Persuasive Essay On Standardized Testing

Throughout students schooling, they take countless standardized tests and exams before they end up graduate high school. Standardized testing is used all over the United States, and the tests get harder every year. In 2002, standardized testing was inclined when the No Child Left Behind Act was adopted. This act was made to help hold high standards of education, measured by the students score on standardized tests. Kids as young as elementary through high school take these tests. There are many kids in school that struggle when it comes to taking tests, especially ones that are required for them to pass. This type of testing is very unnecessary and it is not beneficial to the students. Many students do not learn from these tests and it does

Students do not actually learn the material, but just copy it. They then use it in some way to cheat on these tests, just to make sure that they pass. In an article posted in 2013, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing reported that there were cases of cheating on standardized tests in 37 states across the country. Students take pictures of the material or what the test is and send it around to fellow students. It is also stated in the same article, that a lot of cheating or manipulation is done by the teachers and principals. The same group (National Center) also documented more than 50 ways that the schools changed the test results to inflate their test scores. Some teachers even give their students parts of the test or information about the tests just to help them pass. There is no point or good in these types of tests, if they are going to be altered or

The tests results aren’t usually given back to the students until a few months later, and the people who created them give no feedback to help better the student. U.S Secretary of Education Arne Duncan states “Results come back months later, usually after the end of the school year, when their instructional usefulness has been expired.” Students, when they receive the results, are already focused on the current year’s exams, not the past. These tests also do not value a student’s the differences among the students. Some students are natural at taking tests, it does not phase them. While other students really struggle with taking tests and making sure they are done on time. It is required for the all the students to know this certain information and it is required in all core subjects. The National Research Council concluded that negative consequences of misusing these test include, narrowing the curriculum, teaching to the test, driving teachers out of their professions and undermining student engagement and school