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Sierra Bugni
Professor Fonash
English 137H
19 November 2015
We Are Not Numbers
How did you do?
Over the years, Ive encountered this question countless times. Fellow classmates
comparing their grades and test scores in a desperate attempt to determine how well they
performed and whether or not to be ashamed at the score they earned. We as a society have
become so dependent upon the endless slew of exams and standardized tests to determine our
achievement and intelligence. Preparation for exams in the classroom and in standardized
environments/formats has recently become the main focus of all educational forums. While the
goal of this preparation should be increasing student knowledge and conceptual understanding of
tested material, the goal instead is to merely increase performance and the overall reputation of
the school in question. At what point did the focus of the American school system shift from one
of educating students to one of test scores, numbers, and statistics as a means of selfpreservation? The first major change that caused this shift was the introduction of standardized
tests around the time of WWI as a method of measuring student potential. I will be examining
the development of student views regarding their education from elementary school through
college and into graduate school.
As a young kid, everyones favorite and most highly anticipated day of the year was the
first day of school. We couldnt wait to get back to storytime and coloring, to milk breaks and

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recess. We came home every day reiterating to our parents the lessons we had learned that day by
proudly singing our ABCs or teaching them the sum of 2 + 2. We invested our time in our
schoolwork, happy to make crafts and do homework, unaware of the fact that they were
subconsciously stuffing our brains with information. These times were the crucial years, the
years where the school system taught us the basic knowledge and skills needed to simply
function in society as well as to have a base off of which all further knowledge would be built.
The objective of the first three years of primary schooling is to enrich children and build upon
their education in a way that develops them both mentally and socially. This environment is both
positive and healthy, encouraging students to work hard because they love to learn; at this point
in time, there isnt even an inkling of the competitive nature that will eventually begin to grow
and fester among classmates.
However, there comes a point around third grade when some of the first standardized
tests are introduced. In my school district, these were the IOWA tests and PSSAs; these tests
were administered to all students in the district in third, fourth, and eighth grade. This was the
first time where our accumulated knowledge was tested on a national scalethe first time
students were pitted against each other to prove their intelligence. I remember asking my parents
every day if my test scores had come in the mail; the tiny ink line placed in a percentile position
completely determined my self-worth as a student. It was at that time that I, and countless other
students nation-wide, realized that they wanted to be placed in the highest percentile and find
ourselves on the advanced spectrum for every subject section on the exam. This is when
students first come into the gaze of the school as faceless vessels overflowing with potential
the potential to make or break the reputation of the school by increasing or decreasing the score

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average. At this point, it is each specific schools decision as to how they handle those students
who do not score in the categories of proficient or above. However, there is not much to do for
these students in the elementary and middle school years besides place them into test preparation
courses; the more common decision made is to increase in-class preparation time for these tests.
In a study involving sixty-six of Americas big-city schools, it was found that, for the
average eighth-grader, 2.3% of classroom time is spent on testing annually (Kerr, 2015). When
examining the numbers, we can conclude that if approximately 7 hours are spent in school for
one-hundred and eighty days a year, then twelve-hundred and sixty hours a year are spent in
school. If 2.3% of this total is taken, it reveals that almost 30 hours every year are spent testing.
Thiseven slightdeviation of focus from education and learning to improving test scores
causes a shift in the thought processes of students; they begin to realize that grades may be more
important than understanding the material that they are being evaluated on.
As time goes on, the awkward years of middle school are finally surpassed, and teens are
able to move on to the capstone of their lives so farhigh school. This is psychologically proven
to be an important time in the life of all humans. According to Erik Eriksons stages of
developmental psychology, the time of adolescence (ages 12-18) is when people come to
understand their roles in society and try to distinguish themselves as individuals (McLeod,
2013). It is a time of self-discoverya time of deciding who they want to be, what they should
be doing, who they should be spending their time with, and who they should be loving; this is a
time in everyones lives where each individuals social environment begins to shape their morals
and ideals. However, while in high school, students experience the strongest pressure to succeed
and make the grade no matter what the cost. Because of this thought process, high school

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becomes a strategic game where the object is to pass every class with exceptional grades. The
only rule is that you have to abide to the schools code of conduct. I can personally attest to this;
as time wore on, I cared less and less about understanding and applying the material being taught
to me and more about memorizing information at a shallow level in a simple attempt to get
through a test. Above all, the atmosphere of extensive competition created by this viewpoint can
be detrimental to students and the people surrounding them. I can think of dozens of times where
I have been short tempered with my parents or friends because of the stress I was experiencing in
schoolthese feelings had the potential to culminate into explosive mental breakdowns in the
middle of the night. In a personal account told to me by one of my close friends, she spoke of a
long-standing friendship that was torn apart in their mutual efforts to earn the title of
valedictorian.
Soon, our test scores become much bigger than ourselves; we are made aware that the
next big standardized tests coming up would almost completely determine our futures. The
SATs and ACTs were two of the most stressful ordeals I encountered during my high school
experience. Their objective is to determine student preparation and predicted achievement at the
college level. Universities around the world essentially consider test scores to be strong factors in
deciding whether or not they should invest their time and resources in a students education. If
the school decides someones predicted success is not up to par with their standards, a student
will most likely not be admitted. It is for this reason that high school students globally place so
much importance on not just passing, but excelling at whichever exam they chose to take.
However, many students put more stock into their scores than what is due; while standardized

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tests such as these are indicators of student achievement, they are not an accurate assessment of
student performance (ProCon, 2015). As opposed to many peoples views, earning a low score
on the SATs or ACTs is not an indication of low intelligence its merely an indication of poor
test-taking skills, an issue that can easily be resolved. Also, despite the intense focus on
preparation for these exams, they are showing a significant decline in student achievement in the
fields of math and science. In a study conducted by the National Research Council, a plunge was
discovered in the United States global ranking in these fields from 18th to 31st.
The American education system highly values high achievers while undervaluing the
potential of those who may be below the average/proficient ranking. High-scoring students
enroll in honors, AP, and IB courses in high school which provide a level of difficulty meant to
be similar to college courses. Often, the teachers of these courses are some of the best in the
schools; this creates a positive and intellectually stimulating environment for honors and AP
students. The opportunities provided by these courses are intended to enrich students of high
academic achievement in an attempt to continue and even increase their success. However,
students of less-than-satisfactory academic performance are not given the same opportunities.
They are placed into academic or remedial level courses which tend to consist mostly of
busy work that does nothing to help with intellectual growth. These students also receive very
little in terms of resources or encouragement to continue working hard and attempt to take
higher-level courses. The National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education reported that
up to 60% of first-year college students discover that, despite being fully eligible to attend
college, they are not ready for postsecondary studies. This collegiate readiness gap creates
setbacks in the academic plans of these students, and can even cause increased financial strain in

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their lives; this is caused by the required enrollment in remedial level classes (which dont earn
credit) in order to catch up to the proper level of preparation.
Even when the collegiate level has been attained, the battle still rages on for select groups
of students. These days, an undergraduate degree is significantly less useful than a graduate
degree. Studies have shown that students with a graduate degree in the life sciences earn 77%
more than those with only a bachelor's degree; the same goes for social workers, earning 55%
more when theyve obtained a masters degree (Burnsed, 2011). Attending graduate school
requires high achievement at the undergraduate level, as well as excellent scores on, of course,
standardized tests. General applicants must take the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) while
business school applicants are required to take the Graduate Management Admission Test
(GMAT). Law students take the Law School Admission Test (LSAT), medical students take the
Medical College Admissions Test (MCAT), veterinary students take the Veterinary College
Admissions Test (VCAT), dental students take the Dental College Admission Test (DCAT), and
so on. The never-ending slew of standardized tests and course exams cause a continuation of the
pattern from high school: passing exams and achieving a high GPA in order to look desirable for
graduate school admissions boards.
However, at the college level, with no parental figure to enforce regulated meal or sleep
schedules, many college students find themselves sacrificing their physical and mental health for
the sake of their grades. One out of every four college students suffers from mental illness, and
44% of college students are reported to exhibit symptoms of depression (Krusik, 2012). The
effects of sleep-deprivation can be detrimental to the health of both affected and non-affected
students; a lack of proper sleep can weaken the immune system, further deteriorate mental

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health, and decrease daytime function. A study performed by Brown University found that only
11% of college students have good sleep quality, and that 18% of college men and 30% of
college women reported suffering from insomnia. Personally, I have pulled 3 or 4 all nighters in
the past month and have found myself to be constantly under the weather; I also sleep at strange
times, accidentally taking ten hour naps in the middle of the day. The pressure to excel while
also functioning as a young adult and attempting to have a social life to promote emotional
health can be overwhelming.
And yetwe continue to test. Of course, standardized tests are a helpful indicator of
students potential for academic achievement; however, the frequency at which testing occurs is
overbearing and unnecessary. It causes a decrease in students desire to learn and further their
education. It is for this exact reason that Massachusetts kindergarten teacher, Susan Sluyter,
recently ended her career of more than 25 years. Sluyter spoke of how the amount of
standardized testing faced by students not only [took] the joy out of learning, but also [took]
the joy out of teaching. She said she felt that the focus on test preparation took away from the
task of learning and increased confusion in the classroom, which often came off as disruptive
conduct (Kim, 2014).
As students in a wildly competitive world, it is important that we have a strong education
system at our base encouraging us to perform at our greatest potential, no matter what our past
performances indicate. If the American education system continues to value numbers, statistics,
and school reputations over the intellectual growth of their students, then the tests that students
prepare so heartily for will continue to show declining scores. As students, we must also

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remember what our standardized test scores represent. They do not determine our worth, our
value as students or individuals, or our intelligencethey merely predict future student
achievement. However, these predictions are not definite, and they in no way determine our
academic fate. We can choose to let our scores define us, or we can prove to the education
system that it is wrongtests cannot determine the kinds of students we will be, the lives we
will have, or the ways in which we will change the world.

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Kerr, Jennifer C., and Josh Lederman. "This Is How Much Time Students Actually Spend Taking
Standardized Tests." Huffpost Politics. The Huffington Post, 26 Oct. 2015. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
<http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/standardized-testing-time_562e3953e4b0443bb56475b8>
McLeod, Saul. "Erik Erikson." Simply Psychology. Simply Psychology, 2013. Web.
<http://www.simplypsychology.org/Erik-Erikson.html>
"Standardized Tests." ProCon.org. ProCon.org, n.d. Web. 12 Nov. 2015.
<http://standardizedtests.procon.org/#pro_con>
"The Gap Between Enrolling in College and Being Ready for College."Beyond the Rhetoric. The
National Center for Public Policy and Higher Education, n.d. Web.
<http://www.highereducation.org/reports/college_readiness/gap.shtml>
Burnsed, Brian. "Understand the Value of an Undergraduate Degree." US News & World Reprt,
Education. U.S.News & World Report LP, 27 June 2011. Web.
<http://www.usnews.com/education/best-graduate-schools/articles/2011/06/27/understand-thevalue-of-a-graduate-degree>
Krucik, George, MD. "Depression and College Students." Healthline. Healthline Networks Inc.,
29 Mar. 2012. Web. <http://www.healthline.com/health/depression/college-students>
"Sleep." Brown University Health Promotion. Brown University, n.d. Web.
<http://www.brown.edu/Student_Services/Health_Services/Health_Education/common_college_
health_issues/sleep.php>
Kim, Eun Kyung. "Teacher Quits over Emphasis on Standardized Tests: 'It Takes the Joy out of
Learning'" TODAY Parents. NBC News, 26 Mar. 2014. Web.
<http://www.today.com/parents/teacher-quits-over-emphasis-standardized-tests-it-takes-joy-out2D79439972>