Educational reform is a subject frequently being evaluated, and it is currently needed more than ever. Due to high school programs such as No Child Left Behind and Race to the Top, teaching has been emphasized through a series of tests. The problem with this, is that “a teacher can prep students for a standardized test, get a bump in scores, and yet not be providing a very good education” (Rose 21). Meaning, instructors may be knowledgeable on how to raise test scores, but their students can remain uneducated; There is not a direct relationship between the two. Furthermore, this way of education highly impedes non-cognitive skills, such as critical thinking, which are now needed for the current job market. In fact, a jump of twice as many …show more content…
Because a great amount of college education is being wasted, the United States is now facing a delay in intellectual and economic growth. Educational reform is needed to cultivate oncoming students, but instead off focusing on past mistakes, what the future holds additionally needs to be addressed. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math) jobs are what is needed for the future, and these jobs require critical thinking. Therefore, a child’s education needs to stop being compressed into purely cognitive skills and personalized to properly develop a talented individual. In order to better educate students for the 21st century, students must be allowed room for creative growth and be able to take control of their own learning. All students should leave the classroom and participate in STEM- based apprenticeships or internships. In order to fix the deeply flawed school system, standardized testing needs to face an extreme reduction. These tests have become an obstacle course, rather than a solution to better educate students. Dramatically cutting these exams will also then free up a lot of time; the months typically utilized for preparing for these tests can be nearly eliminated and used as time available for opportunities outside of the classroom. The second step is to offer more electives relevant to the 21st century job market, such as computer programming, robotics, and video game design. These courses are STEM related and will teach students how
Students dread the time of the year when they stop with their course material and begin to prepare for test. Everyone is in agreement that some type of revolution is needed when it comes to education; eliminating standardized test will aid the reform. The need for standardized testing has proven to be ineffective and outdated; some leading educationalist also believe this because the tests do not measure a student’s true potential. This will save money, stop labeling, and alleviate stress in students and teachers.
Standardized tests are unnecessary because they are excruciating to the minds of many innocent students. Each year, the tests get tougher and stricter until the students cannot process their own thoughts. The tests become torturous to the minds of those only starting in the world of tests. The students already battling in the war are continuing to fall deeper and deeper into the world of uncreativity and narrowness. As the walls narrow in on them, they are lost and unable to become innovative thinkers. Moreover, the implementation of standardized tests into the public school systems of the United States of America has controversially raised two different views –the proponents versus the opponents in the battle of the effectiveness of
According to Joey Rider-Bertrand education is seeing a strange side due to technology and engineering. Teachers are struggling to keep up to date on all the new activities involving technology and engineering. Rider-Bertrand states that class sizes have increase while funding has decreased. All students have expectations to achieve proficiency on state tests and meet graduation requirements. STEM stands for Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics. According to Rider-Bertrand, education is more focused on technology and engineering in the STEM program.
Only recently with the addition of the Common Core Standardized Tests, students are being faced with more tests than ever. A typical student takes 112 mandated standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade (Study says standardized...). In my opinion, the complexities of these tests are inclining to a degree where they are unreachable to the average student. These tests are an unreliable measure of performance with unfair instruction time. Student anxiety and stress has become so awful that the Standford-9 exam comes with instructions on what to do in case a student vomits on the test. While the tests are there for students skill-measurement scores, they aren’t the only one’s who need to prepare for the exam. Teachers are equally pressured by their overhead figures to insure student’s score well. Just like the students, standardized tests are an imprecise measure of teacher performance, yet they are used to reward and punish teachers. Teachers are being required to a more progressive teaching style with emphasize on reflective learning. The effects of this are being nicknamed “drill and kill” test prep. Developing a corresponding curriculum prior to these assessments can be tricky because of the ambiguous content the Common Core requires. A considerable majority of these tests are given to students online. These already pricey tests come at an expensive cost for schools. An underlining problem people are concerned about is declining student scores being used as an excuse to close public schools that already can’t afford for the computers to take the test, and open more voucher
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.
Standardized testing has become a multi-million dollar business that has shown no substantial progress on the public school system across the nation. Our students and schools are being robbed of expressing creativity and critical thinking skills while major corporations are gaining more and more financial stability. Since the implementation of the harsh testing guidelines, it has forced
Did you know that the average student spends more than twenty-four hours a year on standardized tests? These twenty-four hours only include the time taking the test. It does not include any time for prepping, or classroom tests given out by teachers. The standardized tests students are taking are mainly used for showing growth of students, and how well teachers teach lessons. From Pre K- 12th grade, students all over the US take at least 112 tests, yet we still show no growth of improvement. This shows that we need to cut down the amount of these tests. Today, this essay will explain that the amount of standardized tests needs to be cut down because (1) too much class time is spent towards the test, (2) the amount stresses out teachers and students, and (3) the quantity of tests do not mean better results.
America’s school system is dramatically declining due to the lack of preparation that America’s High-school 's fail to deliver to its students. High-schools and their incompetent teachers do not adequately prepare students for jobs in Stem fields. STEM jobs are Science, Technology, Engineering and Math careers that pay wages close to double the U.S average. STEM jobs are vital in order to obtain a thriving market of new ideas and inventions in the world. Without proper teaching from qualified teachers in these particular fields many students may lose interest, not enjoy their teachings, or not even properly understand what STEM jobs are. This leaves many students unsatisfied with their experience limiting their abilities to do something great. Teachers are frequently found lacking degrees in the particular fields they teach: “Almost 40% of high-school math teachers have neither a college major nor minor in math.” (Chang 345). American students learn from unqualified teachers, hindering their ability to get a job in the fast paced twenty first century. It is important to understand the direct correlation between the mastering of essential subject matter and the success of our students to better the country. Studies have been shown to prove that teachers can change the trajectory of their students’ lives. Teachers who lack complete understanding in the fields that they teach can greatly negatively impact students lives further down the course of their lifetimes. Therefore when
Public education in America needs reforms to adjust to today's fast paced, technology based society. "Changing Educational Paradigms Animation" by RSA Animate and "Reinventing Education for the 21st Century" by Tony Wanger, prompted me to wonder how does teaching problem solving and critical thinking skills in schools socially and economically benefit students? Both of these videos touched on critical thinking and problem-solving skills and their importance in educating today's work force, but Tony Wanger blew me away with High Tech High, a Sandiego high, middle, and elementary school dedicated to teaching problem solving skills to a wide range of students (Wanger). This school system was an excellent model of students working on their own to create, utilize problem solving skills, and display their hard work. This gave me the idea that we need to shift our education to focus on critical thinking and problem-solving skills to better benefit students entering the work force.
With the added pressure to do well in school, standardized testing becomes a means to added stress, anxiety and further complicates the pressure to succeed in a student’s life. Rather than a focus on learning and understanding, school has become a massive rope skill memorization test designed to have students memorize subjects to pass the test, and forget the material the next minute for the next test. When asked to speak about standardized testing, education chairman, Larry Taylor, said “It’s heart-wrenching, and it’s also insanity when you see the level of achievement these kids are already doing and yet they can’t even pass this test.” (Smith). The utilization of standardized testing further exemplifies and validates the idea that no matter how hard or long you work in school, your work will never be worth the few answers you write for the
Have you ever wondered what is the point of Standerdized Tests, and why Students are taking so them so much? Some people think the amount of time students spend on testing is fine, and others think we should change it. I think we should reduce standardized testing time because the tests don’t always show what a students knows, they take too much classtime, and they are too stressful.
What once began as a simple test administered to students yearly to measure understanding of a particular subject has, as Kohn (2000) has stated, “Mutated, like a creature in one of those old horror movies, to the point that it now threatens to swallow our schools whole” (p.1). Today’s students are tested to an extent that is unparalleled in not only the history of our schools, but to the rest of the world as well. Step into any public school classroom across the United States and it will seem as if standardized testing has taken over the curriculum. Day after day teachers stress the importance of being prepared for the upcoming test. Schools spend millions of dollars purchasing the best test preparation materials, sometimes comes at the cost of other important material. Although test
Standardized testing is not an effective way to test the skills and abilities of today’s students. Standardized tests do not reveal what a student actually understands and learns, but instead only prove how well a student can do on a generic test. Schools have an obligation to prepare students for life, and with the power standardized tests have today, students are being cheated out of a proper, valuable education and forced to prepare and improve their test skills. Too much time, energy, and pressure to succeed are being devoted to standardized tests. Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students.
In our ever evolving society we seem to be having a greater affinity to technical jobs and careers more integrated with our technology. It appears that we are heading into a world of Science, Technology , Engineering, and Mathematics or STEM. The STEM fields that are rapidly increasing relate to jobs that deal quite a bit with our newer technology and the creation and development of new and more efficient technologies. To compliment this increase in STEM careers, we need to focus our time, energy, and most of all capital on the lackluster STEM program in our school systems.
A STEM education is a necessity in the United States because the country is lacking knowledgeable people in such fields. However, one is better equipped for multiple job and career positions with the addition of a liberal arts education. It is nearly impossible to transition to different careers with only vocational training. In 2003, the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development studied math and science literacy among fifteen year olds. The United States was ranked number twenty-four in math literacy (Drew 27). They are behind countries such as Finland, Slovak Republic, and Hungary. Likewise, the United States was ranked number nineteen in science literacy (Drew 27). It is obvious that the country is behind. STEM education needs to be reformed at the secondary and post-secondary levels of schooling. Katrina Trinko, a member of USA TODAY’s Board of Contributors, agrees that more emphasis should be placed on STEM education; however, this emphasis should not be at the sacrifice of a good liberal arts education. She writes, “Even technology wizards can become more innovative with a solid background in liberal arts” (Trinko 6). A liberal arts education is beneficial to people in all career fields.