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How standardized testing is unfair
Discuss the importance of assessment in education
Arguments for standardized testing
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I do not think that high school students should be required to take or pass a standardized test in order to get their diploma. Another test in order to graduate seems like it would be overkill. If there was another test that high school seniors had to take, their teachers would have to take at least one more day out of their lessons to accommodate. On the other side, many students are already pressured about graduation and what comes after; college admissions and providing for themselves at the top of the list.
Students are tested at an alarming rate, and it seems like the number of required tests is only increasing. Between kindergarten and 12th grade students take about 112 mandatory tests. Which is just over 8 ½ tests a year, over thirteen years. Minnesota high schools students are required to take one science, one math, one writing, and one reading MCA, alongside the ACT. This is after taking reading and math MCAs every year for 6 years previous. The amount of testing that students go through is already a high number, why would anybody want to add onto that.
Teachers have a set number of days to get through everything required by the state to their students. They already take time out of their
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Adding another requirement after the 21 ½ credits and testing that already came before would just be another thing on a plate high school seniors are juggling. College applications, housing, moving, jobs, and bills alongside making sure that they still can carry their coursework to the best of their ability will put a lot of stress on a person. On time graduation rates have been slowly increasing in the past 3 years, if a student fails the graduation test does that mean that they would have to take another year of school before moving on? This would discourage many students from coming back and taking it again. Which would lower the graduation rate by a drastic
Virginia’s Standards of Learning has come under much criticism over the past couple of years, and I for one think it deserves to be criticized. Each year student in every school district across America have to take two or more test such as, the (LPT) Literacy Passport Test, the Stanford-9 exam or the (SOL) Standards of Learning, depending on the grade level. In two out of these three tests, students are required to pass in order to graduate, and judging by last years test scores, most students future would be endangered if they are unable to bring there score up. This has led to the question, “are we testing our students too much”? This question was bought up at a General Assembly meeting in March of 2000, the Virginia Board of Education responded by saying they would move the Stanford-9 exam from the spring to the fall, so it would not interfere with the spring SOL tests. But this still is not enough for me, because all of these tests are designed to do one thing, and that is to evaluate a student’s comprehensive knowledge of a certain subject. So what I don’t get is, why do a student have to take two or more test a year just to evaluate his understanding of a certain subject.
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.
Since the release of the report by Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in December of 2010 many in the government and community are searching for ways to reform the American education system to give American students the greatest opportunity to succeed. According to the report, American students are not testing as high as other nations in the world (Duncan, 2010). There are many contributing elements that have brought America to her knees in the education system, however, the obsession with standardized testing is found to be one of the most influential downfalls.
First this paragraph will talk about how students take to many standardized tests. Students take 112 tests on average from pre-K to 12th grade. 112 tests is a lot considering it takes
In Arizona, high schools require their students to take the AIMS (Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards) tests and pass them in order in progress out of high school. Arizonan students must now pass reading, writing, and math and science tests. Many schools have integrated an extra class for students to prepare for taking the tests. Students in these classes can receive either a pass or fail for the course. The original reason and importance for having these tests was to ensure that all students are meeting the standards of education in those tested subjects by the time they graduate. Having more research done about statistics and percentages on opposition and stances on proficiency testing would make an impact in the way schools would continue standardized testing, not only in high schools, but elementary schools as well. Since there is little investigation and research that has been done, there is not a strong voice from the teachers, parents, or students on this subject.
All students must pass standardized tests in order to graduate. Standardized tests are not going to make us smart, so why is the government spending all their money on those tests? According to Quinn Mulholland, Author at Harvard Political Review "Teaching to the test" is replacing good teaching practices with "drill n ' kill" rote learning.” Students learn better if they’re being taught by a teacher who teaches a subject that he or she is passionate about. On the other hand, if teachers are told to teach students in order for students to pass tests then students are not learning, instead they are memorizing. Standardized tests won’t make students ready for college. Standardized tests will not improve student achievement, it is an unreliable way to measure student success, and they are not objective. Standardized tests are also unfair to students whose English is their second language as well as students with special
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.
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...
The essence of an individual is based on their past: their memories, their reactions, their pain and their pleasures. Like a mosaic, these minuscule virtues can be put together to define a larger personality. Even from this perspective, the difference between details and the big picture play an important role. Throughout every individual’s lifespan they must set their perspective and decide which they would rather focus on: the big picture or the details that make it up. In Anna Quindlen’s writing, "Homeless" she states that “Sometimes I think we would be better off if we forgot about the broad strokes and concentrated on the details” (194). Focusing on the details is more beneficial than looking at the bigger picture. By paying more attention to the details than the overall picture in life situations, individuals learn to problem solve and analyze easily: thus creating strategies and extending their knowledge in complex subjects.
As stated earlier, many states require a student to pass a certain test in order to receive a diploma. This results in many capable students, who have finished all of their requirements, being denied their diplomas. If the Valedictorian does not pass the exit exam, are you going to bar him or her from graduating? It is a fact that some people are better at taking tests than other people. Intelligent students who challenge themselves throughout their high school careers and have high grade point averages can do poorly on a test, while a student who has only taken basic level classes can score significantly higher. Is that a fair representation of what ...
The Standardized Testing System, instituted in the public school system, has been used as a guideline in assessing a student’s comprehension of the subjects taught in the classroom and for measuring a teacher’s aptitude of relating the subject material to the students (Fletcher). Florida has instituted a new Bill SB-736 that will now no longer grant teacher’s tenure, and will use the scores from the FCAT to decide whether a teacher will keep their job. While originally created to help the school system, standardized testing has been shown to have many problems, and even to cause harm to students, teachers, and schools. The standardized testing system must be severely revamped, as well as the way the scores affect the schools the students attend.
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.
Right now standardized tests are used to punish the schools for factors that may be outside of its control, and this is an unfair practice. Standardized tests should have never been used to make such
student achievement.The statewide tests should be abolished because if you're a strate A student and you have one bad testing day your grades blow up in your face. All because you had one bad day you are seen as a imperfect student. They stress kids out and caus them to freake out on testing day. Not to mention the cost of getting the test cost a lot up to 1.1 billion dollars and they need to thing is all that money worth putting kids through the tests when they could be using the money to help the school programs get better edgicatinal systems and or supplies.
Should high school exit exams (like OGT) be abolished? The Ohio Graduation tests are based upon Ohio’s Learning standard. The State's Board of Education adopted in English Language Arts, Mathematics , science and Social studies. High school exit exams had schools and students accountable for teaching and learning skills (greatschools.org). Standards were designed to ensure that students are armed with the knowledge they need to be successful in higher educational pursuits as well as the jobs and careers of the future (ode.gov).