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Debate surrounding standardized testing
Debate surrounding standardized testing
Research proposal on can standardized test improve education
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Standardized Testing? Well…… “If the purpose of learning is to do well on a test, we’ve lost sight of the real reason for learning.” - Jeannie Fulbright. Students should be required to take standardized tests, but with a limit. Not only is there a slow return on results, but they take take up too much time and it puts too much pressure on students and teachers. To begin with, there is a very slow return on results. Statistics show that four out of ten districts have to wait two to four months for the outcome of the tests. With districts waiting that long for results, teachers don’t know if students are having a difficulty with something. Although you can argue that teachers can use the results for the following year, what if the next set
One time I heard a teacher at my old high school tell a new teacher that their job is to teach to the test and nothing else. I did not really know what she meant, but I knew something about what she said sounded very wrong. I thought why are they just teaching us how to pass the test instead of just teaching us what we need to know? Later I found out that whether or not I graduate depends on passing the test. The idea of standardized testing to say whether or not students graduate is a bad one. Not just bad for schools, principals, and teachers, but it can mean the end of a student’s future before it begins. That means not only does schools suffer, but everyone in our communities, states, and country suffers. It used to be that students had to take standardized tests every year. The results of these tests said what school districts would get more money or less money for the next school year. And it would also tell schools and teachers if some students needed to be put into higher level programs such as gifted and talented or advanced placement courses or if they were having problems and should be put in special education.
Garcia-Pelayo2students, one can find oneself surprised when we learn that each state spends roughly “$1.7billion a year” (Ujifusa 1) on standardized testing. Money for standardized testing if being spentbefore students even set their eyes on a college application, and definitely before they start fillingout their applications. Standardized tests are expensive, and usually required too. Unless astudent knows for sure that the school they’re applying to, and getting accepted to, does notrequire standardized tests, spending those $65 dollars is almost inevitable. What most studentsconsider “back-up schools” might not need high grades, but at the very least they need thesatisfaction of knowing that you took a test and that they have a number by
His hands are shaking, his palms are sweaty, he is afraid his heart is about to beat out of his chest. The rectangular thing is placed in front of him. A bead of sweat drips from his forehead. he wipes it away. Soon after that he faints. This is all because of a simple rectangular piece of paper that has the words standardized test written on it in big, bold, black letters. These are just some of the signs of test anxiety, all so teachers, schools, and students can be compared to one another. Standardized testing is wrong and uneducational. Some would ask why this is erroneous, when the schools get money if the students do well on these tests. This is amiss because of three simple reasons. One, standardized testing does not work. Two, standardized tests only measure a small portion of why makes education meaningful. Finally three, standardized testing causes severe stress in younger students.
Don’t you think students should take standardized tests? To start with standardized tests make sure schools are doing good. It also helps students prepare for later on in school such as elementary school, middle school, high school, and even collage. Even though it takes a while to get the test results back it only takes about 2 days to test. If students didn't take standardized tests how would you know how much they have progressed through the year.It will also give you preperation for next year.Sometimes the time depends on how long the students take to test. It not only tells you how good kids are doing but how well the teachers are teaching. It also shows and helps to know what subjects students are struggling in and what they're succeeding
Why is standardized testing part of the college admission process? Some of us might still remember taking the SAT or ACT when we were applying for college; however few of us question why we have to take such a test. Millions of dollars are spent on prep materials all so we can achieve a decent score and hope colleges will be impressed. The College Board claims a high SAT or ACT score correlates to college success which is defined as a good GPA throughout college. However if you stop and ask yourself what the SAT or ACT has to do with college success, most of us will arrive at the conclusion that these tests have almost have nothing to do with college success. Some of the questions are simply on these tests are simply ridiculous and will never
The issue of standardized testing has been a highly debated issue in the United States for many years and shows no sign of being resolved any time soon. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 was an effort to standardize and improve our education system, but 13 years later it is still in shambles. While many people agree there is a need for some sort of measure for quality education, there is much disagreement about the effectiveness of standardized tests. Some even say federal programs like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have gone too far in using test scores to evaluate teachers (Gordon 2013). Unfavorable results from these tests seem to generate more punitive consequences for the teachers and schools than help for the students. The words “high-stakes” are used often in numerous sources to describe the current testing system and refer to decisions that will make a significant impact on both students and teachers. These decisions include repeating a grade or not receiving a diploma for the student and possible loss of a job for the teacher. Standardized testing is an ineffective and expensive way to measure student achievement.
This argument goes along with the other two mentioned and explained above. There isn’t much that is positive to say about these assessments. It places so much pressure on students to perform well and pressure on teachers to teach what is going to be on the test. This brings negative energy to classrooms. An article by Greg Jouriles helps explain why we don’t need these tests. He claims, “Standardized tests are unnecessary because they rarely show what we don’t already know” (Jouriles, Greg). He also goes on to explain that one’s test score isn’t reliable and that we should trust the teachers when grades are published. A school system can accurately judge the students in the school on what they are good at better than the standardized tests do. They can break down many different aspects of what students need to improve on and what they are already knowledgeable of. Students need to learn more than just the test information. Only studying and learning test material makes students less diverse and leads to boring lectures in the classroom. Another article written by an organization called Fairtest adds, “Some students simply do not test well. Many students are affected by test anxiety or do not show their learning well on a standardized test, resulting in inaccurately lower scores” (Fairtest). These tests punish students for what they can’t control, making them stressed and panicked that they won’t graduate or move on to the next grade. Some children are from low-income families attending schools with large classes with little to no materials for learning what is on the test. In addition to that, some teachers have never been educated on test content, which is not their fault, and this results in low-test scores. This all leads to why there are such negative feelings throughout classrooms of many
As a senior in high school, I have had more than enough exposure to standardized tests. The ACT, PSAT, ITBS, and countless others have tracked my scholastic progress for the last nine years. Each test takes weeks of preparation for just a few hours of actual test taking. Yet these tests only measure basic subjects such as math, science, and English. What these tests fail to track is students’ abilities to problem solve, empathize, and be honest. Skills that are vital parts of a functioning society. Creating a test that treats the student as an individual would yield better results, and would create a better learning experience for all.
“If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that.” This quote by Michelle Obama illustrates the idea that standardized testing should not have such a large influence on education in America. However, a majority of people are under the impression that standardized tests are an accurate method to measure a person's intellectual ability. I believe that standardized tests have developed into a very critical part of the American education system; that is hindering the growth of students and teachers instead of providing a tool that can accurately measure knowledge.
In today’s world every human being needs some form of education to survive, weather being informal, formal, home schooled, private schooled or publicly schooled. Humans need some type of skills and learning experiences in their lives for personal growth as well. There are millions of students who attend private and public school each year. All of these students will be required to take some sort of standardized test throughout their educational career to measure their progress or achievement level. The federal government requires students to take standardized test at least once a year in the following subjects: Math, English, Science, and History. The test can vary based on each state, each students ability and language level. Testing is a normal common part of a school’s environment in order to measure achievement. However it is not good when the curriculum, teachers, administrator and government officials get so immerse into the results of the test that they lose focus on teaching the subject and start teaching them how to pass the test. Should the government continue to administer high-stakes test for accountability reasons or should they abolished them all-together is the question?
In this paper, I will discuss standardized tests after the No Child Left Behind Act and whether or not they are effective in achieving the goals for which they were implemented. Standardized tests have been around a long time, but their use greatly increased after the NCLB Act required annual testing across the country. I will research the initial goals of these tests as well as statistics that show whether or not these goals have been achieved. Many scholars believe that standardized tests do not offer a fair or accurate measure of students or teachers’ true abilities. They argue that these tests do more harm than good in relation to the extreme pressure they place on both the students and schools as a whole. Another argument against standardized
The simplicity and blandness of these tests do not let students enjoy testing and don’t allow the students to be as creative as they are in tests given by teachers. In “The Problem With Testing” by Anya Kamenetz, it talks about how as people are being taught to these tests. The info is very bland and only touches on what the students have learned the whole year. The fact that a student’s intelligence is being measured by being tested on only a tiny piece of what the students have learned the whole year in itself should shut down standardized testing. Also, to go along with the way these tests have been given straightforwardly with not a single aspect of enjoyment, students can barely move while they’re testing. As well as that reason, there is another one, which is that when it comes to standardized tests, public education systems seem to not really care for the students. Nothing is creative about these tests. Think of the school year as going on vacation and standardized testing as airport security delaying a flight. The question is, how bad are these tests? This question brings us into the fact public education systems don’t care for students when it comes to standardized testing. “Testing and Its Enemies” by Abigail Thernstrom explains how in some educational systems, students can fail if they do not succeed in passing these annual tests, even if passing. How can school systems allow one annual test, that they can’t even look at, determine a student’s fate as a learner? Another article supporting the fact educational systems do not really care about students, especially when it comes to public education is “Can We Do Education Without
Standardized tests should be banned, and we should replace it with in-class scores and grades. Students will be taking these tests, and teachers may not know about other factors, they might just be focused on the scores. What this means is students may have certain restraints, such as test anxiety, their home life, and just their ability to test well. This supports my point by showing that some students will have issues taking these tests, giving them a reason to be banned. Standardized testing should be banned because using
While you’re sitting there reading this, there is probably a student at their desk, sweating, shaking, maybe even crying because they are about to take a test. And not just any test, a standardized test. Standardized tests are assessments that are set up where students take the same test so they can be graded on whether or not they meet a certain “standard” set by the state. The students must meet the standard to pass their grade and the school, overall, must meet their own set standards to be held accountable to taxpayers. Because standardized testing, like the STAAR, determines the outcome of students and schools in one day, and something that significant shouldn’t be determined in such a short amount of time, it should be taken out of schools.
Standardized tests do not improve student skills. There is a plethora of other things that influence student skills. Studies show that it may not be the teacher, but the quality of the students, and the quality of the school (Baker). This shows that student test scores are influenced by by outside forces such as family and the community that they live in. These are factors that, for the most part, are things that a student cannot control.