Taking a Look at Standardized Testing

Currently, standardized tests do not improve the education of students in America. Standardized testing is not an accurate measure of student’s knowledge because they are designed to test an extremely broad amount of students who do not have the same educational background. This makes it incredibly difficult to test students across the world on the same level and expect their scores to reflect their education. Standardized testing, by definition, is any test containing the same questions that is administered to a vast group of people for the purpose of comparing different student’s test scores. This issue is important because it affects the entire academic community, positively and negatively. Therefore, all teachers, students, school staff, and test administrators have some involvement with standardized testing. The vast majority of people in America have taken a standardized test sometime in their life, which makes these tests vital in the

To many students standardized testing has become another part of schooling that is dreaded. Standardized testing has been a part of school since the nineteen-thirties; in those days it was used as a way to measure students that had special needs. Since the time that standardized test have been in American schools there has been many programs that have placed an importance on the idea of standardized testing such as the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 (Evans 1). Over the years the importance of standardized testing has increased tremendously and so has the stakes, not only for teachers but also students. All states in the United States of America have state test in order to measure how much students learn, and help tell how well the

Texas takes the STAAR, Alabama the ARMT, and Hawaii the HSA. Each state in the U.S. has a standardized test required of every student. From the ACT and SAT to the STAAR tests, standardized testing has become common practice for almost every student. The earliest records of standardized testing are when in China, anyone wanting to get a job in government had to fill out their knowledge of Confucian philosophy and poetry in examination. As more and more kids began to go to school during the Industrial Revolution, standardized testing spread as a way to quickly and easily test a large number of students. But not everyone agrees with the tests, stating that they are unreliable, and that the stakes are too high. Standardized tests cause immense amount of stress for not only students, but teachers as well. And the tests might not even be effective, causing more anxiety than it's worth.

What is standardized testing? Standardized testing is a test which is given to students to evaluate the knowledge which they know. Testing can be in all subjects and topics in education. In Minnesota there is the MCA ( Minnesota Common Assessment). The MCA can be taken from elementary to high school, and the students are tested on subjects they have learned from the past. In Minnesota the MCA is a test which the government requires students to take. On a national level there is the ACT and SAT. These are usually taken as entrance exams to colleges and universities. ACT and SAT are two different types of test they have differ in grading systems and some colleges take both or one of the two. Why are standardized test given? The test are given so people in charge can evaluate the performance of the student and school; also gage the knowledge of the student. But standardized test like the ACT can not be an effective way to improve instruction and performance because it is a competency focused test. The reason why standardized test are competence: They test students on how well they can eliminate the incorrect answers to find the correct one. This is an inefficient way because what if the test taker crosses out the wrong answer, this forces the taker to choose between two wrong answers. There's needs to be tested efficiently and accurately gage their knowledge.

One of the biggest topics in the educational world is standardized tests. All fifty states have their own standards following the common core curriculum. There are many positives and negatives that go with the standardized tests. A standardized test is any type of “examination that's administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner” (Popham, 1999). These standardized tests are either aptitude tests or achievement tests. Schools use achievement tests to compare students.

Since childhood it has been taught that education is key to being a successful and productive person in today’s day and age, but exactly how children should be educated is being debated heavily throughout the United States. I have decided to do my senior project on standardized testing (common core testing) as a way to shed light on this broken system. Standardized testing has been created in order to compare test scores around the country and decide exactly what needs to be taught in schools.While this may seem like a good idea on paper, the animation of this in the real world has been a complete disaster. Lately, students have been bombarded with standardized tests and it has been negatively affecting their education. In a quote from one of the most influential females of our generation, “If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that.” (Michelle Obama). Now in this quote the first lady is saying that people should not be judged based off of one test that is going to determine the way that they are being educated, which is exactly what is

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

How I feel about standardized tests is that they get me really stressed out and they are scary. I believe i'm a a bad test taker because when someone hands me a test I forget everything I learned over the year and just freak out and stare at the paper. Yes, I believe ever since Kindergarten iv'e been like this. Fun fact is that when I was taking my STAR test in second grade I peed myself thinking I was going to fail but it was a practice STAR test, I was bullied ever since. I prepare for a standardized test by going over what I learned at midnight, that way I don't freak out and stress or sometimes eating makes me feel more confident about myself. I believe that when they give you gum before taking the test helps, because it distracts you of

Today, it can be observed that society has shifted education drastically from the time schools were constituted, to now. Throughout history, schools have gone from private, where only the elite can attend, to public schools where virtually anyone can attend. One of the factors that goes along with education is standardized testing. Frederick J. Kelly, father of the standardized test, once said, “These tests are too crude to be used, and should be abandoned.” Not only has this shift occurred within education itself, but it has occurred within the testing concepts found within standardized testing so much so that the founder of these tests has chosen to give up on it.

At the beginning of the school system, many changes have been made. Standardized testing, however, is a part of the school system that has not been changed in very many ways, and has very many problems with it. With the many problems that standardized testing has, it should be removed from the school system all together.

Schools should not have standardized tests because, kids are to stressed and it waist to much time when kids could be learning something new. After my research I have came to the conclusion that there are many different opinions and concerns about weather standardized testing should be required or not. Each opinion has some logic but there are just some thing that don’t make much sense. Some people see it as a competition between students to see who can get a better score. Also if some people don’t get the score that they wanted it could put their self confidence down and make them not want to try as hard next time. They feel like these tests prove how smart they are to their parents, students, and friends.

Another argument is that “School districts and teachers should have the autonomy to create their own standards and curricula at the local level, rather than being held to national criteria and impossible standardized tests (Embrace The Common Core).” One of the most controversial issues in public education, the topic of standardized tests has actually taken on a life of its own.

Recently I visited the Careerline Tech Center, located in Holland, MI, for an open house on the courses that they offered there for juniors and seniors. One course that caught my attention was the Teacher’s Academy class taught there. The high school students who enrolled in this course gave younger students the opportunity to have control over their learning and testing experience, which is unlike anything that I have ever experienced. These younger students were able to take tests in a variety of ways, which allowed them to reflect what they knew more accurately and share their knowledge of a topic better than they could on a standardized test. Since then, I have asked myself, “what would the impact be if all schools switched over to a system of teaching kids and testing them using their individual learning style(s)? I believe that switching to this system would help all students

Absolutely there are things that I don’t believe are good decisions when working with young adults. Should as the test the school district give the students, for example my daughter’s teacher was out of school for three month. Just this last week her and her peers had to take the standardized test, they didn’t understand many parts of the math section. It went as far as the children went home to their parents, there was one parent that told the principal we didn’t think it was fair that the students weren’t prepared for this test, yet it was going to have a large impact on their test scores and cums. One of the best example of how important these tests are, “Standardized tests have become the main instrument for determining children’s worth

Children are frequently taught to be themselves because we are all different. People do not look, talk, or even think the same as one another. To insure children are receiving the best education possible, teachers must consider these differences and teach for various learning styles. One child may process information more efficiently when the teacher uses visuals such as pictures, while another student may learn better by listening to his or her teacher speak. To confirm students are learning and being taught the required information that is provided by the state, students in the United States take part in standardized testing: “A standardized achievement test is designed to provide norm-referenced interpretations of student achievement in