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Debate surrounding standardized testing
Debate surrounding standardized testing
Standardized testing and its effects
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In this day of age, one of the most important requirements, one must have on a college application is a standardized test score. Whether it’s from the ACT or SAT, this score could give students the opportunity to get noticed by prestigious universities, helping them increase their chances of getting into any school that they aspire to go to. In fact, there is even more emphasis on such big exams like these nowadays because it is a state required test that is used in all colleges across the country. However, standardized testing is commonly misunderstood, and is used as an inaccurate representation of a student’s academic ability.
Standardized testing is effective because they are great resources for potential students to be granted
scholarships from Admission Offices. Due to colleges requiring so much money for tuition, not all people are able to afford to go to certain schools. However, students who score higher on the ACT or SAT are eligible for financial aid that can range anywhere from a few thousand dollars up to a full ride (Urban). Although these scholarships are beneficial to people who need the extra money, they are given out for the wrong reasons. Being able to go to college should not be decided by one good test score that won’t matter the following year. In fact, it is a waste of time for the countless number of people that spend the majority of their days preparing for the one test that may not even guarantee them being accepted into a university. The findings of a study led by members of an Admissions Council in Maine reports, “the numbers are quite large of potential students with strong high school grades who have proved themselves to everyone except the testing agencies” (Jaschik). Admission offices focus specifically on the numbers of a test that they use to define incoming students, instead of focusing on all of the work they put into each year of their high school careers.They choose to ignore all of the work that the students put forth each and every day by deciding to focus on one isolated test. Being able to prove that someone is capable of passing a single test should not be a factor in deciding whether or not that person can get a college education. One reason standardized testing is not effective is because it does not take into account a person’s overall dedication to their schoolwork throughout all of their four years of high school. The Former Dean of Admissions at Bates College, William Hiss, agrees to this when he says that a student's GPA is four years worth of evidence that the individual contains self-discipline, intellectual curiosity, and hard work, which are only a few of the many vital characteristics that promise educational success (Sheffer). A recent study has been able to prove these ideas when it explains that, “according to the data, students with good grades and modest testing did better in college than students with higher testing and lower high school grades” (Sheffer). These students found more success in college compared to others because the work ethic they developed while maintaining their good grades allowed them to be more prepared for their futures.Therefore, the student's with good GPA’s are better representations of their dedication to their academics and ability to perform. This clearly reveals that it is important for individuals to get accepted into universities based on their work ethic and not luck. ACT and SAT performances should not impact the representation of a high school student’s abilities. It takes away their identities by creating the idea that the higher their score is, the better they are as a student. While standardized tests can be used as an advantage to some people, it does more harm than good.
Standardized tests, such as the SAT and the SOL, have been implemented for many years now for individuals in grade school to take. The SOL’s, or Standards of Learning tests, are Virginia’s version of standardized tests that students are required to take in order to pass a class, evaluating their knowledge on a specific subject. SOL’s are mandatory for students to take as soon as they reach third grade. Additionally, the SAT is a test taken in the final years of high school that colleges look at when comparing students for post-secondary school. People concerned with student’s education can come to the common consensus that education is important and there should be some way to compare a student’s achievements to one another. However, the process
Michele Obama once stated, “If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn 't be here. I guarantee you that.” The First Lady is, in other words, to say that standardized testing was a major factor into her life’s outcome and her scores could have potentially not put her in her position of power that she is highly recognized in today’s society. Although standardized tests do play a large role in any college application, standardized testing may not count as much toward one’s college admissions or success because standardized tests are not the only factor toward college applications, these tests only benefit a specific target group of people, and standardized tests are better used for giving insight on one’s
A young girl is excited about graduating high school and attending her first year at college. She tries hard at school and receives above-average grades. She is an active student involved in student council, band, the drama team, and peer tutoring, but her ACT scores are extremely low, disqualifying her from many universities. The young girl represents many students who are not successful at taking standardized tests because they have not developed the advanced skills required to take a test like the ACT or SAT. An academically motivated and responsible student should not be prevented from attending college because a "standard" test is not his or her standard. The current methods of testing for the ACT or SAT should be abolished and replaced with modified and less "standard" questions to better measure a student's learning potential. In addition to different testing techniques, a student's learning potential should be a measure of a culmination of activities and methods; testing should be less important than other methods in determining a student's learning potential, if not the least important. Standardized testing must evolve to encompass a more diverse student population, and it should not be the primary factor in measuring learning potential.
A scholarly journal written by an anonymous author sheds light on the importance of standardized testing by showing its efficiency in higher level education. This article provides a solid counterargument for the use of standardized tests which is standardized tests being a good source of predicting grades throughout college as well as whether students will stay long enough to graduate. It is also able to establish that the SAT is effective in forecasting a grade-point average through the fourth year as well as predicting students study habits. The
Even with material being taught incessantly, standardized tests can not accurately measure a student’s ability. The tests are “single-target—meaning that every student, no matter what level of achievement or ability, course selection, or cu...
Some may say standardized tests are a wonderful thing for schools to test their students but I'm here to tell you why they are bad. The standardized tests have too many problems that need to be changed. There is problems with how many are taken and they need to be fixed. There are too many problems with these tests and the government needs to modify them. So this essay will explain that standardized tests are bad and they need to be fixed, because kids take too many of them, countries who take less are outscoring us, and they are too low quality.
Since the U.S. Congress passed the No Child Left Behind program, standardized testing has become the norm for American schools. Under this system, each child attending a school is required to take a standardized test at specific grade points to assess their level of comprehension. Parents, scholars and all stakeholders involved take part in constant discussions over its effectiveness in evaluating students’ comprehension, teachers’ competency and the effects of the test on the education system. Though these tests were put in place to create equality, experts note that they have created more inequality in the classroom. In efforts to explore this issue further, this essay reviews two articles on standardized testing. This essay reviews the sentiments of the authors and their insight into standardized examination. The articles provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that standardized tests are not effective at measuring a teacher’s competency because they do not take into account the school environment and its effect on the students.
Standardized testing assesses students, teachers, and the school itself, which puts a great deal of pressure on the students. High scores show that the school is effective in teaching students, while low test scores make teachers and schools look as though they are not teaching the students properly. This is not always the case. There are teachers who do teach students what they need to know to pass the test, but their students are still unprepared. Although teachers try to improve instruction, student performance is still variable to other factors that the school cannot control.
Standardized testing is a down fall to many students but also an opportunity for many others. Standardized testing has its pros and its cons. It can be the make it or break it factor into getting into colleges you are hoping to attend or the scholarships you want to earn. Some people may have their opinions about the test, whether they hate it or not but the fact is that it’s here to stay.
Standardized testing scores proficiencies in most generally accepted curricular areas. The margin of error is too great to call this method effective. “High test scores are generally related to things other than the actual quality of education students are receiving” (Kohn 7). “Only recently have test scores been published in the news-paper and used as the primary criteria for judging children, teachers, and schools.”(2) Standardized testing is a great travesty imposed upon the American Public School system.
Argument Against Standardized Testing President Bush is promoting annual standardized testing for all students in grades three through eight. This bill is currently being considered in Congress, and has garnered much support. As of right now, 15 states test students in those grades, and more than 20 have high school exit exams, which look only at the test score of a student, not at his or her academic achievements. Standardized testing is an unfair and inaccurate form of judging a person’s intellect. In many cases, people are either over- or underrepresented by their test scores, partly because America does not currently have the capabilities to fairly score the increasing number of tests.
Standardized testing is not an effective way to test the skills and abilities of today’s students. Standardized tests do not reveal what a student actually understands and learns, but instead only prove how well a student can do on a generic test. Schools have an obligation to prepare students for life, and with the power standardized tests have today, students are being cheated out of a proper, valuable education and forced to prepare and improve their test skills. Too much time, energy, and pressure to succeed are being devoted to standardized tests. Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students.
Standardized testing remains to be a major controversial issue for the American society today. Exams are given to students at different levels in their educational career and are supposed to measure their academic knowledge, but are these tests really the best way to evaluate students? There have been numerous alternatives suggested to replace or be used in conjunction with standardized testing.
One of the biggest topics in the educational world is standardized tests. All fifty states have their own standards following the common core curriculum. There are many positives and negatives that go with the standardized tests. A standardized test is any type of “examination that's administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner” (Popham, 1999). These standardized tests are either aptitude tests or achievement tests. Schools use achievement tests to compare students.
In conclusion standardized testing is not an accurate measure of a student’s educational success. One reason is because with all the different factors of student’s teachers and situations identical tests cannot correctly measure how much the student is learning. Also the consequences of preparing and teaching for the test causes severe stress and anxiety to some children. The tests also have many flaws, some may be fixed but it would be a high cost. If these tests put such a strain on students, and do not measure intelligence correctly, they should not be as predominate a source for gauging educational growth. These things may never be changed but it is a big issue in today’s school systems.