Limiting Standardized Testing

Students take up to 112 standardized tests preschool to 12th grade. Students take too many standardized tests. People might think that students don’t take a lot of standardized tests but they do. I think that the government should change these tests. This essay is going to explain to the reader that the government should change standardized test because (1) students take too many of them,(2) they put stress on teachers, and(3) it takes up too much learning time.

Standardized tests can place a huge amount of stress on students and teachers. Some students do well with certain levels of stress, others not so much. A lot of students suffer from what is called test anxiety which hinders performance. Studies suggest that too much stress is psychologically and physically harmful. Stress is so overwhelming that the brain shifts into a “fight or flight” response. Which means that it is impossible to engage in a higher order thinking process that

Standardized testing is used throughout every grade in school today. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the use of standardized testing to access students’ progress. Many teachers feel that they must teach to the test and parents feel that their child is spending too much time testing and not enough time learning. According to a new study, preschools spend an average of 4.8 hours, third graders spend an average of 20.6 hours, eighth graders spend an average of 25.3 hours, and eleventh graders spend an average of 22.5 hours on testing (Layton, 2015). Although, some parents, teachers, and schools feel that standardized testing have a purpose and show the growth of their schools and classrooms, many parents and teachers are fighting to have standardized test limited or removed from schools, because they feel that standardized testing are becoming harmful to students.

The stress settled in once the word ‘testing’ echoed through the classroom. The students knew what it brought, and they knew how dreadful it would be; sitting in one room, hour after hour and day after day, silent and still, with only the sound of the clock resonating through their heads. Standardized tests are assessments that local and national governments may require their students to take. However, these tests do not properly evaluate their intellect, and only lead to tension and mental strain on a student’s attentiveness. Although many schools believe that these assessments are productive, it is proven that they are not beneficial to students because standardized testing leads to stress and anxiety, it is wasting valuable classroom time,

Students are overwhelmed with school, work, extra-curricular activities, family, etc. Perhaps standardized tests are a major contributor to students’ stress. A standardized test is any test scored in a consistent manner and requires test-takers to answer identical questions. Among the most common include the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT). According to the article “Standardized Testing Has Negatively Impacted Public Schools” from Opposing Viewpoints in Context, the beginnings of standardized tests occurred during World War I when the American Psychological Association developed a “ground-administered test” to eliminate inefficient recruits (Solley 3). Today, standardized tests are necessary for college admission. Just last month, in March of 2016, College Board, the non-profit organization responsible for administering the SAT, altered the format of the test. It is now formatted more similar to the ACT and includes an optional essay reducing the score from 2400 to 1600. Many advocates argue standardized tests accurately measure academic intelligence and hold teachers and schools accountable. In today’s society, standardized tests have become the norm, and unfortunately, people overlook their negative effects despite research substantiating arguments about their disadvantages. Standardized tests are disadvantageous because they hinder education and contain bias.

Alarming is an understatement when it comes to the anxiety and stress standardized testing brings. Students are told how vital these tests can be to college acceptance, class placement, and school ranking, so it is no surprise that they lead students to become stressed out and anxious about taking the assessments. According to education researcher Gregory J. Cizek, "illustrating how testing... produces gripping anxiety in even the brightest students, and makes young children vomit or cry, or both" (2). The affect standardized testing has on students is unacceptable, no students should be anxious and uneasy about going to school due to a test. To continue, the Sacramento Bee reported that "test-related jitters, especially among young students,

Students spend a lot of time stressing over standardized testing when they could be focusing their energy on more important academic and social activities that could benefit them in the future. Standardized testing are stressful for students for one that it is timed, students often times can not focus knowing that they have a certain amount of times to take this very important test. And if they start stressing out from not having enough time left then they are gonna start writing or bubbling in random answers and then that can cause them to do worst. Teachers are being told to “teach the test”,the teachers don't want to teach us the same basic things every year, but if they don't then students will be unsuccessful when it comes time to taking the exams. Which can lead to consequences ad problems for both the student and the teacher. Some of those consequences may include students being held back, teachers getting in trouble or possibly loosing their jobs because they have failed to meet the standards set and what people think students should learn and what type of material the teachers should teach.” Brain research suggests that too much stress is psychologically and physically harmful. And when stress becomes overwhelming, the brain shifts into a “fight or flight” response, where it is impossible to engage in the higher-order thinking processes that are necessary to respond correctly to the standardized test

Students can get so stressed out that they develop anxiety, cry, or even vomit because of these tests. According to ProCon.org, on Mar. 14, 2002, the Sacramento Bee reported that "test-related jitters, especially among young students, are so common that the Stanford-9 exam comes with instructions on what to do with a test booklet in case a student vomits on it" (Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?). This quote specifically shows that people are aware of how negatively these tests impact students’ lives. How could any student perform well on these tests that make them so anxious they vomit? Not only are students stressing over standardized tests, teachers also worry because sometimes their jobs are on the line. Depending on how well students perform on these tests, decides if teachers and schools get praised or punished. According to the Wall Street Journal, “Washington, D.C., Schools Chancellor Michelle Rhee fired 241 teachers Friday under a new evaluation system that holds teachers accountable for student test scores. She also put an additional 17% on notice that if they don't improve next year, they could lose their job” (Banchero). This evidence further portrays the idea that students are not only taking the tests to score high to better themselves, but they need to score

The first rationality I have is that the tests can cause unneeded stress among young children. The stress can be caused from teachers preparing for the tests, instead of teaching what the tests are examining the students about. This means that school corporations will make sure the test networks are working, wasting roughly an hour per class, this time could be rehearsing what the test is covering. Another reason stress can be caused is because some students don’t take tests seriously. The teachers are graded from their students so if some students are not taking the tests seriously the students who work diligently are given unfair work. In truth, this is why Standardized Tests cause stress in younger children.

The education researcher Gregory J. Cizek says that tests are causing major stress and anxiety to teens and even to the brightest students. Also, these tests are causing students to even do things as jurassic as throwing up on the test which has made teachers learn how to deal with the situation if someone were to projectile vomit on their test (Cizek 2). Also, all of the unnecessary stress that is put on the student’s impacts them tremendously. American students are on of the most tested children in the entire world! They take more than 100 million standardized tests every year, according to Teachers College at Columbia University in New York City. The results of these tests are taken seriously by educators, parents, and even local government officials, for they are shown as a measure of teacher and school progress and can affect a child's future placement in a schools system. All this pressure is not lost on children because even on the students who are very well prepared can be impacted greatly by the general anxiety surrounding the tests (Clovis 1). What makes standardized tests stressful? A major factor is the way by which they are tested at. They are rigidly timed, the instructions are complicated, and the rules are strict (Cizek 3). Although, testing is not too stressful. The US Department of Education stated: "Although

Standardized testing causes a lot of stress. Kids should not have to experience so much stress at such a young age. A little boy in third grade developed anxiety due to his school’s required standardized testing(Too Much Stress). Students are tested a lot. Those who have to take a standardized test take, on average, one test a month, but sometimes as frequently as two times a month(Too Many Tests). Tests can turn the most enthusiastic kids into sad, moody, and scared children. I’ve seen my own friends become practically a whole different person because of a huge test they had coming up. Parents were even noticing a change in personality in their

The country has adopted the norm to use standardized testing to measure student growth. The amount of tests given increase as the student goes in grade level. Depending on the county or region the school may edit these test taken. According to CBS News the average student by 12th grade has already took 112 mandatory exams administered by their school district. Standardized testing is used to determine the effectiveness of a school program or a measuring tool for student growth around the country. Standardized testing is not an accurate way to measure student growth in High Schools around the United States.

Testing is a common way to measure a student’s learning, where their strengths are and where they may need more help. Standardized testing in the United States has increased in the past decade becoming a normal part of schooling therefore students with test anxiety have increased. No Child Left Behind signed by President George Bush in 2001 states that it is mandatory for 3rd through 8th graders to take annual reading and math tests. The federal legislature believed that standardized testing would improve a student's motivation and raise achievement when they passed the No Child Left Behind Law. Assuming that with the rewards and repercussions that come wit the test will be motivate the students to do well and study.

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.

The public school system has changed drastically over the past 20 years. According to The Washington Post reporter Lyndsey Layton, she states that, “A typical student takes 112 mandated standardized tests between prekindergarten and 12th grade, a new Council of the Great City School study found.” For an average student in the United States, being tested that many times create two possible