Tim Walker, editor from NEA Today magazine, stated, “Unfortunately, standardized tests, based on a narrowly prescribed curriculum and linked to specific grade levels, are not a good way to judge student or teacher success" (Standardized Tests ProCon.org, 2016). By definition, a standardized test is a test that is managed and scored in a constant or standard way. Many people believe that standardized tests are a fair and objective way to grade a student’s knowledge. However, others disagree by thinking that standardized testing is not objective and an unreliable procedure of student’s performance. High-stakes tests, depending on the certain way that they are assembled, can definitely have a positive or negative impact on a student's schooling …show more content…
(Popham, n.d.). In my opinion, standardized testing is not impartial, and it does not show all the knowledge a student has acquired throughout the years. Although I believe that standardized testing is absurd, some people agree that standard tests are efficient and successful.
93% of studies of student standardized tests, including large-scale and high-stakes standardized tests, found a positive effect on student performance (Standardized Testing Pros and Cons: Latest Research Analyzed on New ProCon.Org Website, 2011). Standardized tests are trustworthy and objective measures of a student’s knowledge. Without these standardized tests, policy makers would have to depend on tests scored by separate schools and teachers who have a regard for producing pleasing outcomes. Multiple-choice tests, in particular, are not affected by someone’s judgement or favoritism because they are graded by a machine. The information in standardized tests is broad and non-discriminatory because they guarantee the composition is equal to all …show more content…
students. Standardized tests are not shortening the curriculum, rather they are concentrating on valuable basic skills that all students need to understand. Most teachers recognize the significance of standardized tests and do not think that their teaching has been compromised. In 2009, a survey from the Scholastic/Gates Foundation showed that 81% of public school teachers in the United States said state-mandated standardized tests were somewhat significant as an evaluation of students’ academic performance, and 27% said they were extremely important or definitely vital. 73 percent of educational teachers were surveyed in March 2002, and a public agenda course said they have not ignored normal teaching responsibilities for preparing for tests (Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?, 2016). Standardized tests contribute helpful information at a reasonable cost, and don’t take up much class time. Stern standards and increased testing are bracing students for college. State administered standardized tests try avoiding social promotion, which is the practice of letting students move from grade to grade whether they have exceeded the academic requirements of their grade level. These reasons for standardized testing may be accurate and positive, but that doesn’t mean standardized testing is necessarily good for students. Although there are very many facts for why students should take standardized tests, there are also just as many good reasons for not having standardized testing. Standardized testing has not helped student achievement. After No Child Left Behind (NCLB) passed in 2002, the US went from 18th in the world in mathematics on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to 31st place in 2009, with a decrease in science and remained the exact same in reading (Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?, 2016). Teachers have used standardized tests for years, and they still do not know how to use them to constantly produce a positive impact on the students and to make their education better. Standardized tests are an undependable measure of a student’s intelligence. Only eighteen states demand that students in high school must pass an assessment to graduate (Wildavsky, 2001). A 2001 study wrote by the Brookings Institution discovered that 50-80% of year to year test score advancements were short-term and caused by variations that had nothing to do with permanent changes in learning (Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?, 2016). Standardized tests contain only a small amount of what makes schooling meaningful. According to Gerald W. Bracey, PhD, standardized tests cannot grade inventiveness, critical thinking, perseverance, self-discipline, fortitude, resourcefulness, and integrity. Testing can be unfair and discriminatory against people who don’t speak English and students with disabilities. Teachers who teach their students till the testis and give them practice tests are just exhausting the students and making them feel irritable. Schools allow too much time for standardized test preparation when the students should be learning more new helpful material. Some schools use more than a quarter of the school year to get ready for standardized tests. Younger students get exceedingly stressed out while taking standardized tests. Gregory J. Cizek, education researcher, does research about how testing panics and worries even the smartest students. Older students are not vigorous about NCLB-mandated standardized tests because their scores on the tests do not affect their grades.
An educator at New Mexico's Valley High School said that in August 2004 many students filled in their answer sheet randomly by making patterns in the answer bubbles. Testing isn’t cheap and costs have grown since NCLB, putting stress on state educational budgets. The expensive testing industry is well known for making pricey and tedious scoring errors. Writing questions on standardized tests are often judged by underpaid short-term workers with no schooling. The people who grade the tests make eleven to thirteen dollars per hour and only require a bachelor’s degree, which doesn’t necessarily have to major in education either. Using test scores to benefit and hurt teachers and schools inspires them to cheat the system for their own advantage. These riveting and truthful facts prove my point that standardized testing is not the best instrument for teachers and
students. In the 1960s, the hatred for standardized testing started as baby boomers were put through school and were tested till death. The money made from standardized tests of urban schools more than doubled their size between 1960 and 1989 to one hundred million dollars a year. There is an astonishing number of standardized tests given to students of kindergarten through the twelfth grade which is 127 million tests alone. The uprising against testing became most hostile in the late 1970s and early 1980s, especially against SAT/ACT testing for admission into an university (Sacks, 1997). Growing poverty levels, teacher quality, administration policies, and, increasingly, on the influential use of standardized tests are the cause of disappointments in the schooling system.
Michele Obama once stated, “If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn 't be here. I guarantee you that.” The First Lady is, in other words, to say that standardized testing was a major factor into her life’s outcome and her scores could have potentially not put her in her position of power that she is highly recognized in today’s society. Although standardized tests do play a large role in any college application, standardized testing may not count as much toward one’s college admissions or success because standardized tests are not the only factor toward college applications, these tests only benefit a specific target group of people, and standardized tests are better used for giving insight on one’s
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.
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 tests compare students in different states, districts, and schools. The comparisons lead to “unhealthy competition among the schools” (Pros and Cons 2). In the article, “Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing,” it is stated that “Federal funds are given only to those that perform well” (2). This makes the pressures in schools very high and makes the schools evaluate the performance of the teachers and students constantly. “Low scores can prevent a student from progressing to the next grade level or lead to teacher firings and school closures, while high scores ensure continued federal and local funding and are used to reward teachers and administrators with bonus payments” (Use of Standardized Tests 5). Standardized tests give parents a good idea of how well their students are doing and learning. It also leads to exaggerated reports of success. In Jonathan Pollard’s article he says “Consider this passage taken directly from Kohn’s book:” Then it states how when a test is first administered and scores are low, headlines are bad. Then in a few years the scores go up and the headlines are good. Finally, the scores level off or they substitute a new test and the scores drop. Causing the headlines to be bad again. Kohn then states that “This is not due to a change in the competency of teachers, or level of instruction. This is simply the process of students and teachers acclimating to the tests” (Pollard 4).
In “Standardized testing undermines teaching,” the author, Diane Ravitch, reviewed a book she authored, The death and life of the great American school system: how testing and choice are undermining education. This review highlights various cons of Standardized testing on the students and educators. She states that standardized testing and the use of incentives to motivate students and educators have failed to meet the set goals. Although the author was at the forefront of advocating for this system, she is now opposed to it and sceptical of the use of incentives to motivate teachers. She also reviews the role of charter schools in perpetuating classism. She states that standard tests and the use of...
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.
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.
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...
Standardized testing scores proficiencies in most generally accepted curricular areas. The margin of error is too great to call this method effective. “High test scores are generally related to things other than the actual quality of education students are receiving” (Kohn 7). “Only recently have test scores been published in the news-paper and used as the primary criteria for judging children, teachers, and schools.”(2) Standardized testing is a great travesty imposed upon the American Public School system.
Standardized tests are a tremendous part of most schools’ curriculum in the United States today. These tests are assessments of students’ knowledge on either one or more subjects. Standardized tests are a performance evaluation of students, teachers, and schools due to their importance. A standardized test is distinctive from other tests in two ways. One, it has common questions being answered in the same way and two, it is being scored in a consistent style allowing for comparative performance. Through extensive research Oliver’s and Visone’s statements and overall research have several key differences that shape their own separate arguments. Though their thesis and hypothesis have the same underlying idea that there is a problem with` standardized
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.
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 remains to be a major controversial issue for the American society today. Exams are given to students at different levels in their educational career and are supposed to measure their academic knowledge, but are these tests really the best way to evaluate students? There have been numerous alternatives suggested to replace or be used in conjunction with standardized testing.
“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.
For many years, school systems and parents all over America have been asking- does high school testing measure a student’s knowledge fairly, accurately, and do they benefit the student. The tests do not accurately measure a student’s true academic ability. Furthermore, testing does not always fairly measure a student’s knowledge. High-stakes testing only adds stress to a student’s life. Studies have proven that testing is not beneficial to a student’s educational growth. Testing in high school is affected by different factors; therefore results can be unreliable and not beneficial to the growth of students.