Argumentative Essay On Standardized Testing

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Along with the effects that grades can place on to students, comes the topic of whether or not testing students on their academic abilities through the use of grades given by standardized testing is necessary for a student’s academic success. Some people argue that standardized testing is a valuable asset to the overall education system in the United States, however others speak differently on the subject. In an article written by a college student named Joshua Palackal, he states in his submission, "In case you did not know, standardized tests are exams created by testing companies. These tests are used to evaluate what students in different states and school districts have learned. However, these exams are not as innocent as they seem. Before, …show more content…

The success rate that the standardized testing places on these students is purely based on their grades, rather than what they have learned to help educate themselves; this means of activity is the reason why schools similar to the one in the example are torn down. Along with this, the author presents a statistic to the readers of his article by stating, "First of all, learning time is being replaced with test preparation. For example, 44 percent of schools in the United States are spending more time on reading and math. Sounds good, right? Wrong! Although students do spend more time on math and reading, less time is spent on other subjects, such as science, social studies, and the arts." Given that time spent on two subjects may be good, it is also detrimental to a person’s overall education when he/she spends little to no time on other pertinent subjects such as science and history. They are losing out on their actual attainment of knowledge and are instead being forced to focus on preparation for testing that is made to give them a grade, which will label them as being a successful or failure of a …show more content…

In a newspaper article written by Stan Bippus, he informs the reader, "Grades given to the lower 80 percent of the students in a school are inaccurate and filled with personal beliefs and opinions of the teachers giving the grades." (proquest.com, Journal 2). Because of this bias within the system, students are suffering at the hands of individuals who are supposed to be teaching them. The system of education at this point becomes one of flawed principles and nature, all because a student 's success relies on a letter put on to paper. In the case of this journal entry as well, the author Bippus seems to believe that it is not a well-run system at all because of the tampered grades given out by these teachers and professors. Because of this, students get a lack of respect for the system of education and lose interest in

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