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Standardized Testing And Standardized Testing

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If someone asked you “how do you define student achievement?”, what would your answer be? Would you say student achievement is best measured by state assessments? Or would you say that student achievement is too complex a subject to be objectively measured? From a National Education Association survey in 2015, seventy percent out of 1500 members do not believe state assessments are developmentally appropriate for students (nea Today). State assessments, most commonly known as standardized testing, have the same questions, same answers, and have to be done within the same amount of time by all students. Standardized testing ranges from driving tests to the SATs. In our society, standardized testing is important because they are designed to …show more content…

This act led to the decrease of the federal government's role in the education system and gave the states more power on school laws and accountability. Under the umbrella of standardized testing, there are high-stakes tests. High-stakes tests are tests that have consequences if a student does not meet the required the scores. For example, a student who doesn’t obtain a high score on the SAT is most likely not able to get into certain universities. This causes students anxiety before testing. Also, when schools get rewarded for their performances on these tests, it encourages teachers to “teach the test” instead of teaching students with genuineness. Standardized testing has become a controversial subject in the United States.
One reason why standardized testing should not be used to measure students’ educational abilities is that it does not accurately reflect what students have learned in the classroom. Every student in a classroom has their own way of learning, thus they are not on the same learning level. It might take one student to slowly understand a topic in class, while the other picks up the concepts right away. Standardized tests are usually in a multiple choice format; having quick answers to superficial questions. The pressure of needing a high score on these tests leaves the student to become stressed. This results to them not performing as well and can affect their scores, positively or negatively. There are students who get good grades in class

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