Standardized Testing And School System

A never-ending issue has loomed over the head of our nation-- education. According to the Institute of Education Sciences, 63.7% of American students are below proficient in reading and 65.7% in math. In order to improve educational standards and increase student achievement, Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act (also known as the Elementary and Secondary Education Act) in 2002. Designed to increase the role of the federal government in education, it holds schools accountable based on how students perform on standardized tests. Statistics show that the average student completes about 110-115 mandatory, standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and end of twelfth grade (an average of eight tests per year). Standardized testing utilizes

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.

Introduction: Standardized testing is used to hold schools accountable. The pressure to have students pass the STAAR test has negatively impacted education, because teachers to narrow curriculum in order to focus on material on the test. Standardized testing is causing the deterioration of a meaningful curriculum in the Texas Education System

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.

Many schools statewide are facing the contradictory topic of the exemption of standardized testing amongst their students. This format of assessing with American Education began in the middle 1800’s and grew when the NO Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandated testing in the US in 2002. These actions taken were said to mainly have been put in place to keep teachers and schools accountable for the assurance of those paying taxes and what government money is being spent on. Despite these comments, the vast majority of people would say that the proficiency level aligned with the state’s reading and math, find it to be an impossible goal to aim for. And throughout the course of time, multiple days in the school year have been eradicated with test

A new PDK/Gallup poll shows that most Americans oppose nationwide Common Core tests, and view other criteria such as engagement with classwork and feedback about school more important than performance in standardized testing in measuring the effectiveness of schools.

Junior year is often said to be the hardest year of high school. Homework gets harder, classes start to pile on, there’s more access to clubs and other extracurriculars. However, these things combined are not the reason that it is typically called the hardest. It is the stress and preparation that comes with taking a standardized test that year. Standardized tests are assessments of several specific skills of high school students, which will later be used in college. The two most common standardized tests in the U.S. are the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT). The standardized part means that when the general population takes this test, the score distribution should be a normal bell-shaped distribution with

Is education really as important as people make it to be? Standardized tests have been a problem to our education system and to help solve this issue, they should not be permitted. The state use standardized tests as a way to improve students and make a point. Standardized testing should not be permitted in High School because it is not helpful, causes anxiety and is a waste of the state’s money.

With the finding of such things as vaccines, surgical anesthetics, cell phones, and computers, the life of a modern American has been made relatively easy.With the introduction of entrepreneurs, new businesses, products, and ideas, American society relies upon “out of the box” thinking. Meanwhile, the education system does not. In the past decade, the amount of standardized testing has increased exponentially in America. The American education system has consequently experienced lowered testing scores, and negative outcomes in the classroom.

Over the many years, education in the United States has been a source of meaningful issues; including the fact of students learning adequately and mastering specific subjects and more importantly, the wonder if America is assembled for a better and bright future since school had been financed by the government. Since 2001, debating over the standardized tests in American education due to President Bush’s introduction of the No Child Left Behind Act has been a significant issue in the American education since the federal government provides money for educational purposes based on test scores and if educational institutions fail to meet the requirements of improvement. Consequently, schools will not be reinforced by funding; in other words, there is a link between the financial aid and educational goals. What I hope to prove to the audience is that funding should not be established

Standardized testing is used excessively in the United States to determine where a student should be placed. It determines what classes a student should take, how the school is scoring as a whole, and even provides information on how well a teacher is teaching the material. However, there seems to be a huge argument on whether this type of testing is actually beneficial. One controversial argument is that it only proves how well a student is able to memorize the material that they are given. These standardized tests are also interfering with other exams, like the AP tests, that students find more important for their future. There are situations where students will get anxiety just thinking about a test while others find it very easy. A better method to test a student’s abilities would be to use assessments where the teacher can see the areas that a student continuously struggles in so they can help the student improve their skills. Therefore, despite the over usage of standardized testing within our education system, the reality is that these tests don’t determine the efficiency of the system of education that schools use and doesn’t provide a helpful evaluation of the student.

According to Procon.org a nonpartisan, nonprofit, public charity aimed to provide professionally researched pro, con, and related information says “Standardized tests have been a part of the American Education System since the mid-1800s.” Tests have been a major part of the U.S. education system and it still is today. Since 2002 the use of standardized testing has increased by a great margin although the U.S. rankings in math and science dropped dramatically. In 2002 the U.S. Congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) which mandated annual testing in all 50 states. According to the Aspen Journal many tests like Colorado’s test, The Transitional Colorado Assessment Program (TCAP) verifies that a “student is learning what the teacher

Intelligence is not standard anymore. In fact, few schools truly understand how to effectively teach a variety of students the curriculum for their future careers. Therefore, to encompass every student’s needs, schools are obligated to prepare students to be ready for college and their careers. To receive funding, the state requires standardized tests to be implemented in the schools. Naive policy makers believe it is essential to prepare for an exponential amount of time for these tests; however, unbeknownst to these policy makers that the outcome of the students through this rigid system is not actually preparing students for their future; consequently, it just forces students to barely survive school without getting much benefits out of

Modern day schooling and its methods of assessing students are the issues presented in this paper. Schools today evaluate students mainly through standardized testing, which is not the right way to evaluate a person’s intellectual abilities and skills. Lisa Belkin, a senior columnist for the Huffington Post, believes that grades have taken prominence over the love of learning, which she thinks is the most important part of school because of the benefit that knowledge provides to a person in their lifetime. She also mentions the effect that grades have on the parent/child relationship, since grades become a goal for both of them and the pursuit of knowledge is left behind.

Most of today’s generation will say that they remember the standardized tests that they had to take almost yearly in high school. Some say it was nerve-racking and difficult. While others say that it is not as bad as it is made out to seem. Regardless mostly everyone that has went through all four years of high school has taken a standardized test. These tests are used in Schools to measure the increase or decrease in student’s academic growth. After the tests have been taken teachers and administration can see what they are doing right or wrong in specific areas of subjects. The scores on these tests also account for the amount of funding that the public schools will get for the following year. One major test that effects mostly everyone moving on to college after high school is the ACT or SAT exam. A good score on this exam could make a huge difference for your future. For example, if a student scores a 25 or above on the ACT then they are able to go to Triton College tuition free. Some colleges will not accept a student solely based on their ACT score. All standardized tests can cause both bad and good things for a student’s future or the way they are taught in years to come.