Against Standardized Testing Essay

Standardized tests are exams that are supposed to measure a child’s academic knowledge but have long been a controversial subject of discussion. Although it is one method to see how a child is performing, is it the best method? Standardized testing can be biased or unfair, inhibit both the teacher’s and the children’s creativity and flexibility, affect funding for schools, cause untested subjects to be eliminated from the curriculum, and cause anxiety for children and teachers.

Don’t all students hate standardized tests. They waste lots of time and don’t influence your grade so then what’s the point of them. I think that students shouldn’t take standardized tests. First of all students take the test in May and don’t get the results until September so the test doesn’t do much. Lots of teachers also only teach to the test meaning they only prepare them to pass the test. Students might know the content but because of test anxiety they might not be able to show it on the test.

In classrooms all across America, students sit perched over their desks in the process of taking standardized tests. As the students take the tests, teachers pace nervously up and down the rows of their classroom, hoping and praying that their students can recall the information which they have presented. Some children sit relaxed at their desks, calmly filling in the bubbles and answering essay questions. These children are well prepared and equipped to handle their tests. Other children, however, sit hunched over their desks, pondering over questions, trying to guess an answer. They struggle to recall information that has been covered many times in class, but they can’t.

“No issue in the U.S. Education is more controversial than (standardized) testing. Some people view it as the linchpin of serious reform and improvement, others as a menace to quality teaching and learning” (Phelps). A tool that educators use to learn about students and their learning capabilities is the standardized test. Standardized tests are designed to give a common measure of a student’s performance. Popular tests include the SAT, IQ tests, Regents Exams, and the ACT. “Three kinds of standardized tests are used frequently in schools: achievement, diagnostic, and aptitude” (Woolfolk 550). Achievement tests can be used to help a teacher assess a student’s strengths and weaknesses in a

Even though there are many downsides to standardized testing there are still viable reasons why they are still being used today. One of the main reasons includes the easy and quick access of testing students. Standardized testing allows schools to quickly access a large amount of students at one time. This is also one of the cheapest ways to tests such a large crowd due to machinery that grades which results in low tests costs for students. These tests also help by setting a national curriculum for all high school teachers to teach in schools. “It provides guidelines for curriculum. Standardized tests give teachers a structure of what needs to be taught. This helps keep classroom material consistent across the country” (“Pros and Cons of

Standardized testing takes valuable time away from students to learn about lessons that will actually be useful in the future. They are expected to remember criteria learned in middle school and/or grade school, and the more time spent on trying to equalize the students, the more creativity is being taken away from them. Creativity is what makes people individual and unique, why would we want to live in a world where everyone is alike and boring? For example, between 20-25 hours in the entire school year for the average eighth grader is spent preparing and taking standardized tests, according to the Council of the Great City Schools. With all the time spent on studying for those unavailing exams, teachers could be educating students on how to survive in the real world, and guide them to be themselves through inventive activities.

These assessments have important consequences for students, teachers and schools; low scores can prevent a student from progressing to the next grade level or lead to teacher firings and school closures, while high scores ensure continued federal and local funding and are used to reward teachers and administrators with bonus payments. standardized testing in the US has been estimated to be "a multi-billion-dollar industry,". Standardized tests are unnecessary because they rarely show what we don't already know. Ask any teacher and she can tell you which students can read and write. That telling usually comes in the form of letter grades or evaluations that break ld give us as much information as we now get from standardized tests. Standardized tests don't always measure student learning as intended. Not every student learns or demonstrates

As the school year comes to an end, kids start worrying about their end of course test. These standardized tests cause issues with not only the teachers and school, but with the student as an individual. Standardized test should definitely be eliminated because it does not benefit students, causes unnecessary stress, and teachers no longer passionately teach students, instead they follow the curriculum they are forced to instruct.

Many students get test anxiety which affects their health and test scores (“Pros/Cons of Standardized testing”). As someone who has experienced standardized testing, I know students at my school who get very anxious about taking these tests and feel physically ill because of them. They end up with test scores that are lower than their class work and grades would predict. The scores only show what the student was able to do in that one point of time. (“Pros/Cons of Standardized testing”). One standardized test, the Stanford-9, has evidence of this anxiety among students ("Standardized Tests - ProCon.org."). The exam has directions for the teacher of what to do if a student vomits on the test due to extreme anxiety ("Standardized Tests - ProCon.org."). The makers of the test expect that some children will be so anxious they will throw up! You may wonder why students feel so much anxiety about taking standardized tests. The pressure from parents and teachers and community about the results of the test and how you will be judged based on those results is not a positive thing! Also, teachers and parents cannot help students improve for their next standardized test because they do not get to see the results of their last test until months or even a year later (Woesthoff Julie)! This builds anxiety about why are we doing this anyway? Plus, the results are not specific (Woesthoff Julie). Students are labeled using terms like basic, proficient, advanced, average, below average, below grade level or needs improvement. These terms are insulting to students who tried their best. They are embarrassing to good students who had anxiety or a bad day. They are also rude towards children with disabilities and English language learners who are working with modified teaching, but have to take the same tests as other

“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)

Standardized testing creates a lot of stress on students and educators alike. Because of how much stress is put on them to prepare students for these tests, many excellent teachers quit their jobs everyday. In fact, in April, new federal data stated that 17 percent of new public school teachers leave their profession after four years due to stress and other reasons. Some teachers fail to teach students skills that go beyond the tests because they’re so pressured to get their students ready for these exams. This amount of stress can lead to feelings of negativity towards school and learning in general as well as cause negative health issues. Standardized tests places a large amount of stress on both teachers and students.

Should Standardized Testing be abolished? That’s the big question, there are good arguments on both sides, however, many people lean toward it being abolished. Standardized testing is just a way for the state to evaluate how schools are doing based on student scores.

Personally, I think standardized testing should be stopped because the cons of testing outweigh the pros. One major con is that the testing does not truly measure the actual skill of a student in a given subject. The tests often are majority multiple choice which doesn’t let you know if they truly know the material or just happened to choose the correct answer. Another con is, tests like the Sat and Act can greatly impact someone's future. A student who has maintained a 4.0 GPA or higher could be denied from getting into a school because they didn’t do well on one of those tests. A student doing that well in school should not have to worry about being accepted into a college because of one test. Which is why these test should not be taken

As a result of the “No Child Left Behind Act” 2001 (NCLB) that was set in place in Texas and in every school in the United States, public schools are now held accountable for the progress and learning of every child enrolled in that school. A standardized test issued by Texas in Texas schools, now determines if the entire district is meeting required elements in order to continue receiving funding and accreditation to continue offering education in that district. The testing has brought forth unethical practices by school administrators, which are cooking the books in order to make the district appear that they are performing at peak levels. Not only are there unethical practices among the administrators, but the test is standardized across

Standardized tests do not always give reliable feedback to the school, student or teacher. For example, a student who has test anxiety may not perform well on a high stakes test even though he or she knows the information. Some students just do not test