The Benefits Of Standardized Testing

Standardized test are designed to be objective and are based off a similarity of questions. Students are actually given a test that all seem to be almost exactly identical and all students are put under the same conditions. As suggested by Aaron Churchill, "they are intended to provide an accurate, unfiltered measure of what a student knows." The whole standard system is meant to analyze and check students progress, allowing changes to be made throughout the student's learning progress. The whole equality system that is involved in standardized test is beneficial for students because it's inclusive and non-discriminatory. Students are given the same opportunity to learn the material necessary for standardized test, which allows students to

show that they have mastered the knowledge from a particular set of subjects. Since students will be given a standardized test that is intended to be equal, all students must receive the same amount of teaching as others to reach certain levels of equality. As suggested by MindShift the "No Child Left Behind" policy requires all students to receive the education necessary to be successful in any standard test or whatever condition a student might be put in. The "No Child Left Behind" policy is intended to give students the tools required to do good in any situation or test they face, by providing them with the education necessary for them to achieve. Standardized test throughout the years have shown an increase in scores which means a lot. The overall scores have improved since 1978 to 2012 as shown in Graph 1-1. Standardized test along with students have shown a growth. According to Nausicaa Renner, "in recent years our schools have in fact made huge gains in helping our students tackle real complexity." Standardized test have been able to manage their way of challenging students so that they can be more successful. As suggested by Nausicaa, "as time progresses standardized test have actually taken the challenge to try and improve the scores of students and have been up to date checking the results of their scores." Statistics show how standardized test can really be necessary for the improvement of students success. Having standardized test really is a good way of checking students progress and making sure that they are receiving the right materials needed to be effective.
Currently the argument against standardized test is that the price to make or assure the test is pretty high.

According to the Edufocus, "a study finds that 44 states spend upwards of a collective $1.7 billion on standardized testing each year of grades K through 12." These can be perhaps very costly for some people but can be worth it because students have access to different types of standardized test. A standardized test might be very important for a student that is trying to get general information in certain areas where they might be weak or strong. By continuing to fund standardized test many students are given a chance to take an opportunity to discover their attributes. According to a 2002 paper by Caroline M. Hoxby, PhD, the Scott and Donya Bommer Professor in Economics at Stanford University, "standardized tests cost less than 0.1% of K-12 education spending, totaling $5.81 per student per year." So "$5.81 per student per year" might not really be that much. After all students are getting full benefits, they are receiving useful skills and general knowledge that could be very useful in some way for all the students taking the test. As stated by a research completed in 2011 by testing scholar Richard P. Phelps, "ninety-three percent of studies on student testing, including the use of large-scale and high-stakes standardized tests, found a “positive effect” on student achievement, according to a peer-reviewed, 100-year analysis of testing." Standardized test can be a

huge factor that is consuming a lot of money, but it is worth the price. Students have access to be tested and determine what they are capable of doing. Standardized test should and probably will continue to be funded as they are also costing less to process due to the increase of technological advances. Whatever the case there is big money involved but there is also big chances of having successful students come out to the world, ready to take on the challenge and complete many more test that they might face.
Standardized test have been a controversial issue in America for a long time.

Some people say they disagree with what the system is based off and that there really aren't any benefits to having the test. However in many cases standardized test have actually been proven to be very beneficial when it comes to checking on students. The test is designed to bring students together and test them on the material that they have been learning. Not only does standardized test provide students with a score but provide them with an idea of how they are doing in their classes. It also provides the teachers with an idea of how each individual student is doing in certain areas such as math, english, science, and social studies. By allowing standardized test to be given, they can serve an advantageous academic purpose for teachers, students, parents, and schools. By giving students a standardized pre-assessment, one can establish a baseline for growth. It gives one the opportunity to see the true impact and growth they have had in their learning, whether it be the student, teacher, school, or parents. Having standardized test is not necessarily bad because they can provide a lot of information that can be very useful. As suggested by James Aycock, "how would we know what kids know without assessments? That’s the purpose of testing kids – to figure out what they know and are able to do." Having standardized test or assessments are useful and necessary because they provide data based on

students and allow for improvements to be made. It provides the student with accountability and ensures that students are exposed to the idea that it's important to try and learn what they can. Testing can be proven to help students and can always be a good check up on what might be going on in school and their education. At times one might think that standardized test are useless and it might be true in some cases but it's never really bad to have something that is just meant to help you improve in areas that you might need help in. It's really a good and positive thing to have standardized test because if not how would it be possible to really understand where students fall and understand where they are good at. For that reason it's really necessary to have standardized test to improve student success.