Arguments about standardized tests are nothing new. For years, teachers, parents, and kids have all expressed a typically negative view on such tests. It’s well known that those kinds of tests can breed the wrong kind of educational environment, and it’s obvious that they can influence curricula. Not to mention they make a few schools days every year feel like absolute misery. However, there is one thing these debates tend to leave out— standardized tests and the measurements they show are an insult to the learning process.

Simply, even if we ignore the crooked curriculums and competitive climates as consequences, these one-dimensional, fill-in-the-bubble tests undermine everything our educational system stands for.

Standardized tests in schools became mandatory in order to keep track of how schools and teachers were doing. It was part of the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, an update of the original Elementary and Secondary Education Act, in 2001 that aimed to hold schools responsible for the success of all students by monitoring their progress with none other than standardized tests.

This means that current high schoolers have been given standardized tests for as long as they could read. They are tested several times a year, and it’s never questioned. It feels like a given.

The initial goal of enacting testing was to get all students to a “proficient” level, but each state got to decide what exactly qualified as proficient. Still, by 2015, not a single state had gotten 100% of its students to their set level, so the whole endeavor was thrown out the window.

So, one may wonder, if the original goal failed, why are we still doing so many standardized tests? If it didn’t really work, why keep the system in place?

Well, that’s a complicated question, because there are a lot of politics in play. A particular policy changed Pennsylvania’s graduation requirements regarding the Keystone exams.

As any high schooler knows, there are Algebra, Biology, and Literature Keystones completed in 8th, 9th, and 10th grade, respectively. Previously, passing all three exams was a graduation requirement, and there wasn’t much space to get around that rule. But when Governor Wolf signed Act 158 in October of 2018, in an effort to minimize testing, some requirements changed.

Dr. Christopher, North Allegheny’s assistant superintendent, sat down with NAEye to help explain such changes. The bottom line is that, while the Keystone exams are still a large part of Pennsylvania’s graduation requirements, there are going to be more pathways students can take to graduate.

There’s a difference between current freshmen and sophomores at NAI. For freshmen, here are some of the additional options.

If a student doesn’t pass one of their Keystone exams, another way to graduate would be to earn a high enough combined score of all three exams. So, if someone is good at English but struggles in Biology and Algebra, their scores can be added up. Keystones are individually scored out of 1800 points and require a 1500 to pass. Dr. Christopher estimates that the total necessary combined score is going to be 4500 points. In certain cases, SAT and ACT scores can factor into that combined score.

Attending Beattie or other technical schools can also qualify kids who don’t pass their Keystones to graduate. They just need a certain amount of hours and to pass their end of the course exam.

If all else fails, a student can also graduate if they can prove they have a secured job after high school or if the superintendent signs a document to waive a student of the exams.

Current sophomores, though, are in an odd transition stage. “[The sophomore class] is in the moratorium… We’re trying to figure out what to do with [that] class,” Dr. Christopher said.

The only big change for tenth graders now is that, if they fail a Keystone exam, they are no longer required to take the remediation course on that subject.

So, in reality, the new act didn’t reduce the amount of testing in high schools but supposedly took the stress off kids who were worried they couldn’t pass, even after multiple attempts. Unfortunately, for kids who feel confident they can pass, it doesn’t help in the slightest.

Another issue with the current way standardized tests are set up is the fact that kids just don’t care. Students know that the grade they get won’t impact their class grade. It won’t show up on their report card. It doesn’t feel like it matters. It’s simply another useless hoop to jump through, even if it is a graduation requirement. For many, it appears to just be a few boring, mentally exhausting hours stuck in a stiff classroom.

However, for tenth graders and any class below them, Keystones scores may matter a little more. “More than likely, when you guys start applying to colleges, the Keystone exams will be on your transcripts.” Dr. Christopher said.

More than anything, standardized tests were meant to test educators rather than kids. After all, the original purpose was to keep schools and teachers accountable.

In actuality, even that impact proves questionable. Mr. Geibel, English and Yearbook teacher, thinks that the test scores on the English Keystones do not reflect his teaching or classroom at all.