The Negative Impact of High Stakes Standardized Testing

Great controversy has arisen over standardized testing in recent years. The issue is whether or not schools should continue to administer standardized tests. These tests are dangerous to school systems and should be abolished as they are ineffective, punish teachers and students unfairly, and there are better alternatives.

Standardized tests are largely unnecessary, ineffective, and overused. Despite the enormous monetary resources and hours that companies pour into the making of standardized tests, the unholistic pen and pencil approach of these tests tends to assess students' test-taking ability rather than their actual intelligence. All this new testing leaves less time for classroom learning than generations past. This time may seem negligible at first; however, it adds up considering the number of ACTs, SATs, graduation and annual state tests students take over their academic career. What little time left is sacrificed for busy work and teaching for the tests. Nevertheless, who can blame teachers when the results of standardized tests determine their job performance? The tests were mainly designed to showcase the efforts of teachers and schools to the state, and a reduction of standardized tests is integral to fixing our educational

Although standardized testing has been a major part of schooling it has also had a negative impact on effective education. Standardized has made a huge impact on public schooling so much that not only does it affect the students but also the teachers. With the teachers now beginning to get raises or having their jobs on the line if their students fail the test, many students have not been getting the fullest education process that they could get. Students may not realize the impact that it has had on the type of teaching style that they receive because they are so used to it. With so many teachers not having a lot of time to teach what is on the test and the other things that they feel are important to students to know, a lot of

Standardizing testing and the way it damages the school system. According to 11 Problems Created by the Standardized Testing Obsession,”“Standardized tests are being used in high-stakes ways to evaluate and punish teachers.This

Standardized Testing can be both a benefit to the educational community and a very serious problem. Standardized Testing is said to have negative effects on both the students and the teachers. Standardized Testing has created many problems and has become a very big factor in politics. Some people argue that the government is influencing the education system. While others believe that the government isn’t involved enough. There are many pros and cons to both but the cons outnumber the pros.

Standardized Testing is one of the many issues currently plaguing the education community. Testing is a very touchy and controversial topic in the politics of education, particularly in the United States. There are many varying opinions debating on the successes and failures in the process of testing today. The controversies over standardized testing in the United State, and specifically New Jersey, stem from the testing process and the creation of these tests. Some claim that standardized tests are culturally biased, which is a disadvantage to minority students. These tests also are very costly, and affect the education budget. The tests also pose a large time commitment, with preparation for the tests, as well as the time allotted to take the tests themselves. Preparations for the tests can also have issues, with some educators teaching toward the test, to ensure a higher success rate for the students. The grading and processing of these tests also comes into question, because the tests might not be an accurate measure of student achievement. Standardized testing is a very controversial topic because of the extremely high stakes. The successes or failures of students on these tests affect the students and the schools. With the new obsession with high performance rates, standardized testing has become more high stakes.

Recently, the amount of standardized testing in the United States increased drastically. “Students are taking between ten and twenty standardized tests, depending on the grade. A total average of one hundred thirteen different ones by graduation”(Locker). A few years ago the United States, along with other nations, was given a test to assess the academic strengths and weaknesses of each nation and rank them accordingly. When the results were released and the United States was ranked near the bottom, the nation decided to start incorporating more testing through school. Between benchmark, TLI, PARCC, and common core standards, teaching pedagogy changed once again. Standardized testing has had a negative effect on teachers

In order for students to score higher, teachers edit the curriculum drastically, change teaching methods, and sometimes resort to dishonesty (5-8). According to a 1990 survey cited by Katie Young in her article, What’s So Bad About Standardized Testing?, nine percent of teachers admitted to cheating to raise test scores. Furthermore, many teachers unintentionally become angry and frustrated with low scoring students, resulting in a more hostile and uncomfortable learning environment. Both teachers and students feel discouraged and suddenly unmotivated after scoring poorly, which eventually affects the entire learning atmosphere (4-5). In How Standardized Testing Damages Education, an article by the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, standardized testing is described as “developmentally inappropriate” (1). The overwhelming amount of pressure that accompanies standardized testing can severely affect students, administration, and the school system as a whole.

Lots of people believe there are both good and bad things about Standardized Testing and both sides have strong evidence to them. If there is no evidence that people understand what is being taught, then how do we know that they get it? If we move onto a new chapter of life without testing our knowledge on subjects, they will quit school early on or be doomed to an unfruitful life. It is an imperative part of a student’s journey through out their school and career (Kumeh 6). The opposing side to this argument is that Standardized Testing has become pressured or piled on

Standardized tests are bad for teachers and students alike, and affect many aspects of their lives negatively. For example, many teachers’ jobs can depend on their student’s scores on a standardized test, and so they “teach to the test” rather than ensuring that their students have a good understanding of the entire topic. The tests fail to measure student’s overall growth, and only determine each student’s proficiency at the time of testing. The large amount of stress that is placed on students and teachers by these tests negatively affects their mental and emotional health. Finally, standardized tests create disadvantages to those who do poorly on them, and these disadvantages can affect the rest of their futures.

Students often feel the stress that comes from standardized testing. Often times, parents feel the stress of standardized testing as well. A study conducted by Osburn, Stegman, Stuitt, and Ritter of the University of Arkansas, found that some parents feel pressure to help their child score well on the standardized tests. (p. 85, 2004) Although this study showed that the majority of parent felt little pressure to help their children pass standardized tests, it is noted that this study was conducted within a high-performing district and that parents from a low performing district may feel differently. (Osburn et al, p. 88, 2004) Students are feeling more pressure to pass the standardized tests as a result of the increased emphasis that is placed on them to ensure academic success. One of the ways the standardized testing is effecting students is by having an excessive amount of time spent in test preparation. As stated before, teachers were spending a large percentage of their day teaching to test. During this time, students are becoming increasingly bored and feeling burnout. (Blazer, p. 3, 2011) According to Blazer (2011), “Major research has stated that high-stakes decisions should not be made on the basis of a single test score because a test only provides a “snapshot” of student achievement and ay not accurately reflect an entire year’s worth of student progress and achievement.” (p. 5) Many educators feel that standardized tests to not accurately measure students’

Standardized testing, “an examination that's administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner” (Popham, “Why Standardized Tests Don't Measure Educational Quality“), has been around since approximately a century ago and is deemed as the ideal ‘calculator’ to determine the strengths and weaknesses in the education system in the United States of America. Although it is heavily flawed, the United States will not revoke this process or alter it because it has been deemed as a ‘set’ method in determining the level of education America has achieved. The method of standardized testing is problematic because it does not accurately measure

After 1965, preparation for mandatory standardized testing began to take over traditional teaching techniques and curriculum plans in the classroom. These tests are designed to measure a student's skill level in relation to other students who take the same test. Schools are being transformed "from centers of learning to centers of test preparation."(Wetzel,Bill) Teaching to the test has caused an uproar between teachers, students, and administrators globally, nationally, state-wide, and locally. There are many positive and negative perspectives when it comes to standardized testing and teaching solely to the test. Is maintaining a good reputation for schools such a priority that valuable class

Standardized testing puts a bucket load of stress on students. Over the years, the role played by the teacher has changed. Now the teacher puts more effort into helping the students prepare for tests rather than putting time into their regular teaching duties. Standardized tests also narrow out other curriculums such as art, foreign languages, etc. By narrowing down certain subjects in the classroom, one topic gets brought up more often than another. Standardized testing also affects the student post testing. The effects of standardized testing truly shape the student’s and teacher’s perception on learning at school.

For years children in our education system have been pressured to fit into the standard of standardized tests. The reality of the tests are that everyone is given the same “standard” test and then it is graded in a predetermined standard manner. Standardized tests have made life easier for educators but the students are suffering. There are many loop holes in this type of testing causing whats known as a fair test to be extremely unfair. Standardized testing creates a system that undermines success and a culture of “teaching to the test.”