The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing In Schools

Standardize tests can be used to evaluate a student's understanding and knowledge in subject area. For example, The Georgia Milestones Assessment System (Georgia Milestones) is a comprehensive summative assessment, which measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state-adopted content standards in English Language Arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Standardize test have a positive effect on instructional decision making in the classroom. Standardize testing can help teachers diagnose student issues, evaluate student academic performance, form small groups, and develop instructional plans.

When people think of the education system, most can say that there are some problems, though they might not be able to pinpoint what needs to change first. If you ask most teachers, they will say that the first thing that needs to be changed in the schooling system to help the students more is the standardized testing. They will say that while it can be helpful it has a lot of faults and needs to be updated or changed to help its students. Standardized testing has often been a topic for discussion, between parents and people in the schooling system. It seems that a lot of people either hate standardized testing for not giving every child a chance to succeed, or love it for being a fair way to test whether a child knows what they need to know at their age. There have been many articles, books, and documentary’s debating on whether or not standardized testing is doing more harm then good. There was a comic made that shows the brutality and bluntness of what standardized testing is really like. Standardized Testing causes too much stress by putting unfair expectations on teens and doesn’t give every single student the chance to succeed.

Texas takes the STAAR, Alabama the ARMT, and Hawaii the HSA. Each state in the U.S. has a standardized test required of every student. From the ACT and SAT to the STAAR tests, standardized testing has become common practice for almost every student. The earliest records of standardized testing are when in China, anyone wanting to get a job in government had to fill out their knowledge of Confucian philosophy and poetry in examination. As more and more kids began to go to school during the Industrial Revolution, standardized testing spread as a way to quickly and easily test a large number of students. But not everyone agrees with the tests, stating that they are unreliable, and that the stakes are too high. Standardized tests cause immense amount of stress for not only students, but teachers as well. And the tests might not even be effective, causing more anxiety than it's worth.

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind law in 2002, standardized testing has been at the center of attention in the educational system. Several schools and teachers have been forced to drill children on the information they will be tested on. Teachers are forced to demonstrate other important topics in order to teach test material. Similar to majority of tests provided in the school system, standardized test have both pros and cons. Generally speaking, standardized testing is a great way to determine a baseline for a child. As Miller (2016) indicated, tests have a multitude of benefits, which include student enthusiasm, peer learning, self-improvement and retention, transfer of learning, student self-assessment, and teacher instructional guidance. Teachers are able to use the data from the standardized tests to build an entire academic plan around the results. Additionally, students and parents are able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each child in order to determine the next steps needed to help bridge any gaps within their academic studies.

Each year high school students from around the country take the SAT or ACT. The ACT and SAT are both standardized test used by colleges to determine the knowledge of a student and predict what their performance will be in their first year of college. An immense amount of pressure is put on student to receive certain scores in order to obtain scholarships and admission into college. Even just one point on a student’s score can determine if they will be accepted into their dream college. However, the results from standardized tests, such as the ACT and SAT, are often inaccurate. Because of this one’s knowledge and academic ability are misrepresented, and they are denied certain opportunities. Standardized tests such as the ACT and the SAT

Jouriles, Greg. “Here’s why we don’t need standardized testing.” Education Week 33.36(2014). 36,40. Web. 22 February 2015.

One of the biggest topics in the educational world is standardized tests. All fifty states have their own standards following the common core curriculum. There are many positives and negatives that go with the standardized tests. A standardized test is any type of “examination that's administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner” (Popham, 1999). These standardized tests are either aptitude tests or achievement tests. Schools use achievement tests to compare students.

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

1.7 billion dollars are spent on standardized tests each year, according to Pearson, by Steve Ferrara, a Ph.D. Research Scientist. All students in grades 3-8 are required to take state standardized tests. It does not even affect students’ grade, it just measures students’ intelligence, unreliably. One test taken in 10 hours determines how smart a student is as well as influence in getting into college. Standardized tests should not be taken anymore because these test are too expensive, too time-consuming, and cause unnecessary stress for students.

Standardized testing has been an inevitable part of life for countless Americans, making them question the validity of their life choices since the third grade. When taking standardized tests, one encounters some obvious drawbacks. Any student who has been forced to take one of the hundreds that exist can recount the tales of stress and feelings of inadequacy that linger after every test taken.

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.

When different colleges and universities consider a student for their admission into their institution they primarily look at a student’s standardized tests scores. These scores could help, or hurt a student in their admission process into their desired college or university. However, standardized test scores do not emit a full analysis of a student being admitted into a certain college or university. Some students are bad test takers, and don’t perform well with standardized tests, and everyone has different speeds. Overall, standardized tests don’t supply enough analysis to show the type of student they could possible be enrolling into their institution. Therefore, colleges should look at a students high school grades and extracurricular

Standardized tests, we start taking them in elementary school, we progress to tougher tests in high school to help us get into college, then there are even harder tests to help us get a job, but how useful, are they? Throughout elementary, middle, and high school they prepare us for these tests, students spend countless hours. As you will see in this paper these tests prepare you from elementary through high school and beyond.

His palms are sweaty, knees weak, arms are heavy. The biggest test of his life is staring him right in the face, but all he can do is try to calm his breathing before he passes out. This young man is suffering from test anxiety, something countless students endure, but have to attempt to get over in order to take a mandatory standardized test, that in no way benefits them in the future. Standardized testing shrinks the curriculum; puts too much emphasis on specific subjects; lowers students’ motivation to learn; is used as an inaccurate comparison between students; includes insignificant information; gives inaccurate evaluations of students; teachers, and schools; and promotes cheating and conformity, and therefore should not be a required part of secondary schooling.

On past standardized tests I did good like at my old school East Oakland Leadership Academy or EOLA for short, I would past the test and if we did good on the test our principal would give us money for doing good on the test so if you had a B throw a B+ You'll get $5 and if u had a A throw a A- you would get a $10 bill. I consider myself being a good test taker when I know how to do the test but then I consider myself a bad test taker when I don't know the material. Yes I always been that way because that's how I just take test when I first started taking the test when the test really was a big thing. I prepare for Standardized test by studying the week before and the week of the test and I also study the day before the test. The night before