The Importance Of Exit Reflecting On Student Education

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

On account of high school students having to take a standardized test to graduate, one reason why this intake is unnecessary and irrelevant is because different schools teach different things. According to the article, “Should A Standardized Test Be A Requirement For High School Graduation?”, it suggests, “The standardized test

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 The need for standardized testing has proven to be ineffective and outdated; some leading educationalist also believe this because the tests do not measure a student’s true potential.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.

Currently, there are around 37 thousands schools in the United States. Each year, there are more than a million students that applying for college institutions (National Center for Educational Statistics). As an university admission office, it is often difficult to select students based on numbers and words that show up on their application without knowing the applicant. Since there are many factors and can impact a student’s high school experience and performance, it is unfair to be comparing every student in the United States with a same standard. In order to minimize these differences, standardized tests were invented along with the No Child Left Behind act in 2001 which enforced all students to participate. Ideally, standardized tests are objective and graded by computer. The test is expected to be evaluating all students with the same standards. While the educators and designers of the standardized tests focus on generating a test that allows them to compare all students fairly, they abandon the fact that all students’ resources and backgrounds are inevitably different. Assuming that all elements of an educational system serve to benefit students’ learnings, standardized testing is an inadequate method of evaluation due to its negative impact on students and teachers’ mindsets, inaccuracy in evaluation of students’ abilities, and the

The last theme I found presented in these sources is measurement of student success. Source number one, “Are Exams Bad for Children?”, explains that we can find better ways to measure a student’s learning abilities. Stephanie Schneider says, “More reliable methods of assessment can provide meaningful information that assist student learning, rather than a test that often serves as a punitive device” (30). The

Additionally, standardized tests have the ability to make or break a student. Today, children are being failed, denied access to an advanced program or school, or even refused a high school diploma on the basis of a single standardized test (Sacks 3). Moreover, these tests can determine whether students will spend their summer vacation on the beach or sweating out summer school. Since standardized tests have a great deal of power, students are forced to prepare for them rather than learn valuable knowledge, simply for the sake that they can graduate or enter into the program or school of their choice.

State Senator, Kel Seliger, wants a law that allows students to graduate without passing required tests. However, this bill has received many criticism, due to people being against lowering the standards for all Texas students. Nonetheless, the Senator and his supporters argue that it is a fantastic idea. Numerous students will be able to graduate as long as they meet the requirements of an “individual graduation committee”. They argue that many students who failed the required tests is due to a learning disability such as dyslexia, English not being the person’s native language, and etc. For example, they mention a Flower Mound who failed a required course and now has a 3.6 GPA at Oklahoma Christian University.

The law that reduced the amount of exams seems to be a triumph for many students and their parents. However, Texas has lowered their standards and don’t realize that this might affect students in the future. Their way of spoon-feeding a senior will teach the senior that they do not need to work towards what they want. Besides, the individual will lack the basic understanding of either correct grammar or how cells originate all because they were exempt from passing those exams. Therefore, students who take the EOC’s should be taught to keep trying instead of giving them an easy way out. The student should take upon motivation given by teachers or principals to practice and study constantly for their success. That way, students can realize that they can accomplish whatever they set their minds to.

Although California Department of Education would argue that the California High School Exit Exam is an effective way to evaluate student progress,some parents, teachers, and California public high school graduates wonder if this test creates a better education system or hinders a student's performance.

almost all schools today students must pass these tests to graduate from high school. These tests

Former State Superintendent Jack O’Connell authored the legislation that created the exit exam when he was a state senator in 1999. The purpose of this exam as stated by the California Department of Education is “to identify students who are not developing skills that are essential for life after high school.” This determines if students’ knowledge and skills are relative to entry-level employment are adequate. Students are tested on

High-stakes grading depends on unknown factors. Under the new tests, students must attain a certain cumulative score on all EOC assessments to graduate, but the state has not yet revealed what this required score will be. Students must also achieve a certain level of performance on EOC assessments for algebra two and english three for enrollment into four year colleges, but once again the state has not yet decided what this number will be. Teachers have determined that EOC tests are written in language three levels way harder than TAKS tests for the same grade level. This means students may know the subject matter, but may not understand what is being asked because test questions are phrased in language beyond their grade level.

The 1980s brought a new reform movement in education, accompanied by a new emphasis on testing. The effort to improve education at all levels included the use of standardized tests to provide accountability for what students are learning. Minimum competency tests, achievement tests, and screening instruments were used to ensure that students from preschool through college reached the desired educational goals and achieved the minimum standards of education that were established locally or by the state education agency. As we continue in a new century, these concerns have increased.

The educational system in the United States has gone through many changes over the last century. These changes are a part of a constant movement toward educational excellence for every child in this nation. One of the most recent acts placed on public school systems by the government is to create more accountability for schools in order to ensure that all children are receiving the proper education. Part of this mandate is that public schools will require students to take tests in order to gather information about their academic achievement. Although educators and administrators claim that the mandatory ability testing programs being initiated in America’s public schools will hold students and teachers accountable for academic

“Our educational goal [is] the production of caring, competent, loving, lovable people” . The students found in the schools across the United State are the future of America. They are the doctors, teachers, business people, lawyers and many other roles, that will be out in the workforce in the years to come. What they learn in school will impact them immensely; it is the responsibility of a teacher to give students the best education in order to ensure the common good of the future. It is essential for students to not only learn content matter, but also the skills to enable them to participate in a democracy. Due to standardized testing, the emphasis of education has become on score and rankings rather than learning. A standardized test does not look at the whole student, the scores provided are on a very narrow aspect of education. In the classroom, there are countless ways for teachers to assess the student as a whole person not as just a score. Standardized tests scores should not be the sole criteria for determining a student’s academic achievement.