As a student and an educator, I have always felt strongly against standardized tests. Personally, I am horrible at taking them and don’t do well (23 on the ACT, over here). Professionally, I’ve never seen how a standardized test helped me measure a student’s personal growth and knowledge (especially when it takes over a year to actually get the test results).

Currently, I’m reading Mindset by Carol Dweck. If you know me, you’d probably be surprised that I have never read it before. It has always been on my list, but a book I never got around to diving into.

But, I digress.

My greatest application has been that teaching to the test encourages a fixed mindset.

When we focus on teaching to the test, we focus on how to read questions, get a good score, and measure ourselves based on how well we do. Students begin to see learning as a score on a test or a grade in a class. This leads to an internalization that a bad score means they are a failure or are not smart. There is no opportunity for experimenting, failure, and deep learning. All of this leads to a fixed mindset.

Switching the script in the classroom allows students to view learning as growth. Playing, experimenting, and making mistakes shows students that a final score doesn’t matter. Instead, seeing the growth in themselves from the beginning of a unit or class to the end becomes the focus. They start to recognize that being “smart” is not a fixed attribute. It is flexible and moldable, creating a growth mindset.

These concepts are not new. And yet, we continue to ignore the research and focus on test scores to measure our teachers and students in the classroom. We are doing a disservice to our students and future generations.