Undoubtedly, the education system in America is falling short of expectations. Despite the United States resources and abilities to grow intellectually, the country has fallen into an educational decline. The problem that policy makers should take into consideration is the standardized testing and its drawbacks. The first problem standardized testing presents is the pressure to perform well. Instead of learning the material thoroughly because it is required of them or because they are naturally curious, students study for the test alone, their will to learn having been replaced by a pervasive fear of failing. The pressure to succeed on tests causes students to direct their study habits toward test questions, not test material. To fix this, we need to take a step back from the tests and assure the students that the material is more important than a test which may not even be an accurate representation of what they have learned. We need to encourage students to learn first, and test second. The second problem with standardized tests is the strict curriculum it requires. In order for their students to pass tests, teachers must cover a little bit of everything so as to give their students a good shot on passing most questions on the test, without taking the time to go deeply and teach anything well. The curriculum doesn’t allow teachers to share their own knowledge on the subject, and instead are mere mediums through with they translate the information the curriculum provides to their students. Teachers then become discontent with their subject, the mandating curriculum and micromanaging of the classroom makes teachers feel like interlopers on topics they are actually well-versed in. We should allow teachers to use their own methods and styles of teaching and let them form their own tests based on the information they relay to their students. In conclusion, the pressure to pass standardized tests paired with the stringent curriculum is what policymakers need to consider when discussing education reform.