Standardized Testing Criteria

Standardized testing is known to improve students’ education, but is it really needed in school? Standardized testing determines whether a student is prepared for the next grade based on their test scores. While some students do great on their test others struggle a lot. Not all students are good test takers; majority of the students do good in school but struggle when it comes down to testing. While many agree that standardized testing helps improve students education, it shouldn’t be necessary in school because one test score shouldn’t determine a student’s readiness or academic level.

Standardized testing in the United States started in the mid- 1800’s (Standardized Tests - ProCon.org). This kind of testing was originally created to measure students’ performance and progress in school (Standardized Tests - ProCon.org). In recent years, the public school system has relied heavily on the information this test provides, in doing so creating controversy. Other than being a student myself, and participating in multiple standardized exams such as, CSAP, ACT, and SAT, I do not have much background knowledge on this debate. The debate over standardized testing has raised this inquiry question: What are the effects of standardized testing on the United States public education system?

[establish credibility] If you were like me, which I can see everyone here is, you were told to bring two number two pencils, an eraser, and go to your assigned classroom unless the test was taken as a class in the gymnasium.

Our group is interested in discovering if benefits exist from the two educational policies, “Every Student Succeeds Act” and the recent “No Child Left Behind Act”. Specifically, we want to know if standardized testing is the best way possible to determine if the federal government is providing high quality education to our nation. We know that standardized testing is a major component of both these policies, and we want to understand how standardized testing works within these policies. Furthermore, we want to discover if an alternate method to determine educational success exists within these certain educational policies.

Americans need education to do anything. Schools help involve people in education and learning at a young age. The government needed to scope out a way to make sure students learn in the class room. Eventually, they created annually measurement for students learning from grades 3rd-12th called standardized testing. In 2001, No Child Left Behind passed under President Bush was the starting point of standardized testing. The national test administered every year were meant to keep track of schools and the students. Recently, in the last decade standardized testing has not been doing its job. As americans we should take a stand for our school system. In America today, we have standardized testing supporters and non-supporters. Many other laws

The average high school student takes at least one standardized test each school year. Standardized tests are all scored the same way and test takers are given the same questions. The scores students receive play a big part in whether or not they will be accepted to the colleges they apply to. Standardized test scores are one of the most important things colleges look for when reviewing applications. Standardized tests could be successful, in theory. However, they have shown to be less accurate than hoped, to cause copious amounts of stress, and to have little to no correspondence with productive adult lives. Because of their ineffectiveness, colleges should place less importance in them when admitting new students.

Standardized testing is a method of assessment that public schools have too heavy a reliance on. In order to address disparities that arise when students from different racial and socioeconomic gather in schools that also differ in available resources and funding, the federal government has mandated that public schools teach under standards predetermined by the state. From 2nd grade to 11th grade students are given a multiple choice test on these predetermined standards. These standards set the bar for what students are supposed to know at a certain year in their education. Once these tests are scored, students receive a score of far-below basic, basic, proficient, or advanced. In addition to the administration of the test, the federal government

Greg Jouriles, a social studies teacher at Hillsdale High School in California, argues that standardized tests rarely show what we don’t already know. These tests assess basic reading and writing skills, which students know whether they lack or excel in ahead of time. Furthermore, by the time the student receives the exam results back, the student has already completed that unit. For example, students receive the results to the PARCC exam over 6 months after they take it. By the time they obtain their results, they are already done with the current year’s curriculum (Jouriles). As many of these standardized tests do not intend to sharpen public education, they are ineffective in attaining such a goal.

“Race to the bottom,” the phrase coined for tax breaks and less governmental restrictions, may have a new meaning. Race to the bottom, our new educational initiative. US education levels are dropping and standardized testing is the root cause of such harm. Standardized testing needs to be just another tool in the toolbox, rather than a wonder product. Nelson Mendela said “education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world,” and if that weapon happens to be broken we might as well be Tony Stark without his suit, Lady Justice without her scale, a white girl without her phone, powerless.

In recent years Florida’s standardized testing program has taken a turn for the worst. After doing away with the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) the debate has only grown due to flood of new tests being created such as the Florida Standards Assessment (FSA) or End of Course Exam (EOC). These tests are administered to test students’ abilities at the end of the school year. In spring of 2015, with only two months of testing between the EOC’s and the FSA, Florida’s legislature implemented the FSA. The main reason the testing was delayed was because the new tests had to be administered on a computer, so that scores could be calculated faster. Though most of the recent issues make it seem that testing is useless, there are still positives. Administering these tests allows the state to measure the level of improvement in the education students are receiving and it keeps the teachers adhering to the curriculum plan. The positive and negative points about testing bring up the question: Should standardized testing in Florida be eliminated or changed?

“Children feel like failures now as early as PreK, preschoolers are being expelled at 4 X higher rates than K-12 children. . .” These are the words of Dr. MArcy Guddemi, Gesell Institute’s Executive Director. Testing is filling lives of children now with stress and negative feelings for school instead of the happy place full of learning it should be. Test scores’ impact on learning is not even effective and most score change is due to life outside of school. Schools also spend great amounts of spending on these tests every year. School is important for numerous life skills and lessons; with excessive testing children aren’t able to learn these lessons. The U.S. Department of Education and its local counterparts needs to administer fewer standardized tests because they don't accurately show learning, they are costing us too much money, and the impair growth.

When preparing for college, one thing students all across America can agree upon is the hatred of standardized testing. The stress of scoring high is one that weighs heavy on all students’ shoulders because it will directly impact their futures. Time spent preparing for these tests often feel like a huge waste when the “goal-score” is not achieved, or when a high score is given and the student still does not get into the educational institution of his or her choice. Often schools’ funding is based upon test scores and that directly impacts the education a student will receive. Schools who wish to do well on these tests for their future students will spend an unhealthy amount

Test (p.147) – a tool administered to participants that entails the participants to answer standard questions/ In some types of research there are tests that are conducted, so the researchers can use the test to gather data to study for the research. For example, student in the 4th grade could take the FCAT (Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test) and the researchers could use that test to conduct specific research such as differences on test scores based upon gender or age.

Based on previous experience as a high schooler in the American education system the conclusion can be made that public high school is not giving a fair, just, and meaningful education. Reading many texts in high school that prove this point may have given a meaningful perspective on this issue, but it truly represents areas that still needs to be fixed. Achieving an all-around better high school system will mean looking into faults in the current system and taking pointers from systems in other countries that have a higher approval rating in their education system by parents, students, and educators themselves. In order to have an improved education system students will have to have: a home environment that promotes a balance to the importance of an education, along with value placed on growing up as an individual person; a good school that is well funded; the ability to be tested via different methods; and these requirements will need to be seen as uniform throughout the United States.

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.