Two Sides Of Standardized Testing In The United States

Standardized testing is used throughout every grade in school today. There is a lot of controversy surrounding the use of standardized testing to access students’ progress. Many teachers feel that they must teach to the test and parents feel that their child is spending too much time testing and not enough time learning. According to a new study, preschools spend an average of 4.8 hours, third graders spend an average of 20.6 hours, eighth graders spend an average of 25.3 hours, and eleventh graders spend an average of 22.5 hours on testing (Layton, 2015). Although, some parents, teachers, and schools feel that standardized testing have a purpose and show the growth of their schools and classrooms, many parents and teachers are fighting to have standardized test limited or removed from schools, because they feel that standardized testing are becoming harmful to students.

Imagine a test capable of making or breaking a student's chances of getting into his or her dream college. Imagine a test score that can be easily influenced, but only through thousands of dollars worth of coaching. Now imagine that same test but biased towards certain crowds of students while also being incapable of accurately predicting their futures. Is this the test you want for colleges to use in order to distinguish students? This is the SAT—famous for the unnecessary pressure it presents to students as well as the unfair disadvantages it presents to many others. Since these SAT scores are extremely artificial, SAT tests are not an accurate predictor for future success.

Standardized testing is used to tell students level in certain areas of academics; however, it is actually a waste of time and money.

The problem here is that the states concentrate way more than they should in testing. Yes, testing might determine facts and what not but it sure doesn’t determine someone's intelligence. Most teachers now a day’s just teach the test, not what they’re supposed to be taught

How I feel about standardized tests is that they get me really stressed out and they are scary. I believe i'm a a bad test taker because when someone hands me a test I forget everything I learned over the year and just freak out and stare at the paper. Yes, I believe ever since Kindergarten iv'e been like this. Fun fact is that when I was taking my STAR test in second grade I peed myself thinking I was going to fail but it was a practice STAR test, I was bullied ever since. I prepare for a standardized test by going over what I learned at midnight, that way I don't freak out and stress or sometimes eating makes me feel more confident about myself. I believe that when they give you gum before taking the test helps, because it distracts you of

Why do we take so many standardized testing each year? That is a question that students at my school ask all the time. The end of the school year is the best and the worst time. Summer is right around the corner, but we still have all our standardized testing to take. It causes so much pressure and stress for all students, teachers and even some of the parents. It is one test for your subject to prove everything you know and have been learning the whole year. I do understand how there is pros and cons of standardized testing, But I believe that the cons overpower the pros. Standardized testing has not improved student achievement (Is the use of standardized testing improving education in America?)

I feel the emphasis on testing unfairly focuses on funding rather than the education of the students. With teachers and administration fighting to keep their schools open cheating is occurring at an increasing rate and results are inaccurate. I feel it is important to teach the students what needs to be taught, rather than worrying about the abundance of test prep. The stress to perform well on standardized

"Study says standardized testing is overwhelming nation's public schools." The Washington Post. WP Company, 24 Oct. 2015. Web. 09 Mar. 2017. This source provides statistics to demonstrate the dramatic increase of standardized testing and specific examples to establish the effects these tests can have on a learning environment. It is stated that a typical student takes an average of 112 mandated standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade. While one of the reasons behind the excessive amounts of testing is to improve America’s academic competitiveness, most countries that rank higher that the U.S. in academic’s test students three times throughout their entire school career. This source suggests that the problem comes from tests being mandated by multiple sources, Congress, the U.S. Department of Education, and state and local governments. While every test is mandated for a different reason, the main priority is not the benefit of the children. An example utilized to demonstrate the detrimental effects of excessive testing is a K-8 Pilot School in Boston. Individual, 90 minute reading tests are required every year. This causes teachers to spend over 60 hours of class time not teaching. Although many people support the use of standardized tests, excessive testing is still recognized as a problem from multiple sides of the argument. The president of the Education Trust, an advocacy group focused on reducing the achievement gap, believes there is

Standardized testing causes a lot of stress. Kids should not have to experience so much stress at such a young age. A little boy in third grade developed anxiety due to his school’s required standardized testing(Too Much Stress). Students are tested a lot. Those who have to take a standardized test take, on average, one test a month, but sometimes as frequently as two times a month(Too Many Tests). Tests can turn the most enthusiastic kids into sad, moody, and scared children. I’ve seen my own friends become practically a whole different person because of a huge test they had coming up. Parents were even noticing a change in personality in their

Standardized testing just adds to the long list of tests taken by student every year. Council of the Great City Schools Study says that a typical student takes 112 mandated tests between Pre-K and 12th grade. That doesn’t count tests that are given on a regular basis. The heaviest testing falls on the nation’s 8th grade.According to Washington Post, the average 8th grader spends 25.3 hours a year taking standardized tests. Having that many tests a year is stressful to both the student and the teacher. Teachers feel they need to prepare for the tests, which cuts out on the time that lessons can be taught. Standardized testing is too much for a student to handle along with all the other tests and homework they have.

I think the schools is putting to much emphasis on the Standardized Test. I think the government is trying to make the standardized test hard and hard each year I think the government wanna make the students in the school's fail there test's. Because it's no point they making the test hard and hard for the students to pass I think they should be making the test easier for the students to pass and get out of the school early so they don't have to worry about school no more. I think the parents of the kids that fail the Standardized test should have a protest go up to Washington D.C go to the white house and stand by the gates and protest. The government would listen to the kids that's not a factor to them government only care about the money

Standardized testing usage in the United States has increased since the No Child Left Behind Act was passed in 2002. The purpose of these exams is to assess the skills and knowledge a student should be receiving from school. These tests occur annually, and often have high stakes for the students being tested. However, despite all the testing, the United States is ranked 20th globally in terms of its education system. On the other hand, Finland has been 1st since the year 2000, and their use of standardized testing is practically nonexistent. Do tests accurately assess a student’s performance? Studies show that testing does not properly measure the value of the education a student receives, and often tests discriminate against students who are

Standardized testing is a test that involves all students in the same age group or grade level to take the same test with the same question. One of the purposes of standardized testing is that it uses a numerical component in test scoring reinsure that all students can be measure on the same scale. Grade point average is the only other way you can compare students but grade point average is not reliable because students have different teachers for different subjects for different years. Standardized testing help provide a reliable numerical indicator. Standardized testing comes in many shapes and forms, one of the most common forms of standardized testing is multiple choices but it can also include short answer, true and false, essay questions and a mixture of all questions types. Standardized testing is mostly done on paper using a pencil but know with some test they are starting to compose computerized standardized test. Educators consider standardized testing to be an important part of student testing because when it comes to grading the test it takes away from teachers being bias and potential favoritism.

A final perspective is through those that are opting their kids out from testing. “As standardized testing increases in public schools, so do concerns about its consequences. In a recent national poll, 60 percent of parents agreed there was too much emphasis on standardized testing in schools. And in cities across the country, those concerns are turning into a live political issue. Some are calling it a movement — the opt-out movement.” (Sanchez). Parents react to standardize testing due to the experiences of their child(ren) and the schools their child(ren) attend. It affects a parent as much as it does to their child(ren) because naturally they worry about them. But parents’ do get a report card every six weeks, and can follow their progress

It doesn’t matter if you're in Elementary school, Middle school or even High school everybody in school has to take test in every subject for everything. Year after year you come back to school just to retake the same test you did last year to see if your in the average scoring that you should be for your class grade year. I believe that schools should not test students with a standardized test to see if they are where they need to be. Many kids learn at a different speed, it's wasting a lot of money and we should have different test for different people on how to test them to see if there where they need to be.