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Allan Bloom states, “Education in our times must try to find whatever there is in students that might yearn for completion, and to reconstruct the learning that would enable them autonomously to seek that completion.” In Indiana, children go to school an average of seven hours a day and are required to learn different subjects such as, math, science, social studies, and English. Students take the Indiana Statewide Testing for Educational Process, or ISTEP test. Students take standardized tests to help schools measure how students do in relation to other students who take the same test; however, there are several reasons why this is not working. Standardized tests should be eliminated because they cause children anxiety and stress, do not accurately measure a student’s abilities, and good teachers are leaving the field because of increased pressure to …show more content…
Many schools are basing raises and performance evaluations on students’ test scores, which is causing many teachers frustration and stress due to the pressure for students to do well. Cox states, “At the front line, teachers are faced with many challenges on a daily basis: huge variation within one classroom. Students can fall all along the spectrum in cognitive, developmental, and psychological abilities. Massive amounts of material need to be taught, including effective use of ever changing technology. Over the years, job security, financial stability and professional worth have begun to hinge on performance. And, with outcomes in every arena difficult to measure, the surrogate metric for judgment of success for teachers and learning institutions has landed on student performance on standardized tests” (Cox, 2015). Teachers are quitting the profession because preparing for standardized tests is becoming the focus in education and eliminating the time to engage students in
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
...achieving high scores on standardized tests” (Solley).Because of this, teachers take more time to teach test preparation skills than valuable information (Neill, 165). Although standardized tests have been trusted for years to assess the progress of students, there is little evidence that they measure progress accurately.
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.
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.
Overall it is evident that standardized testing has affected the education in the United States negatively. The main flaw is that policymakers made standardized testing the center of our education system, which intern led to vast changes in curriculum where educators were forced to teach to test rather than teaching materials that fosters creativity, and enhances knowledge. Howard Gardner, famous for his work on multiple intelligences, stated he was unconcerned that American children were ranked last among the major industrial nations in the Third International Mathematics and Science Study. He reported that tests measure exposure to facts and skills not whether or not kids can think (Ritter 5).
High-stakes standardized testing greatly impacts the environment in which students learn. When such a huge emphasis is placed on these tests and scoring well on them, it often creates, in excess, unnecessary anxiety and stress. In Florida alone the number of different standardized tests given to students spanned across kindergarten through 12th grade has increased to over sixteen. Often students are faced with the harsh realization that not scoring well can mean the difference from a pass and fail grade. That kind of pressure can lead to a complete shutdown of their learning. Although students are heavily impacted by the pressure and anxiety that accompanies standardized testing, they are not the only ones. Teachers not unli...
The National Education Association (NEA) conducted a survey, wherein teachers were asked various questions about the impact standardized testing has had in their classrooms. According to Tim Walker, “Forty-two percent of the surveyed teachers reported that the emphasis on improving standardized test scores had a ‘negative impact’ on their classroom, while only 15 percent said the impact was ‘positive,’” (para.5). According to this survey, fifty-two percent of teachers said that too much time on test prep, with it being estimated that the average teacher spends about thirty percent of class time focused on preparing for the test (Walker para.7). Despite the majority of teachers, the people who see the effects the most, reporting that standardized testing does significant harm to education, the results of the exams are still stressed far too much. It would appear that the stress on standardized testing has taken its toll on the educators, too, as forty-five percent of surveyed teachers reported that they had considered quitting due to the rising importance of standardized testing and their results (Walker para.
Standardized testing piles an immense amount of pressure onto all parties involved. A report compiled by Joan L. Herman and Shari Golan entitled Effects of Standardized Testing on Teachers and Learning– Another Look explains the main causes of pressure from standardized testing. School districts use the scores to evaluate teachers and hold teachers accountable for the scores. Insufficient performance could endanger the teacher’s job and poten...
For students to be able to do well on standardized test they rely on their teachers. Several teachers interviewed said they spent hours of extra planning time and hundreds of dollars to create more interesting lessons. They said they must be supremely organized and strict enforcers of classroom rules. (Watanabe). Some teachers are pressured to the point that they make education all about the test and up to the test. The pressure to improve students test performance in California and across the country often meets with disdain from teachers who say they are compelled to throw out creativity and “teach to the test.” (Watanabe). If somehow the test were based on what students learn, then students could score better. Educators are unanimous that high-stakes test should be aligned with curriculum and instruction-taught and are expected to know – and that teachers should be involved in the process. (Nina and Sol Hurwitz). Teachers should continue to teach to the test, standardized test will end up being a simple exam in which every student should find it easy to take. If high-stake tests adequately cover the essential material to be learned in each grade, these practices can enhance the teaching in the classroom. Teaching to a well-designed set of tests can improve both test scores and student achievements. (Crone). Even
The issue of standardized testing has been a highly debated issue in the United States for many years and shows no sign of being resolved any time soon. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2001 was an effort to standardize and improve our education system, but 13 years later it is still in shambles. While many people agree there is a need for some sort of measure for quality education, there is much disagreement about the effectiveness of standardized tests. Some even say federal programs like No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top have gone too far in using test scores to evaluate teachers (Gordon 2013). Unfavorable results from these tests seem to generate more punitive consequences for the teachers and schools than help for the students. The words “high-stakes” are used often in numerous sources to describe the current testing system and refer to decisions that will make a significant impact on both students and teachers. These decisions include repeating a grade or not receiving a diploma for the student and possible loss of a job for the teacher. Standardized testing is an ineffective and expensive way to measure student achievement.
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 testing is something all students and teachers dread. The weeks leading up to the tests are filled with teachers stressing about grants and their jobs both of which are riding on students success; students worrying about being able to pass the test to move on to the next grade, giving the state a bad impression about their teachers, and if their scores on these tests will affect their chances of going to college. This is what the states standardized tests are doing to instructors and pupils all across the country. Researchers at Bowling Green State University in Ohio found that two out of three surveyed elementary school students said that proficiency testing caused excess stress, and three out of four secondary students shared that belief. (Edwards)
The first problem with evaluating schools and teachers with standardized testing is that the scores are so heavily correlated with factors other than intelligence. Background factors like like their family’s socioeconomic status or disabilities that a student may have all affect a students ability on a standardized test. Proponents of the use of standardized testing to evaluate schools and teachers argue that standardized tests are a fair and objective way of evaluating students because it is a common standard for everyone. The problem in their argument is that not all s...
“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.
Standardized tests are designed to hold teachers and educators accountable, but teachers are not the ones sitting down with a number two pencil in hand sweating bullets in the test room. According to the results of a Gallup Poll in September of 2015, most Americans voted that evaluating teachers based on test scores is unfair (“Testing Doesn’t Measure Up For Americans” 12). Teachers have been mandated to make math and reading the priority and have neglected science, history, and geography. Educators who teach neglected subjects, like those previously stated, cannot be judged based on test scores that have nothing to reflect on their subjects. This is undoubtedly the cause of American students who have lost interest in school and have caused scores to continue to drop.