Discrepancies in standardized testing scores are also caused by the stress that they inflict. Derek Jordan, a current assistant principal, argues that standardized tests could possibly work, but only with the correct use. Since standardized tests are currently used incorrectly, he observes that the required standardized tests are responsible for “a high level of undue stress among educators and students alike” (Jordan). From Jordan emphasizing the high level of stress, it implies that the level is too high. Another source discussed the findings of a research experiment conducted by Mary M. Donegan and Mary Trepanier-Street to examine the extent to which stress is caused. At the end of the study, the pair concludes, “upper grade teachers felt …show more content…
Derek Jordan unravels more on this topic; he writes, “The Chicago Public Schools are required by federal and state law to improve student performance on standardized tests, which are used to make crucially important decisions about the future of schools” (Jordan). Standardized tests possess too much power to make decisions about the directions that schools will head, especially because the scores from the test do not show a true reflection of the whole school. Jordan continues: Schools that experience higher levels of poverty, violence, gangs, pregnancy and drugs are more likely to be negatively affected by the use of test scores as a school measure. Societal ills may hinder a school's ability to adequately prepare students for tests, yet these schools are expected to maintain the same standards and scores as schools that have selective student enrollment and are located in affluent neighborhoods. Factors outside of the school play a huge role in lowering standardized tests scores. Right now standardized tests are used to punish the schools for factors that may be outside of its control, and this is an unfair practice. Standardized tests should have never been used to make such …show more content…
An excessive amount of money is wasted on consistently making new tests. Alyssa Figueroa researched the amount of money that Pearson, one company known for making standardized tests, makes. She reports, “Currently, Pearson has partnered with 18 states in the U.S., as well as Washington, D.C. and Puerto Rico, to produce pricey testing materials. For a five-year contract, Pearson was paid $32 million to produce standardized tests for New York. Its contract in Texas was worth $500 million” (Figueroa). Pearson is being promised and has already earned a bulky paycheck to produce tests that are far from perfect; in fact, it can be argued that the negatives of standardized tests outweigh the positives. The point that this is controversial means that we should not spend the excessive amount of money on standardized tests that we currently do. Proponents of standardized testing will likely disagree with the ideas presented. Some may still believe that standardized tests are in fact non-discriminatory because test questions are the same for all students, teaching to the test is a positive because it saves time, and that the tests are not too stressful. All of these claims are incorrect, as they have been disproven. Standardized tests have been found to be discriminatory, teaching to the test suppresses teachers' passion for teaching, and standardized tests
Standardized tests have been used to see how much a child has learned over a certain period of time. These tests have been a highly debated issue with many parents and just people in general. In the article “Opting out of standardized tests? Wrong answer,” the author Michelle Rhee argues that people should not be trying to opt out of standardized tests because it allows the country to see how much a child has learned and the things they need to improve. On the other hand, in the article “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong,” the author Kristina Rizga argues that standardized tests are not an efficient way to measure a student’s intelligence. Rizga better proves her thesis through the use of solid argumentation. Rizga is more
Standardized testing is not a new concept; it has been in use since the mid to late 1990’s. However the “high stakes” focus on standardized testing is. The practices that accompany standardized testing have long been in debate. Those in favor of standardized testing will argue that the testing creates a system that increases grades and accountability among teachers, students and school districts across the country. On the other hand those that oppose standardized testing will argue the ill effects that standardized testing can have on students, teachers, and schools. There are numerous ways in which standardized testing has gravely impacted education, some of which are high stress levels of students and teachers, the hindrance on educational instruction, high monetary costs of testing as well as inadvertent discrimination and bias. Senator Paul Wellstone of Minnesota stated “Far from improving education, high-stakes testing marks a major retreat from fairness, from accuracy, from quality and from equity.”
Do you like being bombarded with the stress of having to take so many tests? In 1845 the US brought standardized testing in the subjects spelling, geography, and math into public schools (Standardized Testing 1). Standardized tests were made to swiftly assess students abilities (Standardized Testing 1). The No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 mandated testing in all 50 states. In the article, “Standardized Tests,” it states that “US students slipped from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st place in 2009, with a similar decline in science and no change in reading” (Use of Standardized Tests 5). Blame of the decline in rates are on poverty levels, teacher quality, tenure policies, and increasingly on the pervasive use
Although there have been legitimate arguments supporting the benefits of standardized testing, such as their ability to successfully measure students’ proficiency, in recent years there have been concerns and disadvantages regarding how their misuse poses a serious threat to the American education system. Despite the belief that standardized tests should be used to measure students’ proficiency, there are more reasons outweighing this statement regarding why they shouldn’t be used for this purpose. Not only is this a particular issue with standardized testing, but the tests are becoming more high stakes and are being used unfairly to determine things such as graduation, or placement in a school, resulting in a significant amount of stress and anxiety in students. Testing corporations are also profiting from the design of these standardized tests, while standardized testing is also forcing teachers to all teach the same thing, leading to a lack of creativity in the students. Aside from these arguments, standardized tests have been found to be becoming flawed and have poor design.
Standardized testing has always been a primary concern for teachers, parents, and the students taking the exams themselves. It is believed that standardized testing creates anxiety for all school-aged students, for the fear of failing the test, and puts unneeded pressure on the teachers to “teach to the test” rather than promote free learning. The documentary “Standardized Lies, Money & Civil Rights: How Testing Is Ruining Public Education,” directed by Daniel Hornberger (2013), depicts the misconceptions, truth, and reality of standardized testing, past, present, and future all across the United States.
Whatever the reason may be, many people, including Price, Kahl, and Ayers do not support standardized testing. These authors all have one opinion in common; they are all against testing for the sake of the children, because of the pressures kids already endure without the pressures of testing. They all claim that tests may be an unfair way to rank children in the world today due to: teachers not teaching children the right material in preparation for the test, family upbringing, and even worrying the children would affect the test results. As Ayers indicates, one single test could not determine where a child stands in the business world, due to the fact that the test analyzes specific topics on school and nothing about their personality or more personal traits.
Standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid-1800s. Another form was seen in the late 1970s and early 1980s with a short-lived competency test (Linn 3). Horace Mann developed a test to administer to a group of students in the 1800s, his intentions were to make judgments about how the student was doing at their current level and determine if they would be capable of advancing to a higher level. Testing has changed in many ways since it first appeared with the beginning of public education led by Horace Mann. “The purposes of standardized testing have gone from an equalizer of opportunity to a tool of segregation used separate socio-economic status, wealth, and privilege” (Holmes 2).
According to Educator Bill Ayers, “Standardized tests ignore the most important characteristics of being a good learner or a good person. "What they can measure and counts,” he says, “are isolated skills, specific facts and functions, the least interesting and least significant aspects of learning" (Pollard). All test takers answer the same questions under the same conditions which results in quick and superficial answers, because all students reason and process differently. Standardized tests treat students as if they are all identical. Every student...
According to the article, “the trend in federal, state, and local education-policy circle has been to require more and more standardized exams as a way to establish common benchmarks of achievement and to hold schools accountable for their students’ progress (Edwards, 28).” However, many states have removed the mandatory exams and/or consequences due to low test scores, reducing the emphasis on standardized testing and diminishing the stress on students in those states. According to the article, the issue of the effectiveness of standardized testing is still being heavily debated.
Standardized testing is not the best way to measure how well a teacher teaches or how much a student has learned. Schools throughout the United States put their main focus on standardized tests; these examinations put too much pressure on the teachers and students and cause traumatizing events. Standardized testing puts strain on teachers and students causing unhealthy occurrences, Common Core is thrown at teachers with no teaching on how to teach the new way which dampers testing scores for all students, and the American College Test determines whether a child gets into college or not based on what they have learned during high school. Standardized tests are disagreeable; tests should not determine ranking of people.
Standardized tests “... have pushed into the nearly $700-million-a-year market… offering the SAT and ACT even to students who do not plan to go to college” (Zernike, 2016). This is important because it shows standardized testing is big business. Our student's education should not be based on business. The fact that these tests are being pushed so heavily on students is
Many people agree that standardized tests are a reasonable evaluation of a student’s capability. Standardized tests originated in the mid-1800s, in the American education system. W. James Popham defines standardized testing by “any test that’s administered, scored, and interpreted in a standard, predetermined manner” (“Is the Use of…,” 2013). After the No Child Left behind Act (NCLB) came about in the early 2000s, the use of standardized testing became popular. NCLB required yearly testing for specific grades and subjects. If schools did not demonstrate adequate improvement, they were either closed or run by the state. This was done so the state and the tax payers of the schools knew that students were learning and knowing the material. Tax payers especially wanted to make sure their money was going to good use (“Is the Use of…,” 2013). High scores on standardized tests can result in funding for the school, along with bonuses to the facility and staff of the school.
First off, standardized tests do not prove student achievement. The department of education has many goals for their students. Some of these goals include creativity, motivation, and curiosity. “Standardized test measure just a portion of these goals”, which in fact, are more important for their future than a test score can ever be. These goals are real and significant achievements that can’t simply be learned from a test. This is why a test score doesn’t even come close to proving a student’s performance in school.
First of all, standardized tests are ineffective. These current tests don’t measure achievement, creativity, verbal skills, or growth. You need these skills for the real world. Standardized tests haven’t changed in the last 100 years! Do you know how many people would be dead if medical tests haven’t changed in that
Standardized testing has taken over the education realm and led to a shift in the institutional goals and values of education. In the last 40 years, standardized exams have changed; they were once used to determine the learning level of students, but now they are being used to determine the teacher’s ability. Standardized tests do not measure education quality and are incorrectly used, leading to the wrongful evaluation of teachers and the limiting of education for students by schools.