Testing Is Necessary For Student Performance

With the adoption of Common Core and the addition of multiple standardized tests children are starting to feel lost and left behind when it comes to curriculum. According to Cary Grimm Common Core standards can be compared to jumping over a fence that one knows was 2 feet but evidently was told 3 feet and missed the next level standard. When you set a standard of what a child needs to know in each grade but only used standardized testing to test their knowledge of what they know instead of using a more personal approach, this degrades the system (Stern). When the education systems makes it all based on who’s the

The Common Core State Standards also has a focus on testing Language Arts and Mathematics, but it does try to branch out into other subjects, like Science. There is still a heavy dependence on standardized tests in this new system and it will take some time for everyone to adjust to these new standards. With the Common Core State Standards, there is also a set of guidelines for the curriculum and a focus on making sure the students have mastered the specific guidelines provided. The problem with the Common Core State Standards is there is still a heavy focus on testing for Language Arts and Mathematics while deemphasizing other subjects, even if there is a Common Core for Science or Social Studies. Teachers are forced to teach to the standards provided and might not be able to individualize their lessons to the needs of their students. This can lead to more teachers being forced to teach to the test and continue the problems that occurred with No Child Left Behind, where students were leaning how to take the tests and not learn the knowledge they need to move on to either college or a career.

Common Core State Standards is being heard throughout the education world. Many cringe when the words are spoken and many fight to support what the words stand for. Common Core was introduced in 2009 by state leaders. Common Core State Standards were developed to prepare children for the business world or the reality after grade school. “The Common Core is a set of high-quality academic standards in mathematics and English language arts/literacy, also known as ELA” (About the Standards, n.d.). The goals for the standards outline what students should know before leaving his or her current grade level. “The standards were created to ensure that all students graduate from high school with the skills and knowledge necessary to succeed in college, career, and life, regardless of where they live” (About the Standards, n.d.). This is an ambitious goal, but with much support can be accomplished. According to Common Core State Standards Initiative (n.d.) The Common Core has been adopted by forty-two states already and is accompanied by District of Columbia and Department of Defense Education Activity. Common Core was developed to improve the academics in society’s schools. Academics in the past years have not been successful and the United States has fallen behind international education. “One root cause has been an uneven patchwork of academic standards that vary from state to state and do not agree on what students should know and be able to do at each

Common Core Standards were designed to have all of the states in the United States learning the same things at the same ages so that no matter where a student is they wouldn’t have to learn things more than once or not at all if they move. There is much debate about common core standards. If nothing changes in the education system time and energy that could be put into bettering the education system will continue to be spent on debating the implementation of common core standards. Everyone from teachers to politicians have diverse and changing views on the recently implemented standards but everyone can agree that it is an issue that needs to be solved. Even those who wrote the standards are now coming out with their concerns with the standards.

All states across the nation that have adopted the Common Core standards want to be equal with each other and provide the same education for each and every student that comes through each grade (Clegg). The Common Core standards were created so that a student in elementary school from one state would learn the same thing as another elementary student in another state, allowing their diploma to mean the same thing (Layton). Even though there is no specific order that each domain should be taught in, there are standards for each grade that gives specific content that should be learned before moving to the next grade (Common Core State). “The Common Core recognizes we are one nation, and as such require an established set of national standards for achievement in education. What we must ensure through a focused, coordinated - dare we say united - effort in the implementation of such is equal access to quality education for all

The Common Core raises some concerns within parents and some curious on lookers that took the time to truly examine the standards. One issue some districts have had with the common core is interpreting the standards to fit a majority of their teaching. In Michigan nine schools interpreted the standards in a wide variety of ways. Some understood the standards in a way that is saying that they had to make some significant changes in the instructions they make, while others understood it a way that they had to make only a few changes. Another complication is the cost of implementation of the standards, which is highly expensive. This a particular challenge especially when most states and school budgets are low. Within the common core there is a thought at which they just believe that if a student is college ready then they are career-ready. The common core state standards are seen as promise, not a guarantee that students will get accepted to any college (Welner). An additional concern is that the standards require principals and teachers to approach their jobs differently and preparations must be increased so it exerts a new professionalism. It is not proven that colleges have said that if students master these standards that they will get into the schools, to a few many this is seen as problematic because the standards were created to prepare students for

America has fallen behind many other countries academically. To fix this, the national educational standards of Common Core were put into place. It created a system of academic benchmarks for reading and math, which will equalize test scores across all states while simultaneously raising national scores. However, this system has not yet achieved what it set out to do. Common Core has not had a significant positive impact on students' learning.

Common core, also known as educational standards, was made by a group of people in 2009. The group included some from the University of Arizona, such as David Coleman, William McCallum, and Phil Daro. In the group some were the Student Achievement Partners Founders, Jason Zimba and Susan Pimentel. Together these five developed the standards. According to Common_Core_State_Standards_Initiative, Common Core is an “educational initiative in the U.S that details what k-12 students should know in English, Language Arts, and Mathematics at the end of each grade.” Therefore we should not blame

tests were primarily employed as measures of student achievement that could be reported to parents, and as a means of noting state and district trends (Moon 2) . Teachers paid little attention to these tests, which in turn had little impact on curriculum. However, in the continuing quest for better schools and high achieving students, testing has become a central focus of policy and practice. Standardized tests are tests that attempt to present unbiased material under the same,

Schools generally fail in realizing the true educational needs of their children. Over the past few years, and first established in 2009, the “Common Core” method makes efforts to generalize one set of skills and expectations that children should meet for each grade and has been installed in almost every state. While in concept this might sound like a perfect solution in making efforts towards academic equality, this is not the case across the country. Common Core, true to its name, is a common curriculum of learning, and is not at all personalized towards specific counties or school districts. For the students, this has presented more negatives than positives. Are there really “common” standards that can be reached on a national level? Each school is unique to its students, as well as its teachers and their individual methods of education. By setting only one standard,

“Nearly a century ago, Andrew Carnegie said that educated citizens were the strength of American democracy. While that fact still remains true today, our competitive twenty-first century world requires innovative education strategies that will enable students to succeed in a global economy.” (qtd. Vartan Gregorian). This is one of many quotes made by Americans today all surrounding the topic of common core state standard initiative. So many opinions have been formulated from the new reform that has been set forth to improve the American education system. Looking at both sides of the fence of the common core regimen, it looks like both sides display an array of reasons why it is good and why it is corrupt. The Common Core State Standards have drawn both support and adverse criticism from politicians, analysts, and commentators (e.g. nga.org). The Common Core State Standard Initiative has now been adopted by forty-two states, the District of Columbia, four territories, and the Department of Defense Education Activity (e.g. corestandards.org). Common core is now a common talk in America by many different demographics. The Common Core should be understood as the culmination of a movement that is changing a society (Mcdonnell 492).

Debating the old standards and new standards of the school system is recognizing how well children are performing in school now and how well they perform when they are out of school. An additional thing to think about is the different neighbors, which could be just across town. These schools might have higher educational standards on their children’s education, then other schools. As in many states that have different standards on what children should learn and what is not necessary for them to learn. Common core is one standard that has been adopted by typically amount all states. Having one standard is treating all children the same and holding them all accountable for these standards. However, the state of

Common core when introduce is an important part of our educational system as it allows all students to be taught with the same instructional material regardless of the school they attend. Working as a home liaison and truancy officer, I witness first hand a student inability of achieving as they was moved from school to school which allowed them to be to advance for their new placement and/or below the standards. With common core, it allows students to be on the same level of academics regardless of their transition. Sadly, the common core is not geared to all students, as many students learn and think differently, curriculum is not allowing the student to stop and think about what they are learning as it sole focus is on math and reading.

When students experience test anxiety in a classroom environment, they sweat, become nauseated, shake, increase their heart rate and tense their muscles up. Avoiding these symptoms is very hard when they arise because they are nearly impossible to relax when the body already experiences the issue. Triggers of these symptoms occur immediately when a student walks into the classroom on test day. They hear other students discussing the test, and often start to overthink how much they studied and if they studied the correct information, leading to higher levels of anxiety. These issues are so common in classrooms because testing is required and many students dislike it. There are several ways in which teachers can help students learn to stay relaxed when testing to lessen the issue of testing anxiety. Brittany Balkam, a professor at a Saint Xavier University, claimed that one of the many things that could be done in order to help accommodate students’ needs for increased success on tests would be to hold testing interventions. During these interventions, the most common way found to help students overcome this testing anxiety issue was to teach multiple test taking strategies, as well as study strategies to heighten success. More students were reported feeling good or prepared for the test because they learned test taking strategies which helped them stay relaxed for the test. Students will distract themselves away from their symptoms if they focus more on “highlighting

The standardized test has become the staple of the United States K12 education system. Students at all levels are routinely tested, and schools evaluated based on the scores. It’s easy to look at this as a necessary part of the system, a needed way of assessing both school and individual student performance to ensure quality across all schools. These tests are regarded as a tried-and true way of doing this, when in reality they are neither old nor accurate in assessment. I move in this essay that standardized testing in K12 education, from early assessment tests all the way through the ACTs and SATs that students take for college admissions, not only damage K12 education by catering to the test rather than to knowledge proficiency and