Argument Against Standardized Testing

Throughout high school and college we will go through a vast amount of testing but why? Testing is used to show a person’s amount of knowledge on a particular subject. Usually it’s for one specific subject and not a majority of them, standardized tests administered in schools today include all testable subjects as in English, Math, Science, Writing, and Reading. However, before we can all take the next step and begin our college careers, we have to take one of two tests, the ACT or the SAT. These two exams demine the college you get into, the amount of scholarships you will receive, and even whether or not your will be accepted into said college, all determined by the score you receive.

In the world today standardized testing is mandatory in all schools whether they are public or private. If schools continue to make these test mandatory, students grades will show the reflection of what they are not learning. The school might also receive less state funding due to poor performance on these tests. Once No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was introduced US students slipped from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st in 2009 (Standardized). Standardized testing is not beneficial overall because it does not cater to all students, they do not cover real-life topics, and they are detrimental to students.

“When we began the map test I knew my students were gonna dread it, I myself dread it, and I am not even taking it. So I decided how about a reward for these kids, if you got above your past score you got 7 extra credit points for the test, which made a lot kids eager to get a good score. They went to sleep early, read before bed, and got a good meal beforehand, everything the test recommends the students to do before taking it. These kids fully ready to take it, mindset clear. When they got their scores back most were shocked because the did not score the same or higher, they got a lower score. All across the room I saw devastated faces because they wouldn’t receive their 7 extra points, and all their hard work was a complete waste. I decided to start an investigation so I called the test company and explained the situation and the only thing they told me was ‘well maybe they lied to you.’ this could not be true, 90% of these kids were A average students in an honors class.

It is true that standardized tests are being used to evaluate whether our schools are doing their jobs. Our schools prepare our students for life in the workforce and college. If we do take away standardized testing, it will seem as though we have no way to evaluate our schools by, but the fact is we already have a way. What is it that students are typically evaluated by? Their volunteer work? Their extracurricular activities? Their clubs? Students are typically evaluated by their grade point average. Scholarships, school rank, and colleges take GPA into account. Everything that is important to a high school student, scholarships, school rank, and college, is in some way determined by their GPA. Some corporations use GPA as a cut-off point

I agree that standardized testing is fair, because it is the only way of knowing what students are learning. I believe that standardized testing is the best way of knowing if students across the country are learning what is being taught to them, and how they are being taught. If, everywhere else, students are achieving at a certain level, and in one area they are not performing as well as the others, then it allows us to look at what needs to be corrected in that area.

Most kids might not ever believe that parents don't like test either.Some parents do not like standardized testing, they think that it is to much.The argument between standardized testing is getting hot.Some parents think that we should have standardized testing,but i personally think that we do need testing because the district needs to know if we are learning what we need to be learning or if we are learning anything at all,also to depict if we move on to our next grade also for us to know what we are learning ourselves.

It’s common knowledge that standardized testing has “taken over” America’s schools. A quick google search turns up thousands upon thousands of results, all of which spout similar rhetoric. But what about non-standardized testing; tests that are dictated by teachers in individual classrooms? On any given week, you could speak with just about any student at HPHS, and I have no doubt they’d be able to tell you about at least one upcoming assessment on their calendar. While tests are certainly necessary and even helpful, both to teachers and students, when administered constantly they begin to lose their effectiveness.

Microsoft founder Bill Gates, Nobel Prize winning Physicist Albert Einstein, former Vice President Dick Cheney, light bulb inventor Thomas Edison, Oscar winning director Steven Spielberg, creative genius Walt Disney, and Steve Jobs, the visionary behind Apple; these iconic figures are often associated with genius, but were viewed as “slow” or “dumb” during school. These individuals were expelled or dropouts of school, because they were not meeting standards. After years of failing in school, these people went on to revolutionize the world, while inspiring many others to make a difference.

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

The chart above posted by Zachary Goldfarb on the Washington Post further shows that if a student’s family is more affluent, that student is likely to do better. If standardized testing is going to test students as equals, then all the prep material should be made available for all students no matter what income level a student’s family is in.

As the years go by, there are many changes within our country’s educational system. However, standardized testing is still a requirement for students and must be eradicated once and for all. Now, of course there needs to be a bridge between grade levels. The answer is simply letting kids communicate their answers through creativity. The fear of shading in a instead of b would finally be over if students were able to show what they know in alternative ways. Whether it’s artistic or verbal, the outcomes would be more positive than negative. A solution that solves one of the many problems in the United States education system would have to be eliminating standardized testing because it would provide a more efficient learning environment by focusing on learning rather than testing, it allows more students to further their education, and it results in less pressure for everyone.

Education is saturated with standardized testing. Standardized testing is throughout your whole educational career, starting with the MAP test and ending with an ACT or SAT test. The curriculum in the classroom is molded to fit test taken by each student while teachers teach to the test. According to Council of Great City Schools, “as of 2016, the average student in America takes a staggering 112 mandatory standardized tests before graduating high school.” Standardized testing is defined as same test student take under similar conditions with criteria for multiple choice or short answer questions. College are examining on test score to decide student’s future in education. “Unfortunately we cannot accept you due to your lack of testing ability” is the last thing any college student wants to hear. High School students, who already have responsible for choosing a college, a career, and focussing on school work, have to focus on one more thing that should not even be factored to college, standardized test like the ACT or SAT. If you score high enough on the MAP test, you have opportunities to achieve in advanced classes in future classes that could help for college. If

Tenth grade students find the Pennsylvania standardized testing so unnecessary. This testing technique produces unpredictable results, which grants the Pennsylvania state, and other high schools to review and create their own observation when accessing these tests. The three standardized tests a student must get proficiency or above on is mathematics, biology, and English literature. High school teachers tell the majority of their students how their jobs depend on the results of their test. This often enables students to make certain that their teachers keep their teaching jobs. On the other hand, high school administrators tell the students that if they do not pass these tests, then they will not graduate on time. They make it seem like these

Since the 1980’s, US students have been falling well behind students in other industrialized nations in terms of knowledge and education. The US is losing its ability to create a quality education for the majority of its students. The government has attempted to combat this by introducing the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002, then replacing that with the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) in 2016. Nonetheless, these laws have failed in their attempts to improve education and have implemented rigorous amounts of testing rather than fixing the education system. They have created a flawed testing system, applied too harsh of punishments on under-performing schools, and harmed disadvantaged students. The fact that these problems exist is

Studies have shown that normal kids today have higher stress levels when compared to child psychiatric patients in 1950’s. This is hypothesized to be caused by the increasing emphasis put on standardized tests and using them in school, but what is a standardized test? A standardized test is any form of test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions in the same way, and that is scored in a ‘standard’ or consistent manner. While standardized tests are the most reliable way to measure a student's progress, they are still fairly inaccurate and can be detrimental to the student’s education