Standardized Testing In High Schools

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

“Standardized testing evaluates a student’s performance on one particular day and does not take into account external factors. There are many people who simply do not perform well on tests. Many of these students are smart and understand the content, but it doesn’t show on the test. Many students also develop test anxiety which hinders performance (Columbia.edu).” Students often get so caught up in the denotation of “test” and do not show the same level of knowledge as they were when doing classwork. I just do not see why we put so much accentuation on something that does not even show the full potential of these young

These formal exams test both what has learned and what the teacher has taught. Unfortunately, they accomplish neither. A well known fact about standardized tests is that a typical student can take the same test twice and, each time, and receive different scores. This past year, In fact, I found myself taking the ACT test 3 times before I got a score I was satisfied with. However, the accuracy of such a test is questionable. Additionally, if you were to look on the shelves of a library, you will find a selection of books on preparation for each different standardized tests including ACT, SAT, AP Testing, GED to name a few. The point of each of these being how to prepare yourself. Logically, the best way to prepare for a test should be to study the included material. However, this idea no longer applies. Success on standardized tests involves students practicing ways to control their abundant stress and utilize their short given amount of time for every section or helpful tactics for memorization. Performance on the tests depends less and less on an existing knowledge than it does on an ability to beat the system. The anxiety, distraction, and emotional distress play a great number into a student’s ability to perform well as he or she sits to complete the test. Under this unhealthy pressure, the odds are completely against them. In spite of promising intellect and determination, the most efficient learner can fail. Then how can standardized test actually measure what a student knows or doesn’t

Some say that testing is a good way to hold teachers accountable for the failure or success of their students. They believe that test scores show if the educator is teaching effectively or not, but the two are not always directly correlated. Often a student’s performance on a test has little to nothing to do with their instructor. Some students are simply better test-takers than others and do not even attempt to do well on exams. Teachers should not be held accountable for the laziness of a student. Even if a student does do well on a test, it does not mean the teacher’s methods were effective. Because standardized tests are not accurate measurements of students’ abilities, a student who naturally excels at language skills, for example, could do extremely well on a test even though their teacher was not very effectual at their job. These people also say that standardized tests do not produce an overabundance of stress in students. As a student myself, I can say with certainty that this is not true. Testing has caused a great amount of stress for people I know and me personally, I am sure that other students would support this as

When I was younger I always saw my older siblings dread going into highschool and I never understood why. I mean, you get more freedom, you can drive, and you’re that much closer to graduating. What’s not to like? Well, let’s just say I was too young to understand everything that went along with high school. The loads of homework, being in sports, having a job, and trying to have a social life along with your busy schedules. On top of that, you can’t forget the horrid tests every high school student is forced to take. The SAT, ACT, ITBS, MAP, and COMPASS tests are just a few of the tests we have to take throughout our four years. Two of those tests are optional, but the rest are mandatory. You’re given a set amount of time

Many students have experienced the joy of test-taking. For some people, tests do not bother them. However, many experience test anxiety especially for these more high-stake tests. There are many different standardized tests such as: SOLs, SATs, ACTs, and college entrance exams. These standardized tests are not efficient tools for determining the knowledge of students. People respond differently on tests depending on the testing environment and how their day has been. However, others argue that standardized tests show grades each individual student has truly earned. Standardized tests are stressful, they do not represent a student’s understanding of material well, and they interfere with the way teachers want to teach.

With so much riding on these tests, many students become stressed and unable to perform, despite buying prep books and spending long hours studying. "I cannot tell you how many students I have worked with who are amazing in their classes but freeze when it comes to the SAT or ACT because they know how much is riding on the scores," says high school councilor Patricia Mucenski. Instead of placing significance on high school grades, which display not only a student’s intelligence, but also illustrate hard work & determination, our knowledge and future success are measured by a score on one test taken for three hours on a Saturday morning.

Jill Tiefenthaler, a professor of economics, says “It is time to rethink college admissions, and particularly the role of standardized testing. With only marginal predictive value for performance in college, standardized scores do nothing to suggest what a student might contribute to the character and vitality of an intellectual community” (usnews.com). In other words, SAT scores should not have a big impact on your admission because it does not show what you can bring to the table besides your intelligence, or lack of intelligence. Another article says, “The SAT does not measure the skills needed for college, and it certainly does not predict how well I am going to do in college classes. In fact, studies have shown that high school grades are a better predictor of grades in college than an SAT score” (pennlive.com). This proves that SAT scores do not accurately measure your aptitude for college, and should not be relied upon heavily by colleges. High school GPA should be more weighted than SAT scores because, many people put a lot of effort into the SAT so they can have stronger scores, yet all throughout high school they have slacked off. GPA is the result of hundreds of tests; the SAT scores are the result of one

The first reason why standardized testing should not be implemented in the education system is because it limits the students learning capabilities. Standardized testing can not measure creativity, effort, imagination, and many more merit qualities. American schooling has focused on only teaching to the test and emphasizes on three main subjects: math, reading, and science. In addition, teachers put too much urgency on the importance of getting a certain score which diminishes the students interest in learning. Even though, standardized testing gives teachers a direction to

As Students in the public school system, we are tested rigorously on a routine basis to equally evaluate and test our academic ability. These tests determine the path we should take throughout our career in school, and even decides if we should be able to graduate.

Most students are either strong under pressure or not. By enforcing testing, we’re assuming that everyone is a proficient test-taker. This is untrue. A child may have perfect grades, yet do poorly on the standardized tests due to poor test-taking skills. We need to create another way of analyzing education. In addition to this, standardized tests don’t test the proper material. They are testing a student’s ability to take a test, rather than their actual knowledge. They only assess Math, English, and Science, providing “exposure only to subjects that are tested (that leaves out social studies, art, music, library, and physical education)” (Berlatsky). This is beneficial to the kid who has a love for math, but what about the one who has a passion for music? Every adult has their area of expertise, and it is the same with children. By creating such specific tests, we are neglecting kids who have interests and skills in other areas. Some people believe that only core subjects are tested because they are the most important. They think it’s impossible to test students on everything, and these three subjects are the most efficient and least costly to assess. While I do agree that it’s impossible to test everything, I believe that there is no reason that we should pick these three subjects over any others. We are making too many assumptions about students: that they are all strong test-takers, that they all care about the test, that they aren’t good at any other subjects. While it will take a lot of time and effort to improve, the standardized testing system in America needs to

These tests, which in theory, are intended to judge a student’s growth and/or proficiency over time, in reality only measure how well a student is prepared for that specific test and not the actual material that is taught in the classroom. Standardized tests are for the most part aptitude tests, which sound beneficial, as they are evaluating a student’s ability to learn, but which actually measure how well the students can perform on a mind-numbing test that is most often not even loosely related to what

Have you ever thought about what college you want to go to after high school? In order to get into that college, you must be accepted. Colleges look for a numerous amount of criteria in order for you to get accepted, and one of those things colleges look for is your standardized test score. The standardized test is a test administered and scored in a consistent, or “standard”, way (edglossary.org). Seeing that you must get a high enough score on the test in order for your dream college to accept you, the tests are difficult, but are very worth it at the end. Colleges have been accepting students into their school with standardized test scores for more than 50 years, and with that being said, it has seemed to work pretty well (content.time.com). In the end, standardized test scores show that you deserve to go to that college, and is also a way of showing that you’ve worked hard for so long to accomplish something huge.

In 2001, the No Child Left Behind federal law was passed, which required schools to annually access the students’ achievement by high-stake standardized testing, which included reading, math, and science. Besides reporting the individual scores, schools had to also report the scores by race, ethnicity, disability, social class, and the language primarily used in the student’s home.

If any one person looks at an American high school, they will notice there is large amount of standardized tests. This doesn't just start in the later years of learning. I remember starting to take standardized tests in the third grade, when I was eight. Looking back now, I can easily complete it, but at the time, I felt like it was impossible. Results came back the next year, and I was qualified as an average math student; not the worst thing in the world, but it sure felt like it at the time, because I wanted to be the best as I could, as everyone should. For the longest time, I felt as if I were bad at math. This continued for years despite the fact that I was taking classes two years ahead of my grade level. But still I struggled with the question of: How will I use this? Why am I taking this as a class; it is useless? Any math: geometry, algebra, whatever, was nothing but find the answer to a given equation. This is not an uncommon