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Why standardized tests are not effective
Why standardized tests are not effective
Why standardized tests are not effective
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“Sometimes the most brilliant and intelligent students do not shine in standardized tests because they do not have standardized minds.” This quote by Diane Ravitch really sums up what is wrong with tests like the ACT, SAT, and other standardized test. Many students do not have the spare time between other schoolwork and activities. For students who have to take these standardized tests, it takes away time to study from school, many can not work well around the numerous activities that they have going on, and it causes stress that you will not be good enough for a college education.
The ACT is a standardized test that originated at the University of Iowa in 1959. The ACT is taken mostly in the Midwest region of the United States, while not being as popular oustide of that region it can be taken everywhere. The SAT is another of the popular standardized tests that can be taken. During World War II, the president at Harvard University, made the test as a form to gain
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A social life is also important for the growth of an individual because it helps them learn just a good education does. But with a social life come social problems which can also lead to stress. This stress which piles on to the stress that comes as a direct result of homework, activities, sports and work. Most high school students experience stress at some point throughout the school year because of the workload that they have between all the things that they have going on. Many people will say that there is no reason for a teen to be stressed, but the stressed caused by schoolwork, social life, and activities has a heavy toll on someone. The pressure to do well on these standardized tests leads to students trying to make time in there schedule to study. For many, this time is found later at night which takes away from the sleep that a young individual needs for there well
"Former Bates College Dean of Admissions, William Hiss, said that intelligence is so complex, varied, and multifaceted that “no standardized testing system can be expected to capture it”(Westlund). Throughout the years standardized testing has changed its purpose and not for the better. In the late 1930s, the goal of taking standardized test was to award scholarships to "diamond in the rough" students (Westlund). Currently, the whole idea of taking the SAT or ACT is getting admitted into a college. Standardized test should not be a deciding factor of being admitted into a college.
These standardized tests are used by schools because they find that it is an easy way to test a student’s ability. However, the issue in doing this is for example, the ACT is all multiple choice. Exams such as these do not give the option to include worded feedback to show that you at least know something about the subject. Multiple choice exams have this problem, they can’t test the information that a person fully knows, it only tests whether they chose the right answer or possibly just guessed it. With only a slew of multiple choice questions it can be easy to get a “good” score or a “bad” score. That’s why these tests are flawed, the results they show don’t prove anything or really show anything for that matter.
Garcia-Pelayo2students, one can find oneself surprised when we learn that each state spends roughly “$1.7billion a year” (Ujifusa 1) on standardized testing. Money for standardized testing if being spentbefore students even set their eyes on a college application, and definitely before they start fillingout their applications. Standardized tests are expensive, and usually required too. Unless astudent knows for sure that the school they’re applying to, and getting accepted to, does notrequire standardized tests, spending those $65 dollars is almost inevitable. What most studentsconsider “back-up schools” might not need high grades, but at the very least they need thesatisfaction of knowing that you took a test and that they have a number by
When you were a student, did you see the purpose of taking standardized tests? What was that purpose? “In 1845 educational pioneer Horace Mann had an idea. Instead of annual oral exams, he suggested that Boston Public School children should prove their knowledge through written tests” (Gershon 1). Although it is believed by colleges that the SAT, ACT, and other standardized tests are a good measure of intelligence and character, really these tests should not be used because they don’t predict a person’s future success in life, some people are better test takers, it doesn’t portray the natural capability of a person, and they are just used to make money for businesses and companies.
Students are defined by a test score instead of what they do in their high school years including their GPA, extracurricular activities and volunteer activities. Students with high GPAs can fail or do bad on the SAT/ACT due to stress or not doing good on tests. Standardized tests only test certain things about a student. It does not show what the student can actually do as in motivation, creativity, reliability, self-discipline, leadership, honesty and many other things. All standardized testing is not fair to students especially ones that do not speak english and students with special needs because they all take the same test.
Standardized Test Did you know that only 25% of students in the U.S. reach grade level on standardized tests. This means that only about 8 out of 30 students in a classroom would reach grade level on these tests. Students shouldn’t have to take standardized tests due to the tests causing a lot of stress and student growth shouldn’t be evaluated on one test. Standardized testing can cause a lot of stress for both educators and students.
A student’s ability should not be based on a single test score, but rather on the student’s growth through the year. Some of the wisest and most influential minds in history understood the importance of this belief. William Butler Yeats once said “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” Creating a system that focuses on student’s scores is not only harmful to the children in America but to the Country as a whole.
This argument goes along with the other two mentioned and explained above. There isn’t much that is positive to say about these assessments. It places so much pressure on students to perform well and pressure on teachers to teach what is going to be on the test. This brings negative energy to classrooms. An article by Greg Jouriles helps explain why we don’t need these tests. He claims, “Standardized tests are unnecessary because they rarely show what we don’t already know” (Jouriles, Greg). He also goes on to explain that one’s test score isn’t reliable and that we should trust the teachers when grades are published. A school system can accurately judge the students in the school on what they are good at better than the standardized tests do. They can break down many different aspects of what students need to improve on and what they are already knowledgeable of. Students need to learn more than just the test information. Only studying and learning test material makes students less diverse and leads to boring lectures in the classroom. Another article written by an organization called Fairtest adds, “Some students simply do not test well. Many students are affected by test anxiety or do not show their learning well on a standardized test, resulting in inaccurately lower scores” (Fairtest). These tests punish students for what they can’t control, making them stressed and panicked that they won’t graduate or move on to the next grade. Some children are from low-income families attending schools with large classes with little to no materials for learning what is on the test. In addition to that, some teachers have never been educated on test content, which is not their fault, and this results in low-test scores. This all leads to why there are such negative feelings throughout classrooms of many
There’s no doubt that challenging, high-stakes tests can provoke anxiety in some students. According to Bright Hub Education, some school systems are under great pressure to raise their scores so they have resorted to decreasing time spent in recess. This can have negative impact on children’s social, emotional, and academic well-being. Furthermore, people who are against standardized testing argues that often times, standardized tests try to fit all students in certain categories and oppresses them too much.
After 14 years of schooling, I have come to realize the kind of role standardized tests play in the education system. Recently, standardized tests have been used to assess how well teachers works based on their students’ test scores. Are standardized test a fair and appropriate way to evaluate a teacher and determine the salary they deserve? Testing is controversial topic when used for judgement of a teacher’s abilities. While testing, there are a lot of outside factors that can distract a student and disrupt the test, resulting in a worse score than what the student is actually capable of.
But in my opinion, standardized testing, although not much fun, is worth taking, and trying your best on. Without standardized testing, teachers would not know how much a student has grown, or learned from her class, and it would be more difficult to place a student in the correct class for them. So that you're not too advanced for a class, or maybe needing some extra help in some areas. In June, 2009, a survey of 1,342 school systems were surveyed to find that 71% of students think the number of tests that they take is, “about right” and 79% think the questions on the test are, “fair.”
No talking, no getting up, no asking questions, and only the qualified tools are allowed. Students prepare all year to take this test. A test that might not even measure what it is supposed to, a standardized test. In 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act was established as an updated version of the Elementary and Secondary Education act of 1965. Its mission was to build upon education for all children no matter their background.
High school students across America are being sent out into the world without the skills they need to succeed. Admittedly, students learn the basic academics to move onto the next level, but the basic skills they need in life are being put aside and forgotten. Today, high achieving seniors go off into the world knowing how to find the definite integral of a function and preform electrophoresis, but they don’t know everyday skills like how to file their taxes. In order to succeed in the real world, high schools need to equip students with the tools for everyday life.
A standardized test requires all students to answer the same questions with the goal of getting the same answers so that the government can compare groups or individual students based on a certain standard. Originally standardized tests were to be used so that different schools or states could compare to other schools, but since the government passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), elementary, middle, and high schools only care about meeting the requirements so they can get funding (Improving). Since schools focus on receiving funding so much, students are getting extremely stressed out, which leads to lower scores and schools not meeting the set requirements. All of these issues are what creates the vicious cycle of the American education
Standardized testing in the United States was not always 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.