As finals week approaches, students take out their No. 2 pencil to bubble in small circles on an overwhelmingly large white and green sheet. The familiar Scantron, with its rows of tiny ovals, becomes a symbol of stress, a moment where cramming, anxiety and memorization converge. Incorporated in classrooms in 1932, Scantrons were an integral part of the classroom, but as education evolves with technology on the rise, assessment formats should evolve as well. Scantrons should no longer be part of testing routines, as there are much more accessible and convenient options available such as online testing platforms.
The largest problem with Scantrons is the sheer size of the bubbles. They are often so small that it is impossible to fully fill them in without surpassing the edges. The extremely sensitive machine can cause even small smears in bubbles to have an error in the grading process, creating an inconvenience for both the teacher and student.
Another common error caused by the small size of the bubbles is accidentally bubbling the wrong line or bubble. Students often skip difficult questions and return to them later, but this makes accidentally bubbling the wrong answer more likely because students could mark the wrong bubble or skip over a line entirely. The bubbles are squeezed so close together, students frequently misalign their answers, especially when they feel rushed and overwhelmed during a test. Skipping over a line can have significant consequences. If the wrong bubble is filled in, the system will not know the student intended to skip and return to a question later. The question will be marked incorrectly and so will the remainder of the questions, so the student’s entire score could depend on something as minor as a misaligned marking. These unintentional errors do not reflect a student’s understanding, or lack of understanding. A student can know the answer and understand the material, but make a simple error in a stressful environment
During a final, I accidentally skipped over a line and had to erase and rewrite 30 answers, which caused unnecessary panic during a high stress situation.
For students with disabilities, such as low-vision or hand-mobilities, Scantrons are even less accessible, if not impossible, for them to use. Rather, online platforms like Google Forms and Formative allow these students to zoom into text and pictures, making it more user friendly.
Despite their inherent flaws, Scantrons have persisted for so long because of their perceived efficiency. Teachers feed the test sheets into a grading machine, and within seconds, students receive their score. However, this once innovative method is now overshadowed with the rise of digital platforms, such as Google Forms and Formative, that can not only grade multiple-choice questions with the same speed, but are also free, unlike spending thousands on scantron machines, paper and ink. Furthermore, it may even be more convenient for teachers as instead of running to a Scantron machine and manually running tests through it, the computer automatically releases the results. The process is not only faster, but can be done from anywhere because it does not require a Scantron machine.
A common excuse teachers use to give student’s Scantron tests is to prepare them for the AP test, SAT, ACT and other standardized tests. However, many AP tests and other standardized tests are switching to digital platforms. If these national College Board tests have transitioned from paper to digital, why hasn’t our school?
While Scantron tests may still be fast and efficient for grading, they are a source of unnecessary stress for students. The anxiety induced by tiny bubbles, the risk of mis-bubbling and the lack of flexibility in these assessments all work against the goal of truly understanding the topic. A test score should reflect a student’s ability to understand the curriculum, not an accidental error.
