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Controversy around standardized testing
Controversy around standardized testing
Overall effects of standardized testing
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Almost every school year students are expected to take standardized tests such as state tests, the SAT, and the ACT. A test qualifies as standardized if it is graded relative to others and relative to a score chosen as the standard for students. The tests can begin as early as third grade, where students scores may determine if they need to be held back, and through all years of high school where scores from tests like the SAT or ACT can determine if a student is accepted into a college. Controversy has formed around standardized testing, especially high stake testing. Some believe that standardized testing is helpful while others agree that the tests should be eliminated. Standardized testing should be abolished from the school curriculum …show more content…
It is close to impossible for the standardized tests to portray the important qualities of students. Brian Nixon states “...researchers have found that high standardized scores have little correlation with attention and processing speed.”, and also points out that higher test scores could really just mean that a student is good at test taking or memorizing things. Many students may be getting scores that do not truly reflect how they are doing in a subject. For example, a student may be excelling, but if they are poor at taking tests the score they receive will not indicate their knowledge whatsoever. Also, the tests have no way of identifying traits like creativity, resourcefulness, resilience, responsibility, and many more in students. These traits, that a test score cannot express, are really the most essential. As you can see, standardized tests cannot reflect how smart an individual really is, or reflect any important qualities they possess. So, why should a judgement of a student be made off of the tests? And why do they continue to be used and sometimes required? The answer to both these questions is that they should not
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.
Since the release of the report by Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in December of 2010 many in the government and community are searching for ways to reform the American education system to give American students the greatest opportunity to succeed. According to the report, American students are not testing as high as other nations in the world (Duncan, 2010). There are many contributing elements that have brought America to her knees in the education system, however, the obsession with standardized testing is found to be one of the most influential downfalls.
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 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 the ranking of people. Standardized testing is believed to be the best way to evaluate how much a child has learned, however most students only score average on the tests.
Standardized tests should not be used to measure student proficiency. These tests are becoming much more challenging and high stakes, resulting in a significant amount of stress and anxiety in students. Standardized testing has become a huge weight on students which is leading to test anxiety. Jasmine Evans writes in her article “Problems With Standardized Testing,” from Education.com about critics of the No Child Left Behind, an act passed in 2001 one under the administration of George W. Bush, who say that there is a lot of pressure on teachers, students, and parents, and school officials as a result of these tests. They say the pressure to...
The world is no longer concerned with educating whole human beings, but instead, it is focused on collecting “data.” “Standardized testing robs students and teachers of using their creativity and critical thinking. It holds everyone accountable for meeting this one standard when that is nearly impossible to do. It turns us into robots, dehumanizing both teachers and students.” (Gettysburg College, 1) Standardized test are given to schools by the government. The problem with that is that the government is not in the classroom with students every day. They do not know what the students need. Standardized testing takes away time from student learning experiences where they are not able to think critically or be creative. Standardized tests take place in an artificial learning environment. They are timed, students are not allowed to ask questions, use references, talk to another student, and they cannot even get up and move around. All of these things do not mirror the reality of the real world at all. These tests are reducing the richness of human experience and human learning to a number/ set of numbers. A student may have a deep knowledge of a particular subject, but receive no acknowledgement for it because their test score may have been low. Maybe if students could draw a picture, lead a group discussion, or make a hands-on project, they could show all the knowledge that they really have. They cannot do any of these things in a standardized test. As stated before, testing also creates “winners” and losers.” The “winners” get to move on with their life, but the “losers” often suffer from loss of self-esteem and the damage of “low expectations.” Standardized tests do not value diversity either. There are a wide range of differences in the people who take standardized tests. People have different cultural backgrounds, different levels of proficiency in the English language, different learning and thinking styles, different
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
It seems obvious that no student particularly likes any sort of test, but the question is whether or not standardized tests are doing more harm than good. The concern of many educators and parents is that these tests are diminishing any sense of creativity a student may have. Eric Sheninger states his concern,”…we inch closer to an educational system that focuses on test scores as the number one determinant of achievement.” (Sheninger). He has a very valid point. Once you limit a person’s sense of achievement to the score they get on a test, you are risking their entire self worth. Maybe a student is not very good at biology, but they have a very creative eye. What does a standardized test have to show that? Our entire education system now is made up of scientists and mathematicians who have to see numbers and measure things for them to exist. You cannot measure or grade creativity so of course standardized tests do not see these things as necessary, but does this mean they are not important? In 2014 the Fort Lee Board of Education in New Jersey decided nearly unanimously to get rid of some art and home economics classes throughout the high schools and middle schools. These classes consisted of woodworking, power mechanics, dance, foods, interior, fashion and graphic design and auto maintenance. In place of all these classes, the board decided to put in STEM, this stands for Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics. Students are required to take two of these classes to graduate (Shkolnikova). The board had to get rid of things that “weren’t a necessity”, but shouldn’t each student individually decide what is a necessity depending on their career
Standardized tests don’t show accurately what the person likes or what they are good at. They don’t show if the student is a hard worker in and out of his studies. These tests show scores based off bubbles they filled in over a time span of 4-6 hours. 6 hours is not enough time to tell you who this person is and if they belong in a college. Even the test-maker admits that high school grades predict first-year college grades better than standardized test scores do. The reason behind that being is those high school grades have been acquired for over 4 years not just 6 hours.
It’s an age-old question. Do standardized tests really show what students know? Some may think they are a great way to measure education and others may think that one test does not justify a child’s knowledge. What is this test exactly? A standardized test is any test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from a common bank of questions, in the same way. They are used to “judge” or “measure” the knowledge or skills that students learn in school. The problem with these standardized tests is that they measure all students on the same material, leaving out special skills the student may have. It also puts a great deal of stress on a student to know that they will be timed on these questions that
Standardized tests are examinations administered to the children of the United States. Some states have exit exams, meaning a student must pass the test to continue or finish their education. Here in Virginia, students are tested from 3rd grade to 8th grade on the Standards of Learning tests also known as the Virginia SOL’s. Students from Kindergarten on up will take the Cognitive Ability Test or Cog AT and Benchmark tests throughout the year. High school students have their choice of taking the SAT’s or ACT’s or if they would like to join the military they will be given the ASVAB. Unfortunately, these tests are not completely to blame for poor results. The education standards are different in each case; some areas like in South Carolina depend on federal aid and grants to function. Their practice is the lower the grade of the results of the test the more money they will receive. Whereas in Virginia, the lower the score with no improvement the less funding they will receive and if there is no improvement within five years the entire school staff is replaced. From an early age, society has encouraged the practice of examinations from the entry to school to work employment. The real question that needs to be asked is are these tests benefiting the youth in the United States or are they just encouraging them to memorize large amounts of information. In turn, how much are they actually learning and can we as educators, parents and concerned citizens guarantee these children are receiving the best education possible. Testing is necessary but we are over testing our children and slowly removing all of the creativity from them and the teachers. Turning the youth of today into memorizing machines and not comprehending the material that th...
Imagine sitting in a hot classroom on a hot summer day filling in oval after oval after oval. Sounds boring, standardized testing should not be mandatory. Teachers wait from 1-2 months for results, Students take too many of them, and students have to halt for everyone to finish.
Accountability, we all need to be accountable for something in our lives whether it is our education, our job, or in our personal lives, but should an 8-year-old third grader have to be accountable for plotting leaf lengths in fraction form on a number line in order to move on to fourth grade? Should sixth graders be accountable for knowing the climate in Moscow or the Northwest Ordinance of 1787 in order to advance to seventh grade? You may think yes but I disagree, there is more to human intelligence that can be measured on a standardized test. Standardized testing is detrimental to the mental health of students and teachers, reduces the necessary time in art, music, recess, lunch, science and social studies, promotes corruption within the
“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.
student achievement.The statewide tests should be abolished because if you're a strate A student and you have one bad testing day your grades blow up in your face. All because you had one bad day you are seen as a imperfect student. They stress kids out and caus them to freake out on testing day. Not to mention the cost of getting the test cost a lot up to 1.1 billion dollars and they need to thing is all that money worth putting kids through the tests when they could be using the money to help the school programs get better edgicatinal systems and or supplies.