Standardized Testing

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.

The wide-spread use of standardized testing in the American education system is not helping anybody. Standardized testing was designed to help schools see how their students were performing academically in standard way. The NCLB (No Child Left Behind) Act made standardized testing tied to school funding. It made the government reward or punish schools based on test scores. It was made to help students stay on track. Instead, standardized testing is lowering the quality of education in the United States. Standardized testing puts stress on students, forces schools and teachers to “teach to the test”, and has not helped the United States in worldwide education rankings.

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?

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,

Every year, millions of students take long standardized tests, but do they improve the education of American students? In 2000, the US ranked 18th in mathematics worldwide. By 2012, the US dropped to 27th, with similar results in the remaining subjects. After passing the “No Child Left Behind” Act of 2001, the lives of thousands were academically changed. NCLB’s Mission Statement reads: “Our mission is to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal access.” Standardized testing is declining the education in America by placing financial burdens on schools, as well as reprioritizing school choices, unnecessary

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

Thoughts about the ACT or SAT give most students sleepless nights. Well, it is an important test but getting overwhelmed by it is not going to help. These few fun facts about the ACT/SAT are just what you need when you are looking for a short, refreshing distraction from the intense studying. The ACT/SAT should be the main factor in college acceptance because it gives minorities an equal chance of admission, it provides a standard for all students of all high school backgrounds to achieve, and test you on the basic skills you need to know after leaving high school anyway.

Standardized testing is used to tell students level in certain areas of academics; however, it is actually a waste of time and money.

Michelle Obama once said, “If my future were determined by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn’t be here. I guarantee you that.” Standardized testing is, “any form of test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, in the same way, and that is scored in a “standard” or consistent manner” (edglossary.org, Standardized Test). Standardized testing is used in most schools and is used to determine the futures of many student’s educations. These tests usually have sets of multiple choice, or true or false questions that are to be answered within a limited amount of time. Many people think that this is the only way to accurately measure a student’s individual intelligence. Even though almost all schools make students

M., & Barton, K. (2003). Assessing Students With Disabilities: Issues and Evidence. Los Angeles: The Regents of the University of California. Retrieved from http://cse.ucla.edu/products/reports/TR587.pdf

Living in the United States the emphasis on testing is extremely high. Testing has been around for years , however has increased to an all-time high since 2002 when the Bush administration brought about the No Child Left Behind Act and mandated standardized testing in all 50 states. Since initiation of these annual tests, the degree of student success the US has shown compared to other countries has declined. With the No Child Left Behind Act all students, as in 100% of students, were supposed to be at or above grade level in testing as of 2014. However, the US is two years out and its students are nowhere close to that 100% goal.

I t is well known that Standardized testing is not popular with students, but many teachers also do not agree with the method as well. Teachers see the testing as a burden and an end to creative and fun curriculum. Teachers teach all year for what will be on the test. Students are forced to learn by memorization quickly with so much knowledge being imposed on them at one time. Teachers have to teach so many core factors that they do not have hours to spend the wanted and needed lot of time on certain content. The article “It’s déjà vu all over again!” includes comments from educators on testing “The tests tend to measure factual memorization of names and dates, rather than important conceptual understandings and interpretations” (pg.199). Children can profess when and where The Battle of Gettysburg was, but could not express what the speech was about and the lasting impositions of the speech. They memorize a topic to pass a test. That is standardized testing. That is not learning.

“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.

School counselors use data to, “identify school counseling program goals; monitor student progress to close the achievement gap; assess and evaluate programs; demonstrate school counseling program effectiveness (Young, 2013).” The purpose of assessments are to identify and plan school counseling programs that align with the mission of schools. School counselors assist students individually to help with academic, personal/social or career concerns. One helps student establish goals as well as develop plans. School counselors conduct informal assessments by interviewing students to obtain information about their current problem or situation.

Standardized tests are annoying little things that students in schools all across the nation have to take every year. Though, if all the facts are taken into consideration, they do not really seem worth it, do they? Many people speculate whether or not they are actually measuring a student’s intelligence or anything like that. It seems that students do not necessarily have to learn the material, only memorize it for a short period of time. The question has to be raised, though-- what exactly qualifies a test to be a standardized test? Well, as described by The Glossary of Education Reform, there are two main things that make a test standardized. The first being that the test “...requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or