Cons Of Standardized Testing

We shouldn’t have to take standardized tests because they don’t provide any feedback on how to perform better. The tests treat everyone who takes them feel identical, they don’t make you feel different. These tests make create a huge amount of stress on teachers and students. Most test takers can handle certain levels of stress but others can’t handle any amount. There should be other options that schools and colleges could use or get rid of the tests all

Did you know, out of 65 countries 29 did better at the standardized tests than the U.S? Some people support the use of standardized tests and some are against the. I think standardized tests are not a good idea because they overpopulate schools, only test students on part of a subject, and stresses students out.

When people think of the education system, most can say that there are some problems, though they might not be able to pinpoint what needs to change first. If you ask most teachers, they will say that the first thing that needs to be changed in the schooling system to help the students more is the standardized testing. They will say that while it can be helpful it has a lot of faults and needs to be updated or changed to help its students. Standardized testing has often been a topic for discussion, between parents and people in the schooling system. It seems that a lot of people either hate standardized testing for not giving every child a chance to succeed, or love it for being a fair way to test whether a child knows what they need to know at their age. There have been many articles, books, and documentary’s debating on whether or not standardized testing is doing more harm then good. There was a comic made that shows the brutality and bluntness of what standardized testing is really like. Standardized Testing causes too much stress by putting unfair expectations on teens and doesn’t give every single student the chance to succeed.

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

Since Middle School, I was not opposed to standardized testing. I thought of it as a way of testing us of what we have learned. Although, after reading some articles about standardized testing I am re-thinking the pros and cons. From personal experience, I thought of it as a challenge to pass them. But now that reminisce about it, I noticed some of the cons of standardized testing. I remember having a week or two dedicated for testing, and in case of students failing they had to take time to redo it. It would take a while for all the students to finish their tests. And after remembering how it was back in those times I was more on the opposed side.

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.

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.

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.

By World War I, standardized testing was a common practice in the United States. It started with the Chinese, filling out tests to determine job status among the workers. During the industrial revolution, children left the farms and land to sit behind a desk, which caused the need to test a large amount of children quickly. The most common and well-known in our society are the SAT and ACT, which became a common rite of passage into universities in our society. There are many different views on standardized testing, creating a rift in our society, whether it has positive or negative impacts on our educational community and futures of children in our country.

Many forms of standardized tests are in place. There are some for college admissions, for state regulations, along with a variety of other types. The one thing they all have in common is that they are not the best way to educate students, don’t accurately indicate anything about the knowledge of the test taker, and take time away from more principal learning. Most tests are administered during school hours and given too frequently. Therefore, students are forced to miss instruction time and sit through

Standardized testing has been a major debate for over sixteen years and is still going on in some districts all over the United States. The debate is over who agrees with having standard tests in their schools and who doesn’t, although it’s mostly parents and guardians rather than students who are debating this. There are many pro’s and con’s to having standard tests in schools such as the student is too stressed to be motivated to do their work properly or perhaps it could be because the student suffers from depression whereas on the other hand, teachers are being able to tell where a student is truly at in the course and can help them get back on track and understand what it is that they are learning.

You may wonder, Why do we have standardized tests? They were created so that the government could keep track of how schools were performing and they wanted to see how the money they gave the schools was being used. “In 1965, as part of the War on Poverty, the Johnson administration sent extra federal funding to low-income schools, and in return asked for data to make sure the money was making an impact.”(Rizga) “Standardized tests have been a part of American . education since the mid-1800s.” (Standardized) Standardized testing has been in our lives for over 150 years and it has been used to keep track of the education level of the citizens. “The modern testing movement began with the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), enacted

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 is a down fall to many students but also an opportunity for many others. Standardized testing has its pros and its cons. It can be the make it or break it factor into getting into colleges you are hoping to attend or the scholarships you want to earn. Some people may have their opinions about the test, whether they hate it or not but the fact is that it’s here to stay.