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How Standardized Testing Damages Education
How Standardized Testing Damages Education
Overall effects of standardized testing
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Starting in the third grade, students from all over the U.S. are forced into taking a test which determines whether or not they will proceed in to the next grade. Standardized testing like the STARR are made by each states board of education. State mandated tests do not help further a students’ education. Standardized tests such as the STARR do not help prepare students for the next level because the passing requirement does not correlate to the standard seventy and above passing rate. STARR tests usually have about fifty-five to eighty questions which are meant to test a student’s ability to retain the information from the past year. In order to pass the test, a student would need to answer anywhere from nine-teen to twenty-five questions …show more content…
While taking the test, students realize they have not learned some of the material. This is due to poor planning on the states part because, the test is made to test above students’ grade levels. Before, when teachers were making their own teaching plans, they could tell how the test would be from past years and plan accordingly. Poor planning does not only affect the students but the teachers because teachers have to follow a curriculum blindly, they cannot teach their students how to anticipate an unexpected question. The best answer they can give is to try their best and pick the answer that makes the most sense. Teachers are not supposed to tell their students to just guess if they are unsure. When it comes time to take the test, the only people who should be stressed are the students not the teachers because they are afraid their student will not do great. State testing is meant to show a student’s skill not leave them scrambling for answers they were not taught when the time comes. The people who make the tests are taking shortcuts with preparing students and then expecting them to ace the …show more content…
When students work hard all year only to find out they do not have to exceed expectations on a test, it eventually causes them to stop trying as hard. Because of the difference in classroom learning and the STARR, students cannot correctly adjust to the different learning process that comes with taking the test. Even though state tests are supposed to follow the same curriculum as the class room, they do not and cause problems for both teachers and students. While some may argue, students need to experience new learning habits, they would not agree if it were their children stressing for weeks before and after taking the test. At the end of the day, it is up to the parents and teaches to get rid of state mandated tests seeing as students have no power against it. If we were to band together now, it would greatly impact future
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.
The current education system implemented by most schools measures a student’s progress using two methods: letter grades and standardized tests. However, the pressure put on students to achieve high grades causes standardized tests to be overlooked throughout the school year. Because of this, students enter tests with false hopes of scoring well when in reality they are severely underprepared. Honor roll students with perfect GPA’s can score in the average percentile if they are not adequately exposed to the test material. Schools should put a larger emphasis on preparation for standardized tests so students will be better equipped to take these tests and receive a score that more accurately reflects their knowledge.
Imagine walking into school on day one of the Transitional Colorado Assessment Program, or better known as TCAP. You are rushed to your proctor’s room. This is just day one of the six long grueling test days. The school board is counting on you to score high enough to reflect positively on your school district. Each session will last up to sixty minutes with just enough time for most students to finish. There are usually three sessions per day. For most students, this process is one which is dreaded with each coming year. TCAP results are scored by advanced, proficient, partially proficient, or unsatisfactory (Time4Learning). The TCAP tests students from 3rd through 10th grade. This test happens the same time each year. There are four different tests that constitute the TCAP: reading, writing, math, and for the 5th, 8th, and 10th grades science.
“Standardized testing has become the arbiter of social mobility, yet there is more regulation of the food we feed our pets that of the tests we give our kids ” (Robert Schaeffer quotes)
Do you like being bombarded with the stress of having to take so many tests? In 1845 the US brought standardized testing in the subjects spelling, geography, and math into public schools (Standardized Testing 1). Standardized tests were made to swiftly assess students abilities (Standardized Testing 1). The No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 mandated testing in all 50 states. In the article, “Standardized Tests,” it states that “US students slipped from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st place in 2009, with a similar decline in science and no change in reading” (Use of Standardized Tests 5). Blame of the decline in rates are on poverty levels, teacher quality, tenure policies, and increasingly on the pervasive use
Standardized tests should not be used to measure student proficiency. These tests are becoming much more challenging and high stakes, resulting in a significant amount of stress and anxiety in students. Standardized testing has become a huge weight on students which is leading to test anxiety. Jasmine Evans writes in her article “Problems With Standardized Testing,” from Education.com about critics of the No Child Left Behind, an act passed in 2001 one under the administration of George W. Bush, who say that there is a lot of pressure on teachers, students, and parents, and school officials as a result of these tests. They say the pressure to...
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.
“Students are taking between ten and twenty standardized tests, depending on the grade. A total average of one hundred thirteen different ones by graduation.”(Locker) A few years ago the United States, along with other nations, was given a test to assess the academic strengths and weaknesses of each nation and rank them accordingly. When the results were released and the United States was ranked near the bottom, it was decided to start incorporating more testing through school. Between benchmark, TLI, PARCC, and common core standards, teaching technique was forced to change. Standardized testing has had a negative effect on teachers and students, implementing inadequate grading standards and the common core curriculum, such testing has made
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
One time I heard a teacher at my old high school tell a new teacher that their job is to teach to the test and nothing else. I did not really know what she meant, but I knew something about what she said sounded very wrong. I thought why are they just teaching us how to pass the test instead of just teaching us what we need to know? Later I found out that whether or not I graduate depends on passing the test. The idea of standardized testing to say whether or not students graduate is a bad one. Not just bad for schools, principals, and teachers, but it can mean the end of a student’s future before it begins. That means not only does schools suffer, but everyone in our communities, states, and country suffers. It used to be that students had to take standardized tests every year. The results of these tests said what school districts would get more money or less money for the next school year. And it would also tell schools and teachers if some students needed to be put into higher level programs such as gifted and talented or advanced placement courses or if they were having problems and should be put in special education.
Standardized testing is a down fall to many students but also an opportunity for many others. Standardized testing has its pros and its cons. It can be the make it or break it factor into getting into colleges you are hoping to attend or the scholarships you want to earn. Some people may have their opinions about the test, whether they hate it or not but the fact is that it’s here to stay.
There is added pressure to schools to get better scores which adds pressure to the educators and the students. The added pressure can cause health problems with the students or the educators. If health problem come from the stress of the tests it could negatively affect the student’s ability to learn (Pros and Cons, 2013). The test itself is a problem as well. The test is supposed to be unbiased based on the grade level but in most cases the test is not. As much as they try...
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.
Layton explains in her article that “a typical student takes 112 mandated standardized tests between pre-kindergarten classes and 12th grade.” (Layton) Children that are as young as three or four in pre-k should not be required to take standardized testing. These young children are expected to take around “4.1 standardized tests” (Layton). They are little children so they should not be expected to know all the information on the standardized tests and how to apply it. Layton also explains how “most countries that outperform the United States on international exams test students three times during their school careers.” (Layton) The fact that we are testing students around thirty-seven times more than those countries show that there is too much pressure on standardized testing. Every student is expected to do well with standardized tests and in their classroom. This can cause students to stress about school and grades at an early age. Layton explains that “the heaviest testing load falls on the nation’s eighth graders, who spend an average of 25.3 hours during the school year taking standardized tests” (Layton). These students should not have to be required to test for that many hours in a year. For students to become well-rounded, emotionally, socially, and academically, they should be tested less and allowed to have time for extracurricular