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.
The film starts off by giving a clear representation of some key issues regarding the effectiveness of standardized testing in the school
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system. One of the first ideas presented is that test scores do not give an accurate representation of student ability. Children are not being encouraged to think on their own, and instead they are being taught strictly what is going to be tested, and therefore, their education is restricted (Hornberger, 6 min). Another key issue is that schools are failing and teachers are losing their jobs due to student test scores. Each child across the Nation is expected to take the same tests, no matter their socioeconomic status, where they grew up, or what kind of a learning style they have. Considering that 25% of students are going to class hungry, they cannot be expected to preform well on the exams that then decide whether the school is failing or not (Hornberger, 49 min). In addition, children’s “learning” is being measured, and then children are being compared to one another, without any justifications, this makes for an unfair representation of the children in our school systems. According to the Rethinking School’s article, Why the Testing Craze Won’t Fix Our Schools, standardized tests are ranking children, which unfortunately correlate with racial and class lines, and as a result, privilege is given to the already privileged students (1999). A poem written by two high school seniors, S. Brown and Z. Burnett, in Urban Renewal or Urban Removal describes the conditions of living as “Urban Poor.” The poem is titled, A Plea from the Heart...Why Not Now, and talks about how the “Urban Poor” are usually people of color and unprivileged: “...more poor people on the streets. How about providing them with more jobs and giving them more room for education?” (pg. A:10). This poem is significant because if a school fails in a unprivileged community, there will not be an education system for the children in the area, and therefore, they are more likely to be on the streets. In the documentary, there was a wide range of the different ways the schools, communities, and students were depicted. For example, schools in lower income communities, that may not have ranked the highest in regards to test scores, are closing and being reopened as charter schools. The closing and reopening of charter schools does not better the communities because those students who were going to the lower-ranking schools will not be admitted back into the charter schools; education is being taken away from the individuals who need it most (Hornberger, 55 min, 10 sec). Circumstances like this could be viewed as acts of racism, considering, in most instances, African Americans are the students being kicked out of schools, and White students are taking their place, but everyone should have the right to an education. The schools in Chicago, Illinois were depicted in the documentary as predominately black neighborhood schools that were closing due to poor test scores, but the schools were not even physically visited or observed (Hornberger, 45 min, 20 sec). Even though poor test scores are coming out of a school, it does not mean that learning is not taking place in that environment. The Rethinking Schools article, Testing Companies Mine for Gold, affirms this idea by describing that companies are deciding which schools, students, and districts are “failing” and which are “successful,” all outside of public control (Barbara Miner, 2005). The public, who is actually receiving the benefits from the education system, should have an opinion on how the school systems are running. The documentary offers many causes and a few potential solutions for the problems that result from standardized testing. Primarily, standardized testing causes students and teachers to be disengaged with learning and creativity, and instead, data is being used to teach. The documentary offers a solution to the disengagement of students-- teachers need to show emotion, get to know their students, and find out what they are really interested in. Another solution presented in the documentary is to encourage parents to opt their children out of taking standardized tests. The logic behind this is that by opting out of taking a standardized test, no data can be collected, and therefore, school systems and teachers cannot be punished by the results. A final answer, that will take the place of standardized testing to rank schools, is the accreditation process. In an accreditation process, individual schools will be deeply studied in terms of infrastructure, graduation rate, and student enrollment. From the initial information gathered, the school can decide how they will move forward and improve their success in the future, rather than letting test scores determine whether a school fails or not (1 hr, 8 min). The Rethinking Schools Article, Why the Testing Craze Wont Fix Our Schools,” agrees with the idea of opting out of the standardized tests and keeping parents informed. For example, there is a “Say No” campaign in Ohio that is designed to inform parents that they are able to opt their children from taking the “4th, 6th, or 12th grade Ohio Proficiency Tests, which are used to determine graduation and grade advancement” (1999). By opting out of standardized tests, schools and teachers will not be affected. Many of the Rethinking Schools Articles have similar views that support the negative feelings towards standardized testing that are presented in the documentary. For example, the Rethinking Schools Article, Neither Fair Nor Accurate: Research-Based Reasons Why High-Stakes Tests Should Not Be Used to Evaluate Teachers, describes that when using one year worth of standardized test data to measure a teachers efficiency, there is a 35% statistical error rate (Au, 2010). The article also addresses some other factors that could skew the accuracy of standardized tests being used to rate teachers and schools, such as out-of-school factors like divorce, poverty-related stress, home environment, and socioeconomic background. As an active member of my community, there are multiple actions that I could take to facilitate changes in my local urban public school community.
I will start by informing the public. Before I watched this documentary, I had no idea of the potential consequences that standardized tests could have on teachers or schools-- I just thought that standardized test scores prevented students from increasing in grade level or graduating from high school, etc. I was surprised to learn that if a teachers class preforms poorly on a standardized test, that her/his job could be in jeopardy. I remember taking the MSAs and HSHs, and specifically, I remember how stressed out my teachers were prior to the tests; little did I know that my test scores could greatly affect them and/or my school. I think “Standardized Lies, Money & Civil Rights: How Testing Is Ruining Public Education,” directed by Daniel Hornberger (2013) is an important film for everyone to watch, especially parents. I was shocked at how much money was being put into these tests, especially since they do not even give an accurate representation of each student’s true abilities. As a result of this documentary, my perspectives have shifted--I now do not see the necessity of standardized tests and I believe teachers should be able to creatively teach their class life skills and useful information, and avoid “teaching to the test” at all costs. I believe that teachers should not be expected to cram information into their students so that they will do well on the test, and instead, teachers should create their lesson plan based on their students’ skills and interests. I will inform parents in my community about the options they have to prevent their child/children from having to be subject to standardized tests. Overall, standardized testing seems to cause more harm than good, and therefore, should be avoided whenever
possible.
“I viewed each of the films at least once…taking notes on the role of the teacher, peer relations, among students, relations between students and adults, student attitudes toward schoolwork, extracurricular activities, the role of the family, the resources of the school, the use of violence and drugs, exploitation of sexuality (4).”
Parents and advocates of education can all agree that they want their students to be in the best hands possible in regards to education. They want the best teachers, staffs, and schools to ensure their student’s success. By looking at the score results from standardized testing, teachers can evaluate effectively they are doing their job. On the other side, a proponent for eliminating standardized testing would argue that not all students care passionately about their education and will likely not perform to expectations on the test. However, receiving the numerical data back, teachers can construe the student’s performances and eliminate the outliers of the negligent kids. Teachers can then look at the individual scores and assign those outliers to get the help they need in school. This helps every student getting an equal chance at education. Overall, taking a practice standardized test can let a teacher look at individual questions and scores and interpret what they need to spend more time on teaching. A school also can reap the benefits from standard testing to ensure they are providing the best possible education they can. The school can look at the average scores from a group and hold the teacher accountable for the student’s results on the test. The school can then determine the best course of action to pursuit regarding the teacher’s career at the school. By offering teachers and schools the opportunity to grow and prosper, standardized testing is a benefit for the entire education
“Standardized Testing Has Negatively Impacted Public Schools.” Opposing Viewpoints: Education. Ed. David M. Haugen, Ph.D. Detroit: Greenhaven Press, 2009. Opposing Viewpoints Resource Center.
Another major criticism of the “No Child Left Behind” deals with the implications of using a standardized test as means of assessing achievement.
One time I heard a teacher at my old high school tell a new teacher that their job is to teach to the test and nothing else. I did not really know what she meant, but I knew something about what she said sounded very wrong. I thought why are they just teaching us how to pass the test instead of just teaching us what we need to know? Later I found out that whether or not I graduate depends on passing the test. The idea of standardized testing to say whether or not students graduate is a bad one. Not just bad for schools, principals, and teachers, but it can mean the end of a student’s future before it begins. That means not only does schools suffer, but everyone in our communities, states, and country suffers. It used to be that students had to take standardized tests every year. The results of these tests said what school districts would get more money or less money for the next school year. And it would also tell schools and teachers if some students needed to be put into higher level programs such as gifted and talented or advanced placement courses or if they were having problems and should be put in special education.
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.
"The Standardized Testing Debate: The Good, the Bad, and the Very Ugly." TakePart. N.p., n.d. 22 Feb 2013. Web. 15 May 2014.
tests were primarily employed as measures of student achievement that could be reported to parents, and as a means of noting state and district trends (Moon 2) . Teachers paid little attention to these tests, which in turn had little impact on curriculum. However, in the continuing quest for better schools and high achieving students, testing has become a central focus of policy and practice. Standardized tests are tests that attempt to present unbiased material under the same, predetermined conditions and with consistent scoring and interpretation so that students have equal opportunities to give correct answers and receive an accurate assessment. The idea is that these similarities allow the highest degree of certainty in comparing result...
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
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.
The film begins with a new teacher, Jaime Escalante, arriving to Garfield High School in East Los Angeles. On his first day he comes to find out that the computer science class he thought he was going to teach doesn't exist, because the school has no computers. In turn he is assigned to take over the general algebra class. From the beginning the film portrays the school as one on its downfall, and with students that are facing poverty. The class he receives is full of students who, according to other teachers at the school, are unintelligent and incapable of learning much of the material. Students cannot be expected to learn material when the teachers themselves do not believe in the stude...
In the United States of America, Standardized testing has become a way of life for students and children, especially in public schools. Many argue that standardized testing does not measure the students as a whole, takes up valuable classroom time, and creates drastic mental health problems in students and teachers. In recent years, a controversy surrounding the idea of standardized testing has been brought forth as something that needs to be changed or adapted to the growing needs of today’s students and this can be examined when exploring the negative effects, the testing has had on society’s future.
Kohn, Alfie. The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools. Portsmouth NH: Heinemann 2000.
“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.
Although standardized testing is commonly used in most schools and educational intuitions nowadays, it does not measure a student’s intelligence. As such, standardized testing should be revoked because, not only is it an unreliable way of measuring a student’s performance, it also pressures educators and creates a grade conscious mindset. Schools should focus more on the development of students, rather than ranking them based on the grades they receive on a test. Not only are standardized tests an undependable way of grading, but also, it does not promote life skills the student will need when growing