Against Standardized Testing Essay

My first reason standardized tests are not a good idea is that they overpopulate the schools. Texas takes 15 and Indiana takes 5. The tests take away time from learning more about a subject. Our country as a whole takes way to many standardized tests. standardized tests are overpopulating schools and not letting kids learn more parts of the subjects.

The satirical news site The Onion did a pro and con list of standardized testing which highlights it perfectly. Some of the pros are, “Every student measured against same narrow, irrelevant set of standards” and, “Western tradition of critical thinking best embodied in bubble-sheet format”. One of the funnier cons is, “There are easier ways to measure parents’ income” (The Onion). In a sad way, these have some truth behind them. Which shows how much of a joke standardized testing

Parents oppose the standardized tests because they can cause stress and anxiety to their children. Students disagree with many tests because it can cost them admission to a university, or passing to the next grade. Teachers oppose the tests because it takes too much time. They have to teach their students what is going to be on the test. Also, the schools and teachers lose funding depending on the results.

Would you like to take a test that is unfair, expensive, and unreliable? Chances are you already have. Standardized testing in schools is not only bad for the students, but also bad for our country’s future. Some might think standardized testing is a good thing, because it is the only way to measure all students the same across the country. However, this thought is wrong for many reasons.

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.

Some would argue that standardized tests test everybody on the same level and it shows how well the students are taught by the teachers. This is true but not everybody learns on the same level and some don’t take tests very well.

Standardized tests should not be required because of all the time preparing for it, could just be spent on teaching more on what the grade level requires. Students begin to receive extra help when it comes to the time preparing for these test, it just starts to get them unhappy and dislike school. Standardized tests should not be required because it an extra item in school that requires more time to be prepared for and does not relate to the school, so teachers are not permitted to help a student in need.

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 test are more reliable than just taking you regular classroom test that is graded by the teacher, which can change the grade accordingly. Another thing that could be argued as to how they are good is that, “93% of studies on student testing, including the use of large-scale and high-stakes standardized tests, found a ‘positive effect’ on student achievement.” This was according to Richard P. Phelps, a testing scholar. Standardized testing is also easier to collect data instead of having to go through and hand grade each test that is turned in by a student. When the test is just multiple choice a machine goes through and grades it and automatically puts the percentage correct on the test. After that all of the data goes into a database so that it is easier for the administration to look at the

According to the educators and parents, standardized testing, in its current form, is a bad idea for the following nine reasons — stakes are too high, test scores can’t accurately measure learning, teachers are “teaching to the test”, standardized testing eats up instruction time, high stakes have led to cheating and score manipulation, tests include cultural bias, poor timing keeps teachers from utilizing test results and the test anxiety impedes learning

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

In various ways, standardized test are beneficial from tracking students’ progress over the years to not allowing teachers emotions to get in the way of the testing process. Standardized testing sets expectations high for students and it does hold them accountable for the same standards, which may lead to achievement gains. By looking at the students’ performance they will be able to determine how well they retain information. Also the school is able to learn what their students are able to do and what they cannot do compared to other school districts, so they would be able to improve their education system. When giving more personal assessments, it is very possible “that the teacher or person assessing the student can let their emotions or biases affect how they score that student” (Young). In most cases, standardized tests are objective. There are wrong or right answers, and there is no room for feelings or emotions. Standardized testing gives teachers guidance to help them determine what to teach students and when to teach it. Tests are highly accountable and reliable as they judge the candidates on a common platform across states and nations. Standardized testing is “a simplified way of timeline management” (A Look at the Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing). Standardized testing gives parents a good idea of how their children are doing as compared to students across the country and

Standardized Testing has many cons compared to pros. The biggest con of all is the stress it puts on students and teachers alike. The stress it puts on teachers is that sometimes teacher’s teach according to the test because they want to

Teachers and students become very stressed out over these kinds of tests.A lot weighs heavily on the teacher because their career are on the line.Teachers are sometimes forced to spend more time teaching and preparing students to take these test instead of focusing on areas that need attention for growth to take place.It's a fact that there's a lot of instructional time loss due to preparing for these tests.Students become stressed out because they know they have to do well on these tests.This can easily cause students to lose confidence in themselves.Sometimes that may cause a form of negativity towards their ability to test well and they begin to view school different.They know a lot is being placed on this test.It's not fair to the students or teachers because some seem to think that the results reflects the teacher's ability to teach.