Arguments Against Standardized Testing Act

“There is something deeply hypocritical in a society that holds an inner-city child only eight years old "accountable" for her performance on a high-stakes standardized exam but does not hold the high officials of our government accountable for robbing her of what they gave their own kids six or seven years before,” quote Jonathan Kozol. As this quote apptly states many children are often robbed of simple childhood pleasures by standardized testing. These strenuous tests should be cut back to the absolute minimum. Standardized tests should not be required because they provide unnecessary stress, are often inaccurate because of computer and human error, and some students, particularly minorities, are at a clear disadvantage.

Many students throughout the American education system struggle due to the fact that they have to take a standardized test. But, this struggle differs for each student, some are too lazy to take them while others are having difficulty performing well on these tests. As a student who learned English as a second language, I could relate with the people who are having trouble performing well on standardized tests. When I was in high school there was nothing more frightening than Standardized tests. There was a lot of emphasize on these tests and they had the power to determine my future in the means of deciding which colleges I could attend. But, I wasn’t alone in this matter, not all students perform to their potential on Standardized tests. No matter how hard I tried to study for these tests, I was just not doing as well as my class mates. It made me feel like I was beneath all my other class mates and I thought they were intellectually superior. But, I met other like me who were not good at taking test and didn’t perform well on these

Although the blame cannot all be placed on the administration, the problem with standardized testing itself stems from government involvement. The introduction of the No Child Left Behind Act led to more and more standardized testing. The Act was issued in “an attempt to build an accountability system” (Cox). If every school in the nation was held to the same standard, the government would be able to dissect where students and schools are struggling and where they are succeeding. Ideally, every school would not only be held to the same standard, but every school would also be fulfilling the expectations set out. Unfortunately, with all the competition and hardships we naturally face as an economy and a society, it is difficult to envision an ideal situation becoming reality. If schools were scrutinized in more efficient ways, it's possible the gap between the highest and lowest schools would be smaller. However, the method the government uses to gather data is testing, and this has led to figures that are shocking. In the US “a typical student takes 112 mandated standardized tests between pre-kindergarten classes and 12th grade” (Layton). “The Assistant Secretary of Education in the first Bush administration, Diane Ravitch, became known for her push to establish national standards for K-12” (Erickson). She admits that test scores have become the end goal for politicians, and not actually teaching. She reveals “Test scores are not being used for diagnostic purposes but as a clumsy and myopic way to evaluate (and penalize) American schools, teachers, and students”

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.

In today’s day and age, the key to success is achieving a higher education after high school. The steps in which we take to graduate high school and attend college, where we will be furthering our education, is all about jumping through hoops. We spend 12 years of our lives in school— five years of elementary school, three years of middle school, and four years of high school. During these 12 years of school, we are subjected to many standardized tests to see if we are up to standards and to measure our achievements. Standardized testing doesn’t showcase every student’s potential or intelligence. Not all students test in the same ways, therefore they should not be treated as if they do. To help cater to students variances, the government should administer a new type of testing that varies upon the students abilities.

Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it’s stupid.” Recently, there has been discussion about whether the method of standardized testing is best for our education system. There are a lot of flaws that come with the system of testing. Opposers argue that with all of the flaws, the testing significantly holds American citizens back from greater potential to success. Standardized testing weakens America’s education system, because it can cause teachers to “teach to the test”, does not truly measure intelligence or abilities, and cannot always reflect what a student has learned.

Many of those who are in favor of standardized testing will argue that standardized does the except opposite from what was stated above. Standardized testing is useful in determining which students are intelligent and hard-working, who will go off to top colleges and have a good career. One view is that the tests have gotten better over the years, making it more reliable and accurate in measuring intelligence. They show how much the student has grown and whether or not they are performing as an average student should of a certain grade level (Education Post). It is also argued that standardized tests demonstrate whether or not the schools and teachers are capable of teaching/ if the school programs are working (Campbell). While the tests have

Standardized testing is a multi-billion dollar industry. “Following the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act on January 8, 2002, annual state spending on standardized tests rose from $423 million to $1.1 billion in 2008, according to the Pew Center on the States” (ProCon,1). It is 2015- So common sense should tell us that number is much higher now. These dollar amounts place burdens on national and state budgets. It even can have an effect on the budget of a school system budget itself. Test prep classes and books are available and as mentioned before, “naturally affluent families, schools, and districts are better able to afford such products” (Kohn, 2). “The billion dollar industry is notorious for making costly and time consuming scoring errors” (ProCon, 3). Tests are often challenged by superintendents for accuracy and have to be regarded. These errors cost money. Money should be spent on something more efficient than just standardized tests. It should be invested in projects and programs that prepare students for real-world tasks-something we would all agree is

Joseph Joubert, a wise French writer, once stated, “It is better to debate a question without settling it than to settle a question without debate.” Although this was stated years ago, his wise words are still relevant today. Standardized testing is just one of the many topics causing great controversy among society. The reason behind this uproar is due to the contradicting opinions of government officials, school district administrators, teachers, parents, and students. Each group has different opinions they are passionate about, however the central argument is whether or not standardized testing should continue to be used as an evaluation tool.

As a graduate student in a doctoral program, I have a fair share of standardized testing experience. Never have I been exceptionally great on standardized tests but have always willed myself to reach whatever benchmark I was challenged to accomplish. Coming from a home where Spanish was the first language and my parents barely had more than a middle-school level education, I had to discover ways to overcome academic and testing difficulties. Statistically, it is well documented that many of our country’s diverse learners have trouble positively representing themselves on standardized tests for a plethora of reasons; I can attest to this from first hand experience. From language barriers that cause deficiencies in vocabulary development to deficient levels of formal education in the homes, the barriers often compound to enormous heights for children from low-socioeconomic statuses and/or those where English is a second language within the home. Regardless of these facts, testing will continuously remain to be an accountability system that is vital in education. Although, in education we often fall short by using tests and data as the ultimate answer when it can be used for so much more. Through technology and assessment, the ability to pinpoint every single deficiency that student’s have is completely possible. Rather than using testing as the answer, educators must become better at understanding how to use testing as a tool. Furthermore, when stronger testing platforms and protocols can be created and implemented, the more our educational

For over 150 years students in the United States have been given the standardized test. Flip Today, standardized testing in our nation’s schools has become the normal for …placement…etc for students in grades three through eight in all fifty states. In twelve of the fifty states standardized testing is required to graduate high school. Graduation qualifying exams are used in 12 of the 50 states. ***Standardized test measures a student’s academic a standardized test measures or standardized tests measure…progress. Many argue these standardized tests take away valuable time and resources from what students should be learning in the classroom, as well as funding the school receives, standardized testing is very costly with the test manufactures having control of the test. Teachers have been known to report the results of the standardized test do not come back until the summer as most tests are administered later in the school year so teachers have time to prepare the students for the test, once teacher receive the results they are on summer break and are preparing for a new group of students. Other teachers state there is no feedback about the student's scores so there is no feedback on what needs to be improved from the teacher's point. Studies show that many students have test anxiety, more so in students with disabilities, with

In most of the countries students are expected to take standardized exams before completing their high school education. In America, students take ACT, a standardized exam which measures students’ ability to move forward for college. They generally tests students on their knowledge in English, Math, and Science. Each section has its own points, and the overall score is the average score of all sections. But are standardized exams really standardized? And can it measure every student’s ability correctly? I argue that standardized exams are not really standardized and it is not fair to every student who is taking these tests. The main reasons which make standardized tests unstandardized and unfair are the improper distribution of content, purely

Although the aforementioned statement is specifically about social studies, analogous comparisons can be made regarding the significance of the other subjects. For instance, the disregard of science in school standardized tests may detract from a student’s sense of curiosity or awareness and ability to discover new information. Correspondingly, neglecting the artistic portion of school testing could take away from student creativity, inventive thinking, and cultural awareness (Bryant). In other words, when standardized tests overlook supplementary areas of knowledge, it narrows the focus on the specific subjects or contents that are covered and consequently limits the test taker’s potential gain in individual understanding. Anya Kamenetz,

Standardized tests are bad for teachers and students alike, and affect many aspects of their lives negatively. For example, many teachers’ jobs can depend on their student’s scores on a standardized test, and so they “teach to the test” rather than ensuring that their students have a good understanding of the entire topic. The tests fail to measure student’s overall growth, and only determine each student’s proficiency at the time of testing. The large amount of stress that is placed on students and teachers by these tests negatively affects their mental and emotional health. Finally, standardized tests create disadvantages to those who do poorly on them, and these disadvantages can affect the rest of their futures.

I’ve always thought that the statewide and national testing system would be a lot better, if there were some flexibility. If only there were some kind of way to let teachers assess students’ learning, or remove all but the most important tests. Oh wait, there is. Many countries already have such systems, and these are some of the countries that the United States most admires in international education comparisons. Advocates of the current standardized testing system argue that standardized testing is good because it essentially gives a