Standardized Testing

Even before we were assigned an essay about the current education system in America, there was always one issue that stuck out to me, and that issue is standardized testing.  More specifically, the extremely large emphasis on standardized testing.  After being in school for a long time, I have noticed how school would always teach the same few subjects: reading, mathematics, science, and history, and back in the early days, we would always take what used to be the CST every year.  I agree with the fact that they are important subjects to learn and very beneficial, however, it always seems like students are being trained solely to pass tests rather than actually learning new and preparing for the future. Leon Botstein even writes in his article Let Teenagers Try Adulthood that "the rules of high school turn out not to be the rules of life."

What all of this tells me is that the two things school does not do are teach life skills and help students improve on their creativity. In her article Stop the Madness, Diane Ravitch points out that "test taking skills took precedence over knowledge", which clearly shows the emphasis that schools put on standardized tests.  Furthermore, while she explains what she believes schools should be able to do, she writes " We want to prepare them for a useful life. We want them to be able to think for themselves when they are out in the world on their own". My question is this: Do schools actually prepare students for the future and help them think independently, or do they only teach students how to pass a few tests? What do you all think about this?