Why Is Standardized Testing Bad

Currently, standardized tests do not improve the education of students in America. Standardized testing is not an accurate measure of student’s knowledge because they are designed to test an extremely broad amount of students who do not have the same educational background. This makes it incredibly difficult to test students across the world on the same level and expect their scores to reflect their education. Standardized testing, by definition, is any test containing the same questions that is administered to a vast group of people for the purpose of comparing different student’s test scores. This issue is important because it affects the entire academic community, positively and negatively. Therefore, all teachers, students, school staff, and test administrators have some involvement with standardized testing. The vast majority of people in America have taken a standardized test sometime in their life, which makes these tests vital in the

We shouldn’t have to take standardized tests because they don’t provide any feedback on how to perform better. The tests treat everyone who takes them feel identical, they don’t make you feel different. These tests make create a huge amount of stress on teachers and students. Most test takers can handle certain levels of stress but others can’t handle any amount. There should be other options that schools and colleges could use or get rid of the tests all

My first reason standardized tests are not a good idea is that they overpopulate the schools. Texas takes 15 and Indiana takes 5. The tests take away time from learning more about a subject. Our country as a whole takes way to many standardized tests. standardized tests are overpopulating schools and not letting kids learn more parts of the subjects.

Standardized testing is not an effective way to test the skills and abilities of today’s students. Standardized tests do not reveal what a student actually understands and learns, but instead only prove how well a student can do on a generic test. Schools have an obligation to prepare students for life, and with the power standardized tests have today, students are being cheated out of a proper, valuable education and forced to prepare and improve their test skills. Too much time, energy, and pressure to succeed are being devoted to standardized tests. Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students.

In the world today standardized testing is mandatory in all schools whether they are public or private. If schools continue to make these test mandatory, students grades will show the reflection of what they are not learning. The school might also receive less state funding due to poor performance on these tests. Once No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was introduced US students slipped from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st in 2009 (Standardized). Standardized testing is not beneficial overall because it does not cater to all students, they do not cover real-life topics, and they are detrimental to students.

Some would argue that standardized tests test everybody on the same level and it shows how well the students are taught by the teachers. This is true but not everybody learns on the same level and some don’t take tests very well.

“Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will spend its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Albert Einstein, a German-born physicist. This quote is referring perfectly to standardized testing by saying something along the lines of, you can’t judge a student’s ability to perform well in school by giving him/her a standardized test. Standardized testing is wrong just because not all students can perform well on a test, including myself. Administration often want to take the easiest way out to collect the data they need to place students in classes instead placing them according to something else; or in such way that is fair to all students. Education is a big part of our nation today with one of the biggest components being standardized testing, which does not accurately measure full capabilities of students from elementary on up to the high school level.

According to the educators and parents, standardized testing, in its current form, is a bad idea for the following nine reasons — stakes are too high, test scores can’t accurately measure learning, teachers are “teaching to the test”, standardized testing eats up instruction time, high stakes have led to cheating and score manipulation, tests include cultural bias, poor timing keeps teachers from utilizing test results and the test anxiety impedes learning

In the United States, standardized testing is being used everywhere around the country. There has been controversy on whether it is actually an effective way of testing. These tests are deemed to be important to schools, since teachers spend countless hours trying to get students to master what will be on the test. This interferes with engaging lessons in which students spend less time learning and spend more time memorizing. These tests require a certain amount of hours to be taken, which interfere with valuable class time. Not only do these tests do absolutely nothing except restrict the learning environment of a student, they are inequitable, they don’t adequately measure a student's

The people scoring the tests do not directly know any of the students that they are scoring. This means that all of the students are being tested and scored the same way. To supporters of standardized tests, this may sound like the definition of equality, but it is far from it. “Equality does not mean everyone gets the same thing because we are all inherently different. Equality is recognizing differences and making sure everyone gets the same opportunity based on those differences...” (Noelle Christine, Figment.com) Standardized tests ignore the fact that every child is different. Instead, they act as if every child is the same; as if they all think the same, learn the same, and have the same experiences. For instance, on a standardized test I had a few years ago, the prompt was to write about your experience on an airplane. I had never been on an airplane, so all I could write about was what I imagined being on an airplane might be like. That prompt was unfair because the students who had the experience of being on an airplane had a better chance of scoring high on that essay than the students, like me, who hadn’t had the experience. Treating everybody as if they were the same person is unreasonable and

Through the creation of the No Child Left Behind initiative in 2001, the government started requiring every state to set content standards for each grade level, as well as develop ways to assess student progress with meeting specified standards (Guide,22). The amount of standardized tests in schools have increased, but not everyone shares the belief that they are effective to students’ overall learning. Therefore, the purpose of this research, is to answer some of the toughest questions regarding standardized testing which include, is standardized testing an effective measurement of student ability? As well as, is standardized testing beneficial to students?

Tenth grade students find the Pennsylvania standardized testing so unnecessary. This testing technique produces unpredictable results, which grants the Pennsylvania state, and other high schools to review and create their own observation when accessing these tests. The three standardized tests a student must get proficiency or above on is mathematics, biology, and English literature. High school teachers tell the majority of their students how their jobs depend on the results of their test. This often enables students to make certain that their teachers keep their teaching jobs. On the other hand, high school administrators tell the students that if they do not pass these tests, then they will not graduate on time. They make it seem like these

Standardized testing is a down fall to many students but also an opportunity for many others. Standardized testing has its pros and its cons. It can be the make it or break it factor into getting into colleges you are hoping to attend or the scholarships you want to earn. Some people may have their opinions about the test, whether they hate it or not but the fact is that it’s here to stay.

Imagine being slouched over a test booklet thinking,”A,B,C or D, which one is it?” Who wants to go through that? Standardized tests are not necessary for student to take. They stress out some people, testing takes to long to complete, and the results take too long to return.

Standardized testing increased the amount of stress on students significantly. They also don’t measure the quality of teachers and what students do and don’t know. Why should schools continue paying for a test that doesn’t help? If your school district has standardized testing, you could contact your school board and discuss the burden that standardized testing is. Another option is to start a petition against standardized testing and show it to your principle. Let’s end standardized testing so you never feel the pressure of the clock’s thundering ticks ever