Should Standardized Testing Be Abolished Essay

Every year thousands of students are subjected to pointless standardized tests put in front of them by the state in order to measure their intelligence level. Standardized tests are tests set forth by the state to measure all students on a similar scale in order to determine whether or not a student passes a class or not. These standardized tests that torment students should be abolished and replaced with modern more incorporative exams that properly evaluate the student. These standardized tests that we allow our students to take to decide whether or not they pass a class are an unreliable measure of student performance. These tests put extreme stress on students and teachers throughout the entire year forcing the teachers to “teach to test” in order to just keep their jobs. I believe that we can find a better more efficient way of testing the students skills that they learned throughout the year without without putting so much pressure on students and teachers.

Although I believe that standardized tests should be abolished others believe that standardized tests should stay active. They argue that “these tests are inclusive and non- discriminatory and

ensure content is equivalent to all students because they are all taking the same tests” (Ten must know facts...). These tests are put in this format so it would be harder to cheat and everyone is getting the same test. They also say that “teaching to test” is good because it focuses on content and skills that eliminates time wasting activities. Students are subjected to time wasting activities by teachers and these syllabuses set forth by the state are designed to eliminate these time wasting activities.
These standardized tests that we allow our students to take every year are causing a great deal of stress for our students. “The definition of stress is “a state of mental or emotional strain or tension resulting from adverse or very demanding circumstances” (10 Fixable stress related...). This is exactly what these tests are doing to these children. These tests can put so much stress on some students that they develop a stress related illness. “Certain stress related illness range from asthma, obesity, diabetes, headaches, depression, anxiety, and gastrointestinal problems such as acid reflux” (10 Fixable stress related...). When Asked Sam Menchinger; A student at Weddington High School; said “... Whenever I take these tests I feel Stressed out and overwhelmed at times. I have gone nights before these tests without sleeping because I have stressed out over it too much” (Is Standardized testing right...). This is a growing problem for our students that needs to be stopped. “Because students know that test scores may affect their future lives, they do whatever they can to pass them, including cheating and taking performance drugs” (What you need to know about...). This habit that these students are getting used to is dangerous and because of these high stakes tests set forth by the state they are almost forced to take these performance enhancing drugs in order to pass the tests.
“A council of The Great City Schools has found that a typical student takes 112 standardized test between Kindergarten classes and 12th grade” (Study shows testing...). That is big number compared to how long these students are in class. Over the course of 13 years our students are subjected to just over 8 standardized tests a year. Not to include the tests given to them by their teachers that in some classes are weekly. With all these tests the students already have to take why add 8 more every school year of information while some of that information they learned a little less than a year ago. How do we expect our students to be able to retain all that information enough to be tested at the end of the year to determine if they passed the class or not.
If we were to abolish these state tests we could replace them with overall grades. This grading scale if much more fair to hard working students that put their hearts into their classwork but are just not good test takers. “Standardized testing only evaluates the individual performance of the student instead of the overall growth of that student over the course of the year” (Study says Standardized Testing...). “Standardized testing fail again and again to measure students effort in the overall year and the information they retained during the year” (Study says Standardized testing…). These tests only measure the student’s ability to take a test and succeed in a high stress environment and fails to assess students overall effort in the class. “Standardized tests create a limited scope of learning and success, only measuring specific areas like reading, writing, and math, rather than a full picture of children and how they learn, including creativity, collaboration skills, drive, social skills, etc” (Is there to much standardized…”).
"Teaching to the test" is replacing good teaching practices with "drill n' kill" rote learning” (Standardized tests). While some people believe that this is the correct way of learning material it is robbing the students of valuable information that is being left out by these clean cut curriculums that carelessly cut out what student are and are not going to learn. “Excessive testing may teach children to be good at taking tests, but does not prepare them for productive adult lives” (Standardized tests). While there may be some good out of these curriculums that keep the teachers lives easier by giving them the lesson plan however it keeps vital information from the students that they will be forced to learn out in adulthood all by themselves.
“Using test scores to reward and punish teachers and schools encourages them to cheat the system for their own gain” (Standardized Tests). This measurement of the teachers performance is just unfair and completely irrelevant when it comes to disciplining the teachers. These schools and teachers cannot help whether or not a student wants to learn or not. So in order to protect their jobs from being put at risk they are forced to skew the results. This is unfair to the other students that put all their effort into their schooling and these students that just do not want to learn are passing just like they are completely destroying the principle that if you put effort into your work you will succeed. “[Standardized tests] Creates competition between students, schools, districts, etc. that takes away focus from the ultimate goal (student success)” (Pros and Cons of Standardized…). This competition is what gets people thinking about their own personal agendas when the focus should really be on the students.
“Standardized tests don’t value creativity.

A student who writes a more creative answer in the margins of such a test, doesn’t realize that a human being won’t even see this creative response; that machines grade these tests, and a creative response that doesn’t follow the format is a wrong response” (15 reasons why standardized tests). These machines that grade these tests may be fast and effective however that is not necessarily a good thing. These tests that America’s children go through are meant to quiz the children on everything they learned throughout the year. With these computers grading the tests it does not measure a student’s creativity so when a student goes to answer these blunt questions they are unable to present their full knowledge and just the knowledge that the test is asking

for.
The state sets forth these standardized tests every year in order to judge students and put them under enormous pressure in order to measure their intelligence. That is unfair to students and should be abolished due to the simple fact that they are inaccurate and do not measure a student's full intelligence and leave valuable information out. Due to these tests the students are unable to fully answer questions and are forced to learn to be good at tests instead of becoming adequate in the information set in front of them by teachers. Standardized tests should be abolished and a better, more incorporative system should be put in place to determine if students are to pass or fail.