Parents and professors speculate why children no longer display excitement and ambition for learning. Most share the common goal of educating the youth to take on the “rights and responsibilities of citizens” (Ravitch 109). Unfortunately, educational requirements have strayed from the original purpose and began to aim their attention toward the “importance” of standardized testing. As a current high school senior, my experience has been that students are branded by their grades and test scores as if they determine who we are as a person. Diane Ravitch’s “The Essentials of A Good Education”, successfully critiques the extensive use of standardized testing in order to pursue change in our education systems and prove that focusing on test scores corrupts a child’s inner creativity.
Standardized testing has diminished the true intention of schooling, for it “deliberately orchestrate[s] [an] assault on public education” (Ravitch 106). In an ideal world, students would look forward to receiving a diverse education; however, the current craze on standardized testing does not allow anything close to learning diversities. During a budget cut, a school’s first thought is to reduce “the non tested subject[s]”, which means everything besides math and reading (Ravitch 106). State required tests target the mathematic and reading subjects intensely; therefore, why should one teach anything else? “[F]ederal policies value only test scores”, hence the enthusiasm of schooling institutions
Standardized tests are unnecessary because they are excruciating to the minds of many innocent students. Each year, the tests get tougher and stricter until the students cannot process their own thoughts. The tests become torturous to the minds of those only starting in the world of tests. The students already battling in the war are continuing to fall deeper and deeper into the world of uncreativity and narrowness. As the walls narrow in on them, they are lost and unable to become innovative thinkers. Moreover, the implementation of standardized tests into the public school systems of the United States of America has controversially raised two different views –the proponents versus the opponents in the battle of the effectiveness of
In the article “Essentials of Good Education” by Diane Ravitch, she discusses theories around the subject of the education system in the United States. Throughout this essay, it rejects the idea of standardized testing. This meaning that kids are not being taught fully what they need to be taught. It also presents the issue of the perceptions of students in the system by legislatures.
Being a present senior in highschool, I have often found myself wondering about the importance of the universally dreaded “standardized tests” which all students are forced to take. For many these standardized tests, such as the SAT and ACT for example, were, or will be taken in one’s junior year of high school. Prior to these tests, countless amounts of preparation is forced upon students, limiting their abilities for educational diversity. Many education professionals are just as skeptical of this aspect of education in today’s society. Educational expert and highly credited author Diane Ravitch in her essay, “The Essentials of a Good Education,” directly addresses this idea, discussing not only the idea that these problems do in fact exist, but also suggesting that a change is imperative. Ravitch claims that education has become too solely focused on these test scores, which is creating a sort of robotic routine for all students. Throughout her essay, she utilizes many appeals to facts and statistics, accountability and emotion, and credibility, along with a strongly developed tone throughout in order to provide support for her claim which helps to prove the present state of our education system is not doing an adequate job in preparing students for the real world.
Recently, arguments have arisen over the issue of standardized testing. It doesn’t matter whether we are talking about the ACT, OGT, semester exams given by the district, or the recent implementation of PARCC tests, all are standardized tests that almost all Ohio students will encounter in their schooling career. In Aaron Churchill’s “Bless the tests: Three reasons for standardized testing,” Churchill gives his reasoning on why standardized tests are beneficial even past the assessment of students, teachers, schools, and districts. He argues, among other things, that the tests give parents a good comparison of their students to other students, hold schools accountable for student academic growth, and close the gap between different grading practices in schools. These assertions, along with the rest of the essay, are invalid.
In every school throughout the nation, students all have different interests; whether that be writing, math, acting, or drawing, each child is entitled to expressing their own interests in their own ways. In modern society, however, many schools are cutting back on subjects that are not tested including the arts, history, literature, government, and others. The author of “The Essentials of a Good Education,” Diane Ravitch, believes that there is more to education than testing students and labeling them based on scores. She thinks that making cuts in areas outside of mathematics and reading is a mistake and will be detrimental to society in the long run. Even though the purpose of “No Child Left Behind” was to make sure each child had a fair opportunity to be proficient in certain areas, Ravitch’s writing, “The Essentials of a Good Education” questions whether it has caused an unequal opportunity for children to learn and have a well-balanced, rich curriculum.
In the excerpt “Essential of a Good Education” written by Diane Ravitch, affluent parents expect schools to give their children the best education they could possibly receive, including all subject areas not just the “basic ones”, in addition to extracurricular classes and activities. They demand that the schools become more diverse, providing the students with the newest technology and facilities and to revoke standardized test. According to the excerpt affluent parents believe that if their children do not receive the finest curriculum then they will not have the opportunity to become successful. Coming from a public school, these features were indeed implemented; however, lacked importance. Although, the classes were available to take there
The use of standardized examinations have long been debated in American society. In fact, the last several years have seen an immense shift from the prioritization of standardized testing to more holistic measurements of student achievement. Despite this shift, many school districts across the nation and college/university entrance requirements still place a significant, if not pivotal, emphasis on test-taking and standardized exam results. Throughout this paper, I will explore 1) the history of standardized testing, 2) arguments for and against its practice, as well as 3) situate the consequences of its use in one of the three philosophical goals of schooling. All of this will subsequently paint an investigation into the purpose of schooling in American society.
Welner (2014) states that “standardized assessments are linked to curriculum standards and performance standards and tied to specified consequences” (p. 39). Welner discuses that the standard-based testing in American schools are a mess and need to be untangled because of the consequences of underperformance. Schools are defunded, teachers and principals are laid off, and schools are marked as ‘failing’. There needs to be a reform in schools that need academic improvement and the way to figure out which schools need development is by testing the students. Jones & King and McLaughlin & Overturf provide different feedback on standard-based testing. According to McLaughlin & Overturf (2012), “Using formative assessments is not only an effective way to monitor student progress, but also a viable way to glean information for planning future instructions” (p.157). In order for teachers to know if their lessons are effective or not, teachers give standard-based tests and assessments to their students. Without tests, student progress cannot be tracked in a concise manner. Jones & King (2012) agree that by building new assessments and curricula, American schools are redefining success (p.37). That success can also come at a price when dealing with more rigorous standards that are new to the
To many students standardized testing has become another part of schooling that is dreaded. Standardized testing has been a part of school since the nineteen-thirties; in those days it was used as a way to measure students that had special needs. Since the time that standardized test have been in American schools there has been many programs that have placed an importance on the idea of standardized testing such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Evans 1). Over the years the importance of standardized testing has increased tremendously and so has the stakes, not only for teachers but also students. All states in the United States of America have state test in order to measure how much students learn, and help tell how well the
Standardized testing has become a multi-million dollar business that has shown no substantial progress on the public school system across the nation. Our students and schools are being robbed of expressing creativity and critical thinking skills while major corporations are gaining more and more financial stability. Since the implementation of the harsh testing guidelines, it has forced
In this day and age-standardized tests have become the sole way of testing kids, and it's affecting our educational system and schools. As stated by Education Week, an American education news site, every state requires some sort of standardized test that students must take. Our nation is no longer just looking at how kids learn and grow to see if they are achieving. They are measuring this achievement or competency through a test. Additionally, according to the Washington Post,”The average student in America’s big-city public schools takes some 112 mandatory standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and the end of 12th grade” (Valerie Strauss). As important as standardized tests have become, the question begs again, “Which school provides students with the skills needed to learn and perform on these tests”. While both year-round and public schools benefit its students, year-round schools focus on student retention, while public schools focus more on standardized tests.
Standardized tests are a requirement for students to pass in order to graduate high school and attend college. The hope behind standardized tests is that they cover a number of rudimentary concepts and processes, and reflect what students have learned in their classes under a strict evaluation scale. However, in reality, standardized testing is offering very finite and ineffective learning skills, which don’t prepare students for college. The result: high dropout rates and high remedial enrollment in colleges. These tests aren’t effective enough for students entering college, and consequently, have a negative impact on learning. Although standardized testing is woven into public schools, the tests do not demonstrate a student’s true learning, do not prepare them for college, and are racially biased. The content of these exams needs to be changed so that they cover important subject material, such as reading, writing, and mathematics, in a proper manner that is geared to level students with college curriculum. This way, students can truly be ready for college, the dropout rate can lower exponentially, and students can ensure success in college to make an impression in the most crucial years of their education.
What once began as a simple test administered to students yearly to measure understanding of a particular subject has, as Kohn (2000) has stated, “Mutated, like a creature in one of those old horror movies, to the point that it now threatens to swallow our schools whole” (p.1). Today’s students are tested to an extent that is unparalleled in not only the history of our schools, but to the rest of the world as well. Step into any public school classroom across the United States and it will seem as if standardized testing has taken over the curriculum. Day after day teachers stress the importance of being prepared for the upcoming test. Schools spend millions of dollars purchasing the best test preparation materials, sometimes comes at the cost of other important material. Although test
Currently, instructors are pressured by state education department to adjust school curricula to meet the expectations of the standardized test. Educators alter the curriculum to “match the [standardized] test” (“How Standardized”). Therefore, instructors are limited and classroom instruction is focused around test preparation for the annual standardized test. Teachers are forced to abandon their creative lessons and “teach the test,” or concentrating only on the material that will be evaluated (“How Standardized”). This frequently involves taking multiple choice tests that are formatted identically to the standardized test and only memorizing facts, formulas, and items included only on the standardized tests (“How Standardized”). Even though test scores may improve, students are not learning how to think critically and perform better in other subjects that are not on the test (“How Standardized”). Instructional time is limited in the other subject areas such as science, social studies, music, and art. Instructors feel “handicapped” and plead to state officials abandon these standardized tests for the sake of the “quality of the instruction in American schools” (Zimmerman 206). School curricula are being modified only to prepare students for a single test, not for education the students need in the future.
“Our educational goal [is] the production of caring, competent, loving, lovable people” . The students found in the schools across the United State are the future of America. They are the doctors, teachers, business people, lawyers and many other roles, that will be out in the workforce in the years to come. What they learn in school will impact them immensely; it is the responsibility of a teacher to give students the best education in order to ensure the common good of the future. It is essential for students to not only learn content matter, but also the skills to enable them to participate in a democracy. Due to standardized testing, the emphasis of education has become on score and rankings rather than learning. A standardized test does not look at the whole student, the scores provided are on a very narrow aspect of education. In the classroom, there are countless ways for teachers to assess the student as a whole person not as just a score. Standardized tests scores should not be the sole criteria for determining a student’s academic achievement.