Standardized Testing Informative Essay

Standardized tests are largely unnecessary, ineffective, and overused. Despite the enormous monetary resources and hours that companies pour into the making of standardized tests, the unholistic pen and pencil approach of these tests tends to assess students' test-taking ability rather than their actual intelligence. All this new testing leaves less time for classroom learning than generations past. This time may seem negligible at first; however, it adds up considering the number of ACTs, SATs, graduation and annual state tests students take over their academic career. What little time left is sacrificed for busy work and teaching for the tests. Nevertheless, who can blame teachers when the results of standardized tests determine their job performance? The tests were mainly designed to showcase the efforts of teachers and schools to the state, and a reduction of standardized tests is integral to fixing our educational

standardized tests is that they lack a level of comprehension and are incapable of succeeding in the educational system. This belief is especially prevalent in regards to high stakes tests such as college entrance and high school graduation exams because the focus is on the test score. The perception is that these scores are the sole indicator of the student’s knowledge of a subject and their ability to succeed at a higher level of education. Therefore,

President Bush is promoting annual standardized testing for all students in grades three through eight in order to assess their academic achievements. This bill is currently being considered in Congress, and has garnered much support from individuals in the community. As of right now, fifteen states test students in those grades, and more than twenty have high school exit exams.

Standardized testing has for so long been the determinant of success and progress in many school systems around the world. Students get exposure to standardized tests at one point or the other, and the result from these tests are used to determine if a student can advance to a higher level or not (Moore, 2014). The school system in the United States has in place standardized tests for students who wish to join college and this need to be taken and passed for one to be sure of a college education. Even at lower levels of learning standardized tests remain to be the primary determinants of one’s performances, and in many instances, failure of standardized tests may be the reason why one is retained in the same class for a second consecutive

A lot of public school teachers want one thing to make their school year better and that would be less testing (UCSD Guardian, 2015). When I was in high school I always hated tests; even now I have anxiety before every test. There are so many tests from quizzes, to chapters tests, exams to sats. " The average student will take 112 standardized tests between preschool and high school graduation, spending as much as 25 hours a year testing" (Kamenetz 2015). Adding that up means that 325 hours are spent from kindergarten up equaling 13.54 full days of testing. Somehow testing has become the only means of finding out how children are doing in class. As a preschool teacher who can't give bubble tests to three year olds, I find it hard to believe that

Students “spend between 20-25 hours taking standardized tests each year” (Kerr and Lederman). Standardized testing is more required now that the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) has been implemented. The testing puts students in a category or class based on their scores. The student could have had a bad day or is not a good test taker. Although some students do not make high scores on the tests there are some that do score high. Standardized testing is more harmful than helpful to students.

Standardized testing alone is not an accurate gauge of a students overall knowledge. We start indoctrinating our children in the first grade with standardized testing to prepare them for the next 11 years of testing. These tests put a lot of undo stress on students to preform well on standardized tests throughout the year. While some students are excellent test takers others become over whelmed with the process and fail to rise to their true academic level. “On Mar. 14,

These tests can also hold schools and teachers accountable to their teaching. Because these tests are based on a curriculum, school boards will know whether a subject has been taught, and how well a subject has been taught, based off of the results from the tests. If the majority of the students do not do well, it will be apparent which subjects have not been proficiently taught (Barth and

Opponents have stated that the tests are not objective or fair, that extreme testing challenges the ability to yield students that are critical thinkers, and they support a thin curriculum. Standardized testing evaluates a student’s performance on one certain day and does not take into account exterior influences. The success of a school is contingent on the performance of the students. There are many individuals who just do not do well on tests. Many of these students are understand the content and are smart, but it is not reflected on the test. Standardized testing only evaluates the student’s performance instead of the general progression of the student throughout the year. In this paper I will provide my thoughts on whether or not standardized testing is a good thing or

Standardized tests have a natural connotation of being negative, useless, or time wasting. They take away valuable classroom time from teachers and their students. Most of the time, assessments are given before the material supposed to be taught has been presented to the students. Therefore, students are at a disadvantage when it comes to taking these “fail or pass” tests. However, tracking students’ progress was the original purpose and push for having standardized tests. Standardized tests should be given for their original purpose, but not in the multitude or manner they are currently presenting students with.

Standardized testing is the pinnacle of the educational system in America. Education is amongst the most important things in the United States. It can determine where students go to college, what kind of job they secure, and their future. When discussing standardized testing there are many differing opinions because it is a controversial subject. The position of this paper is that standardized testing hurting our educational system. There is so much emphasis on test scores that students will take risky chemical substances or cheat; in addition standard tests have not been written by the top minds in our country and students are wasting hours that could be better spent elsewhere.

Standardized testing put a lot of stress on students. It is unnecessary due to the fact that many students are being held back for not passing it. When I was in high school, I never took all honor classes because I was intimidated from my peers. I was afraid I was not smart enough. I stressed the most towards the end of the year, because I am worried about passing the standardized tests. The purpose of standardized tests is to show the state what the students learned in school. There are other ways to see what the students learned in high school besides testing. I do not think standardized testing is necessary to graduate high school. Although standardized tests is an effective way to see what students have learned in high school,

Another huge factor regarding standardized testing is that some students don’t take the test seriously, which only shows how unreliable this form of testing is. Some forms of testing are given to only benefit the school, therefore some individuals will not perform to the best of their abilities. Some students are not confident in their academic abilities on these tests and refuse to seek help. Those individuals have a fixed mindset and are convinced that they will not succeed. A test has been allowed to define their academic abilities in such a negative way and that needs to be changed.

Nowadays, students across America are subjected to take tests that determine whether they are liable of going to the next level. Standardized tests have become the agenda by which students’ achievements are measured. They have become the only way teachers and schools measure the achievement process of students. Because they have become the only way to rationalize students’ learning progress, teachers have begun teaching to the test (Longo 56). Standardized tests only measure students’ learning progress; it does not improve it.

On standardized tests, I do well if I recall any topics that I might've learned either from the current year or in the previous years. I consider myself a good test taker because I can remember anything in the past, so when there's a question that has something familiar with what I've done before I can use this for help. I always do this during these standardized tests. To prepare, I must take out all the work I've done in the past to help me study. By the night before the test, I should know everything by that sundown and get my parents to help me study and have everything ready on the day of the test. The kinds of test questions I do best are the types I studied, while the ones I struggle are the types I haven't even learned yet.