Standardized Tests Are Ineffective

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Recommended: Standardized testing impact on schools

Standardized tests are unnecessary because they are excruciating to the minds of many innocent students. Each year, the tests get tougher and stricter until the students cannot process their own thoughts. The tests become torturous to the minds of those only starting in the world of tests. The students already battling in the war are continuing to fall deeper and deeper into the world of uncreativity and narrowness. As the walls narrow in on them, they are lost and unable to become innovative thinkers. Moreover, the implementation of standardized tests into the public school systems of the United States of America has controversially raised two different views –the proponents versus the opponents in the battle of the effectiveness of standardized tests. Standardized tests require all test takers to answer the same questions; the tests are also scored in a standard manner. Thus, the education system believes that it is fair for everybody to take the same test because it is preparing students for college learning. In reality, intelligence cannot solely be determined by a test score; therefore, standardized tests are ineffective in encouraging learning in educational environments for three reasons: they are stressful, discriminatory, and uncreative.

Throughout the history of standardized testing in the United States of America, citizens have viewed the test as an effective tool to build a society on excellence and success. Furthermore, standardized tests have developed and spread in various public schools as an unproblematic way to test a large amount of students quickly. Educators use test scores to evaluate student performance, teacher proficiency, and school effectiveness. However, standardized tests are not the best way to te...

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Works Cited

Fletcher, Dan. “Standardized Testing.” Times. Times, 11 Dec. 2009. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.

Popham, James. “Why Standardized Tests Don’t Measure Educational Quality.” Journal of Educational Leadership 56.6 (1999): 8-15. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.

Rooks, Noliwe M. “Why It’s Time to Get Rid Of Standardized Tests.” Times. Times, 11 Oct. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.

Sarason, Irwin G. “Stress, Anxiety, and Cognitive Interference: Reactions to Tests.” Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 46.4 (1984): 929-38. PsycARTICLES. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.

Schmidt, Peter. “Sunday Dialogue: Too Tethered to Tests?” New York Times. New York Times, 12 Oct. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.

Strauss, Valerie. “Have Standardized Tests Really Helped Kids Learn More?” Washington Post. Washington Post, 30 Apr. 2013. Web. 29 Nov. 2013.

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