Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing

If one student is financially stable and can afford to take classes for that specific test, then he/she has the opportunity to achieve a higher score. Although, if a student doesn’t have the financial abilities to pay for classes then he/she will end up not learning the test taking skills that standardized testing teachers are specifically paid to teach. Because a student has money to take classes, it doesn’t really show his/her true capabilities. However, on record it doesn’t show if a student was able to take specific classes.” Students from low-income and minority-group backgrounds, English language learners, and students with disabilities, are more likely to be denied diplomas, retained in grade, placed in a lower track, or unnecessarily put in remedial education programs.” (Schaeffer) These are the effects of having standardized testing that doesn’t accurately measure a student’s

Standardized testing has been used in the United States for years while its role in education has expanded by the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001. Standardized testing was created to promote equality within the education system; to treat and teach all students the same. The use of this test was also meant to measure the students ' progress in math and reading, as well as to determine a student promotion to the next grade; but at what cost? Preparation for standardized tests is almost twenty-four-seven, every year from third grade to eighth grade. The preparation that takes up valuable learning time in school. The preparation that is a waste to the students ' future in college and life beyond school. Standardized testing seems to demand so much from schools; not to mention its impending threat on schools to label them with bad reputations or closing them down. With such a threat breathing down the necks of the school 's encouragement to cut quality education to meet the standards to ‘survive ' is tempting. Teachers would teach primary to the favor of the test and, if given the opportunity, schools would scandalously claim and put their low-scoring students in special education programs to exempt them from taking the test. Standardized testing is damaging our biggest number one priority; which is our education, an important factor that strongly impacts the children of our future!

Moreover, the debate of Standardized Tests has been an ongoing dilemma yet nothing has happened to put an end to it. State sanctioned tests have been a piece of American schooling since the mid-1800s. These tests were implemented strictly after 2002's No Child Left Behind Act. Which ordered yearly testing in each of the 50 states. US undergraduates dropped from “18 on the planet in math in 2000 to 31st spot in 2009” (ProCon) with an equivalent decrease in science and no change in literature. Many other countries that do better than us in terms of reading, science and mathematics rate have shunned Standardized testing. With that said, Standardized tests are not only not effective but they are hindering student’s growth academically. A graph from the New York Times illustrates another surprising yet very true predicament. The correlation between SAT scores and family incomes were shown to conclude that families with greater incomes test better in both writing, reading and mathematics. This is because wealthier families can afford the best tutors and superior prep for Standardized tests. By weakening the value weight that these test hold, students, no matter their families’ socio economy

Some people believe that standardized testing is necessary for students to take in school. First off, some people say that standardized testing gives the schools systems a lot of information with little cost. According to “The Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education In America”, “standardized tests cost less than 0.1% of K-12 education spending, totaling $5.81 per student cost per year”, (as cited C. Hoxby, S. Bommer & D. Bommer 2002). Due to standardized testing not costing much education boards across the United States think it is a great idea to get information from how each school is performing against others schools in America. The school boards say that with the money they save by giving one big test they can give some to each of the top scoring schools to help pay for new resources for their students. Also, people say that the stricter standards prepare students for college. According to “The Use of Standardized Test Improving Education In America”, “ in January 1998, Public Agenda found that 66% of college professors said ‘elementary and high schools expect students to learn too little.’ But, by March 2002, after a surge in testing and passing of NCLB, that figure dropped to 47% “in direct support of higher expectations, strengthened standards and

Colleges have long since used the SAT as a deciding factor of whether or not a student

At the end of every school year comes testing season, these standardized tests have caused a great debate of whether or not they should be removed. For about 9 months students are graded by many different techniques and test and they earn those quarterly grades, then they take the test and are in fear of failing the class. The article Examining the Pros and Cons of standardized Testing by Derrick Meador he talks about the benefits of these test, he also adds the cons of them towards the end of his writing. I disagree with his writing because tests such as sats, acts, the eoc, and for Florida the Fsa, are test based on what you should know but you have already proved that with your grades. I believe these test are hurting students who are bad test takers, it's stressful for both students and the teachers, and the test bring on too much at one time.

Standardized tests immensely aid teachers and schools because they “provide a lot of useful information at low cost, and consume little class time.” (Is the Use). Instead of investing a lot of money and time on observing each student, to make assumptions that may not be accurate, these educational tests, especially those on an elementary school level, can flag students who may need additional attention. Students who may need to be held back a year, those with reading impediments, gifted children, and much more. These flags do not make these decisions, but rather indicate to educators that these children exhibit these and need to be examined further in case they may need things like an individualized education program or a special class. A large part of the debate against standardized testing is that some believe these tests are not fair to students with emotional, psychological, or physical disabilities and that they are at a disadvantage. However, this is simply not true in today’s time. Almost every test, including the SAT, accommodates for these disabilities appropriately (Students). This may have been true in the past, but with things like the Americans with Disabilities Act and increased awareness, it is just that: a thing of the

It is hard to test a student on what they truly know based on standardized tests. People learn in many different ways; standardizing curriculum and classrooms puts people at a disadvantage who may learn better in a different way. Test anxiety is also factor that plays a prominent role in the outcome of test scores. Standardized tests discriminate against people who lack test taking abilities. A student can know the information, but be a bad test taker; they will appear to be less of a scolar than someone who is very good at test taking and it is not from lack of effort. Standardized test are use largely when it comes to applying for college. Colleges determine the acceptance of a student into their school based on their grades (the performance of students in the determined curriculum) and their test scores (large standardized test with a narrow view of student skill sets). Students who struggle with standardization are left to either learn how to thrive in this learning environment or to fail and fall to standardized tests; this can interfere with their futures. Standardization determines whether someone passes or fails and it is an insufficient measure of student

Standardized tests are unfair and discriminatory against non English speakers and students with special needs. English language

Standardized testing is unfair testing to students of different races. One thing that research has proven is the issue of how we use these tests, and not the kids who take them. If you really think about the history of standardized testing, you will see this for yourself. Columbia University’s Professor Nicholas Lemann’s research has revealed that in the past, one test administered known as, “The Big Test: The History of America’s Meritocracy, “ was first developed in the 1940s as a way to reject Jewish students from Ivy League colleges. This right here is verification that these standardized tests are not being used for educational purposes. This is just exhibiting that people were using this particular test to exclude students of a certain religion to specified schools. Also, in Virginia, one statistic shows that 68% of white students, 82% of Asians, and 45% of black students must pass the standardized tests in order to get federal funds for schooling. What exactly are they trying to get across here? This seems that they are attempting to expose that students of different races are smarter than others, so the state changes what they receive out of the test. In this case, it’s what funding they receive just based

Standardized tests may not be sufficient to determine whether a student should be admitted to a college or university or not. Having a bad day on the exam day or being responsible from irrelevant subject may result in failing the test. Moreover, those test cannot assess personal strengths and skills.

Will, I think you are right we overlook a lot of the systematic faults that may be contributing to difficulties students are experiencing in an everyday basis. The deficits in the system could rather lead us to think it may be the students’ problem rather than the whole environment of learning itself. The students could farther get the idea it is rather their fault, and their self-efficacy could be effected by this. It put it in perspective for me when you mentioned the thoughts that might go through the students head every time they take a test. It reminded of a quote by Einstein “Everybody is a Genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a Tree, It will live its whole life believing that it is stupid”

Standardized Testing is a regulation of rigorous dialogue and debate. Both sides of this subject impose arguments based upon moral and financial justifications, and span from the local to national level of legislation. The policy of standardized testing as a means to identify schools who are lacking in successful educational processes neither harm school districts through unequal distribution of power, nor negatively affect students’ learning; rather, it benefits students, faculty, and districts by encouraging student success and aiding in improvements for school curriculums.

Noddings describes the main dilemma of standardized testing from a teacher’s point of view, “Today, even elementary teachers complain that the pressure to produce high test scores inhibits the work they regard as central to their mission: the development of caring and competent people” (Barrier-Ferreira). Because the risks have reached disproportionate levels, educators are often forced to forget all things that do not relate to the standardized tests and “consequently lose sight of what is important: the whole child, who is not simply composed of intellect but is emotional and spiritual as well” (Barrier-Ferreira).

Over many years, schools have been using standardized testing as a way of measuring student’s abilities and understanding of the material. The student is usually given a limited time to complete a scantron-based test which will later be used by the education system to determine the students’ success rate. The pressure and anxiety among students are increasing as the test is getting more complicated and getting more valued than student’s overall achievements. The education system is focusing more on the passing rate of the standardized test than focusing on encouraging the students to learn the materials while applying them in real life. Standardized testing in the K-12 school system should be removed so students can focus more on developing creative skills instead of stressing about marks and the financial disadvantage for less privileged students can be solved. With that, teachers can focus more teaching students real life lessons with the standard curriculum, instead of putting emphasis just on the standardized test.