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The importance of creative and critical thinking
The flaws in standardized testing
Debate surrounding standardized testing
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Recommended: The importance of creative and critical thinking
Standardized testing has become a wide-spread problem to numerous school systems. Many schools have become reliant of tests given at the state level for most students in elementary, middle, high school, and college. The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), American College Testing (ACT), Advanced Placement (AP), and many other state tests have become an inadequate way of measuring a students’ achievement. The state does not have as much concern for the other necessities of a child’s learning. Students need further types of evaluation, not only the knowledge and skills needed for one test. Schools put too much stock into standardized tests because they don’t measure creativity and critical thinking, are too complex in giving an understanding of student achievement and give students and teachers stress. It is evident that standardized testing should not be a measure of student achievement. …show more content…
Classroom curriculum is in distress because of the time taken to prepare for standardized tests. Test preparation takes away numerous hours a teacher could be using for more important educational purposes. Solley states, “Because of the increased pressure on teachers for their children to do well on standardized tests, the curriculum has been narrowed” (Solley 8). Many curriculums have been minimized to make room for testing. Another major aspect of testing is the accountability placed on the schools, students, and teachers. If students do not perform well the schools amount of funding could decrease. A student could be placed in classes for extra help with their school work and discriminates the students’ amount of knowledge. Additionally, teachers are judged by how well their students perform. Solley states, “Standardized tests are now used to hold up children and schools for comparison; the scores are used to discriminate rather than diagnose, punish rather than reward” (Solley
This is precisely the problem. Standardized tests are old and outdated, and the harm they cause to America’s education system by far outweighs the benefits. These tests were intended to monitor and offer ways to improve how public schools function, but instead they have impaired the natural learning ability of students and imposed upon the judgment of experienced educators. Although a means to evaluate the progress of public schools is necessary, it is also necessary to develop more modern and effective ways of doing so. Standardized testing mandated by the federal and state governments has a negative effect on the education of America’s youth.
Teachers who lack passion and desire to teach what they are given can translate and manifest its way to students as they also lose aspirations to come to school and learn only what will be on exams they are supposed to take to show that they are “learning.” Students come to school to learn things they did not know prior and with the acquisition of knowledge it can many a times create a drive for students to expand upon a particular subject, which can ultimately determine their careers and goals, but this whole process is shutdown with standardized tests, as many topics and subjects are limited to a few basic ones that put out the fire students are expected to have.
The United States of America has placed low on the educational ladder throughout the years. The cause of such a low ranking is due to such heavy emphasis on standardized testing and not individual student achievement. Although the United States uses standardized testing as a crutch, it is not an effective measure of a student’s ability, a teacher’s competency, or a school’s proficiency.
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.
Standardized testing is not a new concept; it has been in use since the mid to late 1990’s. However, the “high stakes” focus on standardized testing is. The practices that accompany standardized testing have long been in debate. Those in favor of standardized testing will argue that the testing creates a system that increases grades and accountability among teachers, students and school districts across the country. On the other hand, those that oppose standardized testing will argue the ill effects that standardized testing can have on students, teachers, and schools.
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.
Standardized tests, such as the SAT and the SOL, have been implemented for many years now for individuals in grade school to take. The SOL’s, or Standards of Learning tests, are Virginia’s version of standardized tests that students are required to take in order to pass a class, evaluating their knowledge on a specific subject. SOL’s are mandatory for students to take as soon as they reach third grade. Additionally, the SAT is a test taken in the final years of high school that colleges look at when comparing students for post-secondary school. People concerned with student’s education can come to the common consensus that education is important and there should be some way to compare a student’s achievements to one another. However, the process
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.
Throughout the United States standardized testing is a popular way that educators measure a student’s academic ability. Although it may seem like a good idea to give a bunch of students the same test and see how each one does, it is not that simple. The results do not represent how smart a student is or a student's potential to do great things in the real world. In taking a standardized test one student may have a greater advantage over another for many reasons. Reasons that are not shown in the standardized test score.
Article 1: “Leaving Tests Behind” by Haley Sweetland Edwards This article discussed the never-ending debate on the emphasis on standardized testing in the United States. It also addressed the idea that some states are eliminating several of the required standardized tests in public schools. Instead the states expected teachers to assess students’ progress through “alternative assessments” including performance-based projects. The principal from Abingdon Elementary School expressed that these “alternative assessments” allowed for teachers to see “more authentic” way to view their students’ growth (Edwards, 28).
In many schools, tests are so important that the students focus more on passing a test and less on actually learning. Some things teachers know about the subject are important, but it may not come up on the test, so the teacher doesn’t teach it. The teachers are also told to teach things specifically about passing standardized tests instead of the curriculum. Much of schools’ budgets have gone to test preparation instead of other useful learning resources. In conclusion, Holmes says having government mandated standardized tests take time away from kids’
Standardized testing is not an effective way to test the skills and abilities of today’s students. Standardized tests do not reveal what a student actually understands and learns, but instead only prove how well a student can do on a generic test. Schools have an obligation to prepare students for life, and with the power standardized tests have today, students are being cheated out of a proper, valuable education and forced to prepare and improve their test skills. Too much time, energy, and pressure to succeed are being devoted to standardized tests. Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students.
Standardized testing is not good for the students because it becomes the prime focus and instead of learning and understanding material, they memorize. In the study done by Beverly Hoeltke the following was found: “Assessment is an integral part of instruction, as it determines whether or not the goals of education are being met. Assessment affects decisions about grades, placement, advancement, instructional needs, curriculum, and, in some cases, funding.” This quotation is a reminder that testing is in most ways important and paves paths for students even though it can also be a
These are some important questions that will be discussed within this paper leading to the conclusion that standardized testing has destructive effects on U.S. education, especially, in schools, on teachers and most severely on the students. These destructive effects are mirrored in a decrease of a solid knowledge foundation, a decrease of different essential skills like solving cognitive problems, social conflicts and a lack of creativity. Furthermore, holding schools and teachers accountable for test results promotes a grave narrowing of the curriculum. It leaves only very little time for other important aspects of teaching such as diversity and interests, and it leads to cheating on test scores. In addition, more tests produce more stress for pupils, teachers and parents.
Standardized testing in the United States is not always a common practice. In the Mid-1800s, Horace Mann, an education reformist, developed a test to administer to a group of students. Its purpose was to determine how students were performing at their current level and whether they were capable of proceeding to a higher level of education, although the student’s success on the test had no negative repercussions. These tests were a necessity at that time because the idea of public education was still being molded and these tests were the only means by which student progress could be measured. Within 35 years of the first recorded examination in 1845, testing became the factor which determined whether students were able to be promoted to the next grade.