Failure Of Standardized Testing

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.

In my opinion, I mostly do bad on standardized tests because I either can not concentrate or I either do not get it. Sometimes the questions or problems can be also very confusing. I consider myself a bad test taker. I consider myself a bad test taker because when I find myself confused or not getting the problem or question I just make up what ever so I can move on to the next question/problem and not feel stressed anymore. I honestly have always been a bad test taker but not always. For example, on some tests I do very well but on other test I do very poorly. I do not really prepare myself for standardized tests because I either feel like I know it already or I get lazy. Sometimes its either because I know that I am going to do poorly on

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.

The first statewide education system was built in 1837 by Horace Mann. His beliefs behind creating a system through standardized testing was to create a purposeful lasting common-school movement for professional teachers to educate the youth in creating social efficacy, civic virtue, and character. Today, students repress the idea of tests and idolize these exams as simple memory tests instead of knowledge/skill based tests. The blame and pent up anger students rile with teachers about exams breaks the whole purpose of learning. Today, students look at tests and exams as a point-based competition. Whoever gets the highest score is presumably deemed the smartest in the class. Students might know nothing about the info and how to apply their knowledge to real life applications but

First, a classroom must have a strong focus of balance. “Balance is so very important in a classroom, when having to deal with different ability levels you must be able to challenge the advanced students and adjust activities for the lower level students, there must be a balance!” (Madigan) The idea of balance is crucial to each student’s success rate. If teachers are able to successfully do this, testing shouldn’t be necessary and can be used a lot less frequently. There is a time for tests, just in moderation.

The current uproar over standardized testing is being battled by cultural minorities who demand equality. “Cultural bias” refers to the idea that the differences between scores of racial and ethnic groups are caused by a bias towards the “American-born, English-speaking majority” of the US population. From the simple IQ test to the SAT, standardized testing has become an unfair predictor and artificial decision maker for this country’s minority, especially those newly immigrated. Economic and cultural biases leave for little opportunity for these examinees to perform well, partially because of the failure of the government to prepare and assimilate minority students.

According to Kxan News “Each year, thousands of Texas students don’t graduate high school because they can’t pass the required standardized tests.”(Prazan) These standardized tests are supposed to be used to show the level of academic improvement within each individual student. However, various students who may do well in school and pass all of their classes have ended up failing the state test, which can lead to them not graduating on time. The materials that make up these tests are not always relevant to what should be needed for a student to move on to the next grade in the first place, which is why they should not be the deciding factor on a student's academic future. Standardized tests are known to

In the commentary ‘The Value of Standardized Testing” (2013), Dr. Gail Gross, an educator specialized in curriculum and instruction, asserts that despite the influx of negative reviews, standardized testing has a positive impact on student performance, curriculum evaluation, and education integrity. Gross develops her implication by utilizing a three-pronged argumentative structure to analyze both the short term and long term advantages that standardized tests have on student growth, both individually and collectively. The author’s purpose is to persuade the readers to transform their opinions about the subject and emphasize the importance of these assessments on a student’s success in school in order to respond to and criticize an article

The way I take a standardized test is the night before i will study the subject that will be in the test so I can be prepared when I am testing. There will be some problems I struggle in when I am taking the test but I do my best to solve it out. I consider my self and good tester because because I am always about 60% prepare when I have to take a test. I feel like I have always been a good tester because I feel like I am always prepared to take a test I don't struggle as much when I am prepared. The way I prepare my self for a standardized test is I will ask the teacher to give me a few problems that will be on the test to keep on practicing until I feel prepared. The night before I will review a few problems that I think will help me out

The first time I was exposed to the term standardized testing was when I was in elementary school. I took my first standardized test in the third grade and little did I know that one test would be accompanied by more tests in years to come. At the time, the test I took went by the name of TCAP. All I remember from that year was being terrified on test day. Our administration and staff described this test as the most important test of our lives. I was terrified of taking that test because, in my mind, I had this idea that if I failed there would be consequences.

Standardized testing has been a part of the education system since its founding. However Standardized testing and exams should be replaced in favor of another form of assessment because exams fail to achieve their goals. Exams have proven to be stressful from students, adults and professors perspectives. Some say that the system fails to give all pupils fair shot and the students who are exceptionally intelligent who fail assessments “can lack initiative” (Tait, 12). Which states that those who do not have one single set of skills are set up for failure which is unfair to those learners. One student says that exams “Represent cramming, and bad study habits.” (Debate.org, 10). Because while many students do procrastinate and end up stressing double later. Many are never taught how to properly study or how to study in a way that helps them learn best.

Although this might be true, in fact, the distinct area has a different capacity of learning. In rural or slum area, people lack access of education as limited schools and teachers at the same time. The way they perceive the subject might be unusual to what other students in normal school learn it. Since they have limited educators, the process of education is also extremely different. For example, a class that supposedly filled up by 30 students, turn out to be more than 50. In this case, a standardized test cannot be applied to evaluate the knowledge of students since they have a limitation in comprehending all the subjects. The majority of poor people have a lower score compared to the wealthy people, which have an impact of the opportunity

As one test ends, both students and teachers begin to prepare for the next. Instead of seeking to gain knowledge and fuel curiosity about the world, scholars are more concerned about memorizing the definitions of vocabulary words likely to appear on the next examination. Throughout their years of education, many students have experienced the effects of over testing. A typical American student takes an average of 112 mandated standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade (Layton). America’s competitive desire to keep up with other countries academically has led to over testing, which narrows curriculum, creates a stressful environment for students and teachers, and decreases creativity. To combat this issue,

What if standardized tests were not used? How could we accurately measure someone's understanding of a subject? Think, your going into brain surgery and the surgeon is someone just out of highschool who has never demonstrated their understanding of the job because they have never taken a standardized test. This is what our world would look like without the useful tool of standardized testing. Standardized tests are a good measure of a student's understanding.