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The Importance Of Standardized Testing In Public Schools

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The word achievement can be defined as the successful execution of an act. In learning, achievement is the furthering of one's knowledge, typically through an instructional environment provided to the learner; such as public schools. In the large majority of public school systems today, the quality of a student's academic performances and the ability of the teachers who instruct these students are based on the highly controversial yearly standardized testing structure. This structure requires all test-takers to answer a fixed amount of similarly based questions to provide what many presume is an accurate measure of that student’s in-school achievement. However, many others believe these methods are inconclusive and unfair when determining an individual's expertise in a specific area. An award-winning author, Jeannie Fulbright, was once quoted saying “If the purpose of learning is to score well on a test, we've lost sight in the real reason for learning”. In this quote, Fulbright conveys her displeasure with the current standardized testing methods in place. She is not alone in her distaste with this most common evaluation of young learners. This approach is widely criticized due to the level of stress it places on students, as well as it’s forcing of educators to concentrate on keeping pace with a curriculum centered around a test rather than their pupil’s comprehension of a topic. In view of the basis of these opinions against yearly standardized testing, the procedures in
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