Disadvantages Of Standardized Testing

Currently, there are around 37 thousands schools in the United States. Each year, there are more than a million students that applying for college institutions (National Center for Educational Statistics). As an university admission office, it is often difficult to select students based on numbers and words that show up on their application without knowing the applicant. Since there are many factors and can impact a student’s high school experience and performance, it is unfair to be comparing every student in the United States with a same standard. In order to minimize these differences, standardized tests were invented along with the No Child Left Behind act in 2001 which enforced all students to participate. Ideally, standardized tests are objective and graded by computer. The test is expected to be evaluating all students with the same standards. While the educators and designers of the standardized tests focus on generating a test that allows them to compare all students fairly, they abandon the fact that all students’ resources and backgrounds are inevitably different. Assuming that all elements of an educational system serve to benefit students’ learnings, standardized testing is an inadequate method of evaluation due to its negative impact on students and teachers’ mindsets, inaccuracy in evaluation of students’ abilities, and the

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.

Standardized tests are completely unfair. In The Washington Post, Marion Brady argues this issue. She states that students that do not speak English or have special needs take the same tests as every other student. Also, non English speakers are taking these tests without mastering the language first. Special needs students

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.

Standardized testing has been ruling over the lives of students, making or breaking them in their education without fair judgement. Tests like the SAT and the ACT count for way too much when applying to colleges, which in turn limits the student 's capabilities to thrive in an environment that would benefit them. There are many problems within a standardized test that deems them to be unreliable as a true test of knowledge. Although designed to test groups of students on intelligence, standardized testing neglects to fairly acknowledge the abilities of each unique student which reflect their true capabilities.

For many years, standardized tests have been a pillar of college admissions. Students are persuaded to take the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT) because colleges believe the scores can predict an applicant’s academic success after high school. However, an increasing number of colleges have made reporting test scores optional due to inconsistencies with the tests, many of which have been emphasized by students. These inconsistencies and other problems with test distribution have led to increasing demands for standardized testing to be reformed or become optional in the admissions process. Standardized testing should be eliminated as a criterion for college applicants because the tests have made education less significant, have made scores vary among students with similar academic abilities, and have not contributed a noticeable improvement to children’s intelligence.

Many know the stressful feeling of having to take the ACT. The exam room fills slowly with worried faces and remains quiet until the test stars. Students grasp their pencils tightly, their palms sweating with the thought of their future at stake with this single test. In order to get into any college, an ACT or SAT score is required. These required scores for admission vary from school to school which can make it difficult for every student to attend their dream school. A single test will determine who can and cannot attend a certain college. With this system, it can deny students with potential in certain fields a place in a college because they might not test well. College admission should not be based on

The College Board and ACT nonprofit organizations, known for developing and administering the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT) assessment respectively, represents higher education’s widely accepted college readiness determinant for prospective students. These examinations empirically measure a student’s grasp of reading, writing, and mathematics – subjects taught every day in high school classrooms. As a result, they typically constitute a significant proportion of the total entrance requirements for prospective students to relevant institutions of higher learning and denote a serious endeavor unto itself. Students commonly take one or both of these examinations during their junior or senior year of high school as dictated by an institution’s administrative guidelines, although most colleges now allow either test as part of their proprietary admission formulas. And since it turns out there exists subtle differences in the tests themselves, students should review research concluding certain individuals may be better candidates for maximizing performance on one examination versus another.

Today's society holds, above all else, education as one of the most important elements of our nation. Countless hours are spent in Congress filling out government grants for education, new education reform bills, and every standardized test one could possibly imagine. However, with all this time being spent on the education of our nation's future, there is little that is actually being done to help students to achieve their maximum potential. Several key factors are limiting children and young adults across the map from excelling past anyones' wildest imagination. One of these is, as mentioned before, is standardized tests. Also, lack of emotional and mental outreach to students has caused, and will continue to cause, a flawed hole

Standardized testing has been a common tool used in schools for hundreds of years. However, since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed more emphasis has been placed on these test. There has been a new act passed since No Child Left Behind was passed and it is called Every Student Succeeds Act, also known as ESSA. This act did reevaluate standardize testing; however, many components stayed the same. The ESSA “ensures that vital information is provided to educators, families, students, and communities through annual statewide assessments that measure students' progress toward those high standards” (ESSA). The ESSA gave the states more control over their education system, but also required each state to submit their educational plans to ensure

More than a million high school students take the SAT and ACT, the two most nationally recognized college admission tests in the United States (Evans). The SAT started as a scholarship

Overall, standardized tests are being used to make educated decisions they should not make, causing stress on students and their teachers and ignoring differences in learning styles. As a result of decisions being based on one test score, students stress to do well on the test. Everyone does not comprehend the same information the same way or at the same pace. As an alternative there should be a test based on each child’s reading and comprehending skills, not the same test for every

In 2001 the No Child Left Behind Act was passed. The NCLB Act was and “act of congress that requires states to children’s basic skills to qualify for federal funding” (Colombo 106). One of the main goals of the NCLB Act is to “[achieve] equity in education opportunity” (Aydeniz). Since standardized testing provides equal academic opportunity to all students, “…the NCLB Act legislation requires that each state report [data] for the minority students, such as African-American students, English as Second Language Learners (ESL), students with disabilities and those that are coming from socioeconomically disadvantaged populations” (Aydeniz). On the outside this system seems fair, but when one is a participant in the testing it is noticed that the testing is more based on how well of a test taker someone is, rather than how smart an individual is. Also, there are ways one can almost ‘cheat’ the test, for example: preparation courses are offered for test like the ACT. The preparation course teaches individuals how to be a good test taker and provides tips on how to take test faster in a timed environment. Because the preparation courses tend to be pretty costly, not everyone is given the opportunity to take one; therefore, putting wealthier children at an advantage. A study was done on a group of science teachers and the research that was concluded was that

A very current and ongoing important issue happening within the education system is standardized testing. A standardized test is any examination that's administered and scored in a calculated, standard manner. There are two major kinds of standardized tests: aptitude tests and achievement tests. Standardized aptitude tests predict how well students might perform in some subsequent educational setting. The most common examples are the SAT’s and the ACT’s. The SAT and the ACT attempt to estimate how well high school students will perform in college. But standardized test scores are what citizens and school board members rely on when they evaluate a school's effectiveness. Nationally, five such tests are in use: California Achievement Tests,

What’s your ACT score? Students are branded with their ACT and SAT scores in society. Today’s education is heavily leaning on standardized tests. An average students takes over one hundred standardized tests in his or her school years. Standardized tests are used to measure and test the knowledge of students in a particular subject in a quick and easy way. These tests are also used to see the extend and skill of students for qualifications of certain colleges and scholarships. Some of these standardized tests include the ACT and the SAT. But do these test fully measure the strength of knowledge these students have practiced for their whole lives? Standardized testing does not allow students to fully and completely show their strength in education and instead results in breaking down students mentally and physically.