Homework And Standardized Testing In Schools

Standardized tests are largely unnecessary, ineffective, and overused. Despite the enormous monetary resources and hours that companies pour into the making of standardized tests, the unholistic pen and pencil approach of these tests tends to assess students' test-taking ability rather than their actual intelligence. All this new testing leaves less time for classroom learning than generations past. This time may seem negligible at first; however, it adds up considering the number of ACTs, SATs, graduation and annual state tests students take over their academic career. What little time left is sacrificed for busy work and teaching for the tests. Nevertheless, who can blame teachers when the results of standardized tests determine their job performance? The tests were mainly designed to showcase the efforts of teachers and schools to the state, and a reduction of standardized tests is integral to fixing our educational

Getting an education is the main goal for everyone, although it is easy to obtain there are some obstacles to it. One of the main obstacles students face at the beginning of their education is standardized tests. Schools have started to adopt this type of tests as their main way to evaluate students’ intelligence and teachers’ effectiveness to educate the students. The way students used to learn has changed, in order to get them ready for the tests they have to spend much of the school time preparing for it instead of learning something they can use in their future life. According to Bruce Jacobs in No Child Left Behind's Emphasis on 'Teaching to the Test' Undermines Quality Teaching, a 2007 study by the University of Maryland teachers were put in much pressure and had thoughts to teach the test […]. This shows that teachers have also been affected by standardized tests in a way they have more pressure to make students pass. Having teachers ‘teach the test’ means their way to educate has been corrupted. In most cases when teachers’ ability to educate has been changed leads them to practice methods not convenient for scholars. One of these methods is memorization, in Relying on High-Stakes Standardized Tests to Evaluate Schools and Teachers: A Bad Idea by Hani Morgan describes how students start to adapt to an “inferior type of learning, based on memorization and recall students gain when teachers

Primarily, the article titled, “Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?” it states, “The multiple-choice format used on standardized tests is an inadequate assessment tool. It encourages a simplistic way of thinking in which there are only right and wrong answers, which doesn't apply in real-world situations” (ProCon.org). There are numerous answers to the everyday simple problems that we, as humans, face. So, who is to say what answer is correct and what answer is not, when you have to read between the lines in a passage or article. Each student has a different point of view, and not always are they wrong. According to an article written by Thomas Armstrong it states, “Standardized tests don’t provide any feedback on how to perform better. The results aren’t even given back to the teachers and students until months later, and there are no instructions provided by test companies on how to improve these test scores” (edge.ascd.org). This exhibits how the test does not provide any feedback of particular instruction on how to improve, so why take a test when you cannot even reflect off of your right and wrong answers? Also, according to an article written by Susannah Cahalan, it states, “Researchers studied the efficacy of the blots finding that they were worse at predicting job performance or academic success than report cards or even a short questionnaire” (nypost.com). This study shows that standardized testing, and ‘blots’, do not predict occupations effectively for maturing students. School is finding out what you want to do with the rest of your life, and taking a test that does not correspond with helping you find out what paths you should begin to lead down is not practical. However, many critics belief that standardized testing does accurately test the students and their capabilities. So,

The No Child Left Behind act emerged as a result of a massive increase in the costs of schools, while failing to show an improvement in their students performances. (Paterson 32) Since these standardized test have been in effect teachers have been judged off them. The problem is that

We’re constantly told that the material we learn in class is subject to appear or be relevant to what will be on standardized testing. Our assignments and homework have similar questions to those you’d see on standardized tests. There have been some studies done that have concluded that this is true. The Washington Post wrote an article speaking about the correlation between homework and standardized testing. It said, “According to a study on the research, they did find a positive relationship between standardized test performance and the amount of time spent on homework.” Time spent on homework has a positive association with test scores. This is not completely true. In the article it also stated, “It doesn’t directly conclude that the homework actually affected the test scores...if students are spending more time on homework, they’re getting exposed to the types of questions and the procedures for answering questions that are not so different from standardized tests.” Homework doesn’t exactly help get better test scores, it allows you to be exposed to problems which are similar to ones you’d

“According to a review of testing research that has been conducted over the past century, over 90% of students have found that standardized tests have a positive effect on their achievement. Students feel better about their ability to comprehend and know subject materials that are presented on a standardized test. Even if a perfect score isn’t achieved, knowing where a student stands helps them be able to address learning deficits.”(12 Advantages and Disadvantages of Standardized Testing). This shows when students are pushed to their limits and they have been working hard in a certain subject they are prepared for test . Teachers in this situation are put to a test also (“Good teachers understand that test preparation drills and specific core instructions to “teach to a test “) . Teachers are put to the test by whether or not they can push students to their best ability to pass the exam. Students and teachers are given the same amount time to teach a specific subject and get judged off of it . This goes back to say all of the stress put on students and teachers is unacceptable because students and teachers should not be judged off of a test

Standardized testing has been practiced in schools across America since the mid-1800’s. Today, they are used to assess where a student is placed in their educational career. Standardized tests commonly test students in the subjects of math, reading, writing, and science. Colleges also partially base their admissions on standardized tests such as the SAT or ACT. According to the Pew Center on the States, annual state spending on standardized tests rose from $423 million to almost $1.1 billion in 2008. (standardizedtests.procon.org) With states spending this much money on these tests, many question how well they actually work. Students are essentially being judged on what they know on the spot, and to many that determines

It is evident that the author is directing his message at the faculty who believe teachers should be held accountable of their students’ scores, apparent when Zimmer stated, “many argue that they also place undue stress on teachers and students and encourage teachers to "teach the test”,” (Zimmer 1). Based upon the anti-testing diction the author upholds, one can predict the following, “while standardized tests do indeed hold teachers and school districts accountable, linking student performance on the tests to teacher salary and job stability can have drastic effects on the health and well-being of teachers and their students,” (Zimmer 6). Although some might agree that the testing does bring additional stress, the article fails to provide the opposing viewpoint. Without a varying argument, the reader is left with the single perspective that is clearly biased. Similar to source A, the author uses statistics that prove his point. He includes a statistic from the National Education Association (NEA) that states that, “nearly three out of four (72 percent) teachers felt moderate to extreme pressure from their school and administrators to improve their standardized test scores,” (Zimmer 5). By including this one sided quote, the author gets an upper hand in his argument. Yet, a critical reader can challenge this strategy. Without any conflicting information, the author is just listing certain sided information. By appealing by the persuasive language that depicts a cruel face on standardized testing with words like “unneeded” and “major” to describe a student's stress, the reader is receiving biased sum of information. The article is only effective to the extent where the reader realizes it's influenced writing. At that

There are many articles on how standardized tests do not accurately measure the quality of a student’s education. The majority of them summarize the pressure put of teachers to teach standardized tests, rather than to teach material that would correlate with and help students to understand the material on standardized tests.

Ask any student in the entire school, guaranteed you will get an answer that they dread standardized testing. Students think it's boring, pointless, and unfair; they are correct. The tests are very high-stake and if a student performs poorly, it could go onto their permanent record. These tests are not effective for measuring a students progress throughout the school year because they test every student the same, and not every student may thinks the same way. Standardized tests should not be used to evaluate student performance due to being ineffective, unfair, and overwhelming.

A new study by RAND Corp, in Santa Monica, California found that “between 50 percent and 80 percent of the improvement in a school's average test scores … was temporary and was caused by fluctuations that had nothing to do with long-term changes in learning or productivity”(Olson). This shows that a student’s performance on standardized tests is too inconsistent to accurately display an objective evaluation of their education. Also, as the scores change each year, the ability to evaluate the teacher becomes difficult. In a high school in New Mexico a teacher found that “Students raced to see who could finish the test first, not who could get the most correct answers. … Former high school juniors interviewed this week said many students blew off the tests after being told that the scores wouldn't count toward graduation— unlike the required 10th-grade competency test”(Contreras). This shows that students do not take standardized tests seriously when it does not affect them directly. So, it does accurately represent students or teacher’s academic achievement. Standardized testing is not a consistent way to evaluate a teacher’s ability as well as track a student’s

Since the implementation of standardized testing, tests have actually strayed from their original purpose which is to measure student achievement and success. There are many different viewpoints when it comes to defining standardized testing. In the article, “Standardized Tests Do Not Effectively Measure Student Achievement” they define achievement as, “more than just a score on a standardized test.” Basically, they argue that achievement is too complex to be measured and put into a score. Opponents of standardized testing argue that these tests are unable to

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.

According to Diane Ravitch, the author of The Death and Life of the Great American School System: How Testing and Choice are Undermining Education, after the No Child Left Behind Act passed, there began to be a lot more focus on teaching students how to be efficient test takers. In turn, knowledge has become second to test-taking skills (Ravitch 107). Edward Davis, the author of Lessons For Tomorrow, said “Kids are taught how to outsmart tests by recognizing trick multiple-choices” (Davis 95). There becomes more and more evidence proving how much curriculums at school are becoming centered around what will show up on the test (Ravitch 16). This causes students to learn only the basic facts and questions on the test rather than being encouraged to think and explore other ideas and concepts. Lynn Olson, author of Study Questions Reliability of Single Year's Test Score Gains, said in a study, “... 50 percent and 80 percent of the improvement in a school's average test scores from one year to the next was temporary and was caused by fluctuations that had nothing to do with long-term changes in learning or productivity” (Olson 9). This shows that according to the study, tests are not helping students overall to improve their knowledge and learning. The knowledge teachers put into

The debate on standardized tests and its adequacy in testing a student’s knowledge about a subject has been going on for many years. Tests, in general, has been around for centuries and without them there would not be progress and no gleams of progress. Students ranging from elementary school to high school have experienced standardized testing. Teachers, educators, and parents are also involved in the students’ lives, which revolves around the tests, one way or another. There are many views on standardized test. However, the three most common views are: educators who are for standardized test which benefits students, educators who are at the other extreme of opposing standardized tests, and educators who view tests are a benefit if done in appropriate amounts.