Arguments Against Standardized Testing

Parents, teachers, and students are all tired of standardized testing. It is the only thing that rushes to their minds when they think about school. Standardized tests are tests designed to have consistent questions, administration procedures,and scoring procedures that make it possible to compare the performance of an individual. Children in the U.S are tested the most in the world. They take too much time, they don't show true knowledge, and they force teachers to put more time into teaching to the tests and not for the real world.

“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.

The current uproar over standardized testing is being battled by cultural minorities who demand equality. “Cultural bias” refers to the idea that the differences between scores of racial and ethnic groups are caused by a bias towards the “American-born, English-speaking majority” of the US population. From the simple IQ test to the SAT, standardized testing has become an unfair predictor and artificial decision maker for this country’s minority, especially those newly immigrated. Economic and cultural biases leave for little opportunity for these examinees to perform well, partially because of the failure of the government to prepare and assimilate minority students.

But, a standardized test does not do either accurately. Studies conducted in the past decade have shown discrepancies in the evaluation of teachers. For example, in a September 2010 report made by the Annenberg Institute for School Reform, they tested the same students, teachers, subjects, during the same time of year, but used two different tests. Over 17% of Houston teachers that were ranked at the top of the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills reading tests were ranked among the lowest two categories on the Stanford Achievement Tests. Even with the top teachers, there are many different factors that contribute to a student’s performance on a standardized tests. And measuring a student’s achievement using tests given in only a small piece of the school year cannot give the whole picture of a student’s education. Also, out-of-school factors contribute greatly to a student’s performance, such as race, class, disabilities, and knowledge on the English language. In fact, researchers calculated that a teacher’s influence on student test scores ranges from 1% to 14%. Then, why are we still evaluating teachers using standardized tests? If standardized tests do not even do the job they were supposed to do, then it is not an effective way of improving the education of Americans

me people considers that Standardized Testing can’t sufficiently assess students’ potential. They describe that the tests restrict creativity, fail to give every student a fair chance, and are not able to comprehensively analyze a student’s future. Nevertheless, as a student of my generation, I can look around the circumstances and my fellow contemporaries, and find that Standardized Testing is the best way for now to assess a student’s potential. This point of view will be supported by the following paragraphs.

Competition is everywhere, whether it be survival among animals, winning a sports match, or getting admitted into the most prestigious university. Standardized test scores allow one individual to distinguish themself from another. In addition to serving as a benchmark of where one stands academically, many believe that these assessments can improve public education. Although standardized testing can benefit public education by minimizing the amounts of cheating and providing statistics on how individuals compare among each other, such assessments are flawed and ineffective since they are not as consistent as they claim, do not accurately measure one’s intelligence and capability, and do not intend to improve one’s ability.

Standardized testing, “an examination that's administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner” (Popham, “Why Standardized Tests Don't Measure Educational Quality“), has been around since approximately a century ago and is deemed as the ideal ‘calculator’ to determine the strengths and weaknesses in the education system in the United States of America. Although it is heavily flawed, the United States will not revoke this process or alter it because it has been deemed as a ‘set’ method in determining the level of education America has achieved. The method of standardized testing is problematic because it does not accurately measure

“The tests may not reveal everything about how much a student has learned” (Garland 1). People who are for standardized testing believe children learn more because of them. But this is not true, it just means they know how to take tests. Standardized tests were specifically made to judge what the students are learning in the classroom. Teachers tend to just teach what’s on the test and children do not get a chance to learn about other topics. The guidelines the tests have were made by professionals to improve the curriculum while raising student achievement (ProCon 2). This is why the tests were made but I don’t believe this is

The infamous standardized exam is a consistent tool used to measure all students on the same scale to get the most accurate results possible. The standardized tests have been becoming the number one thing that colleges look at when looking at an applicant’s form rather than the GPA like in the years before. The reason for this is because in modern day high school the GPA isn’t that accurate because now there are a variety of different courses you can take as well as teachers that are stricter than others affecting the “measuring stick” like in the standardized exams. These tests are also used to determine if a child has learned the basic skills and material to pass on to the next grade seen in grade school. An option presented by anti-standardized test associations are teacher made tests and assessments. The biggest problem with this is that “teacher graded assessments are inadequate alternatives to standardized tests because they are subjectively scored and unreliable.”(Procon) This is 100% true because a teacher can give their assessment to the students and have no idea what level they are at and the students are without a doubt going to fail the test. Standardized test are perfect because these tests are prepared by months and months of handouts around the tests. Therefore the students will have an idea what they are

There has been a debate regarding whether the use of standardized tests is improving education in America. Proponents say standardized tests provide a fair and objective measure of student achievement. On the other hand, opponents argue that the tests are neither fair nor objective, that the harms these tests cause outweigh the benefits. Though there are valid arguments on both sides of this issue, those who approve standardized tests as a reliable method of evaluation have a strong case for the following reasons:

Standardized tests are a reliable measure of student improvement and achievement. According to procon.org “Without them, policy makers would have to rely on tests scored by individual

Standardized testing is bad for students. Testing shouldn’t be a way for a child of any age to have their capability or intelligence measured, and frankly it’s very unfair. Many people feel pressure and stress from the testing process as well as many other issues which might arise from a vigorous system. Standardized testing should be cut from the American schooling system.

“Attaching high stakes to test results increases cheating and other efforts to boost scores without improving educational quality. This can be done by arranging for low-scoring students to be absent on test day or pushing them out of school.” ¹ Standardized testing is used in most schools, it is an easy way to make sure everyone has the same questions and grading system. It became very popular in 2001, when the “No Child Left Behind Act” was reauthorized, this requires third to eighth grade to be tested yearly in reading and math and once in high school. Some of these tests are now given on a computer and sent directly to the grading “center”, although you do not normally get answers back for several weeks to months. Most of the schools do

What are standardized tests? Standardized tests are exams that are administered, scored, and interpreted in the same way for all students. Now there are many pros and cons of standardized testing however, I believe that public and private schools should just abolish standardized testing all together. These tests determine a student’s academic performance and each student is given the same test with the same questions and answers. These tests are designed to measure the students learning capabilities and comprehension on certain subjects but not every student learns or reveals academic achievement in the same way. It is impossible to have a test that will accurately reflect every student's effort and knowledge. Tests alone are stressful

The Merriam-Webster Dictionary definition of standardized testing is a test (as of intelligence, achievement, or personality) whose reliability has been established by obtaining an average score of a significantly large number of individuals for use as a standard of comparison. Testing creates a limited scope of learning and success, only measuring specific areas like reading, writing, and math, rather than a full picture of children and how they learn, including creativity, collaboration skills, drive, social skills, etc. Standardized testing should be limited. Students should not have a test to determine if we get in to the school we want. It causes unnecessary stress on students and teachers. Some teachers will get paid an unfair amount if there students fail the test. Standardized tests also do not effectively measure a student’s achievements. Everyone learns differently so then why do we all take the same exact test. Students are denied a diploma if they don’t pass a test, regardless of grade point average or other evidence of scholarly achievement