate professor of human resource studies at the School of Industrial and Labor Relations of Cornell University. He is also executive director of the Educational Excellence Alliance, a consortium of 325 high schools that is studying ways to improve school climate and student engagement.

At a meeting of the Education Section at The New York Academy of Sciences (the Academy) in April, Bishop argued that accountability strategies, such as external exit examinations aimed at raising student achievement levels in math and science, do indeed work.

Why Can’t Johnny Do Algebra?

Bishop proposed several reasons for the poor showing of U.S. students in math, science, and reading. The first: lower teaching salaries. “We pay our teachers terribly compared to other countries,” said Bishop, who noted that this is particularly true for high school teachers. A typical high school teacher in Korea makes more than twice as much per hour ($82) as his American colleague ($37). There may, therefore, be less incentive for qualified individuals to teach when they can get better paying jobs elsewhere. Bishop suggested that by raising standards and expectations for teachers and paying them more, we’ll get better teachers, and students will have a greater opportunity to excel.

Reason number two: In the U.S., credentials earned yield immediate rewards from employers, but “employers don’t reward learning as much as is the case abroad,” contended Bishop. Students who learn more than others with the same credentials do not get better jobs that reflect their greater capability and effort when they graduate. It takes a decade for the labor market to discover that they are more productive, and to reward them for their effort. As a result, students are encouraged to do the minimum necessary to get the credentials, and no more.

A third and widespread influence on student performance in the U.S. is pressure by peers against studying. Research has shown that students are more likely to be harassed by their classmates if they are gifted, participate in class, are often seen studying, and spend several hours a day doing homework.

“Getting in with the peer group requires a lot of time. If you’re doing five hours of homework a night, you’re not spending enough time hanging out,” explained Bishop.

Leveling the Playing Field

Why are the studious so unpopular in the U.S.? Athletes are valued more because their success is viewed as an asset to the school. But scholarly students, Bishop maintained, aren’t seen as contributing to the overall good of the school. Indeed, their success only forces others to keep up. Those who harass them, therefore, are trying to bring them down to a lower level, in hopes of dropping the standard.

In Europe and Asia, external exit exams force everyone to do well, explained Bishop. The stakes are higher: Without passing them, students can’t excel and attend university. In an environment where rank is based on achievement on such external exams, students are not competing with each other. Rather, as a group they are all motivated to achieve at a high standard. Data show that the exams work: Countries that require students to pass national external examinations to graduate have higher science and mathematical literacy than nations without these tests.

In the U.S., class rank and grade point average are given more weight. Since these rankings position a student relative to the rest of the class, it behooves the “bullies” to harass hard-working students as a means of advancing their own standing.

Bishop advocates a combination of the GPA and external exams. “The purpose of an external exam is to create good teaching and to engage the students,” he said. Having to give grades encourages the teachers to mentor and motivate their students to do well in class. Adding external exams helps everyone aspire to a common standard that can level the playing field.

Evidence that Testing Works

Data comparing scholastic achievement between U.S. states support Bishops contention that standardized testing results in better student performance. End-of-course examinations taken by eighth-grade students in New York and North Carolina are linked to better reading, math, and science literacy, compared to students who didn’t take these exams.

Studies also show that end-of-course exams can increase the likelihood of students going on to college and getting better paying jobs. These tests were especially motivating for C students, who were more likely to go to college if they graduated from a school in a state that required them to pass end-of-course exams. The test had less of an effect on the A students because they probably would have gone to college anyway.

Where Do We Go from Here?

The answer to the question of how to improve our educational system isn’t an easy one. While requiring a student to pass end-of-course exams can certainly help, Bishop contended that other elements of the educational environment need to change, too.

One problem is “out-of-field” teaching. Many of America’s teachers do not have college degrees in the very topics they are teaching. “We have teachers who lack a basic understanding of what they’re trying to teach, and they often screw it up,” asserted Bishop. “You have to know your subject so deeply that you can figure out how to make it interesting.” New York State, which fares well in national rankings of student competence, has one of the lowest rates of out-of-field teaching in the country.

Teachers also need better instruction in how to teach. And they need to be more receptive to what works: Many teachers don’t want to use established teaching techniques because they’re considered “scripted.”

Bishop also supports more basic research in the field of education. “We need to spend the kind of money on research in education that we spend on research seeking a cure for cancer,” he emphasized, acknowledging that the high cost of conducting such studies is often a deterrent.

The news is not all bad: Math and science literacy among American students has increased one to two grade levels in the last several years, but could be even better. “I’m actually amazed at how well our kids do considering the difficulties we start them out with,” said Bishop. “But the good news is that we’ve made marvelous gains.”

Also read: Embracing Globalization in Science Education