Analysis: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed With Standardized Testing
There is a Problem with Standardized Testing
In today’s education department, the success of a student is determined by their ability to excel on a standardized test. However, society is starting to debate whether standardized tests should actually determine whether a student passes to the next level. In both Anaya Kamenetz’s book and TV documentary, The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed with Standardized Testing but You Don’t Have to Be, she describes problems in within the school system, ultimately leading the corruption and mistrust of the school system. The book review and Book TV have a lot of similarities and differences regarding the way the author’s views are expressed.
On Book TV there was a book discussion on Cspan with Anaya Kamenetz where she talked about her latest book, The Test. Standardize tests such as the S.T.A.R and S.A.T can be over-whelming for many students because these tests determine where they are in terms of their skill levels. The Test is about the failures in American schools, targeting an audience of parents and teachers with children. Every child has a different way of learning; in most cases, there are some children that learn slower than others, and the modified tests are given to them are even more difficult than the regular tests. However, sometimes their
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Preparing for these standardized tests puts pressure on teachers, because there are deadlines that the students need to learn the objectives for each section on the tests. Kamenetz mentioned that in public schools, there are a large number of students that are failing based off of standardized test results; most of those students are in poverty. She also talks about different assessments for these teenagers to feel more confident and overcome their test anxiety for test preparation; it gives these children a chance to do better in the
Is Standardized Testing Bad
1212 Words | 5 PagesExploratory Paper: Is Standardized Testing Bad? Standardized testing has been around in one form or the other for centuries based on historical data which shows its use way back in imperial China and was used to determine the strengths and talents of individuals so that they could be effectively used in the emperor’s service. In the 19th century Great Britain introduced standardized testing to its’ territories and eventually Europe. The United States introduced standard testing to its citizens in the late 20th century and has rapidly integrated this testing tool into the nation’s public school system.
Standardized Testing Argumentative Essay
1229 Words | 5 PagesStandard testing is a very controversial and important subject because it deals with the progression of the American education system. The practice of these assessments has been highly scrutinized not only for the way it has changed the format of classrooms, but also for its accuracy, pressure, and abundance. In 2001, standardized testing became federally mandated through the No Child Left Behind Act by former president George Bush Jr. According to research from the Council of the Great City Schools, students have been taking “an average of 113 tests from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade” (K. Hefling). These numbers have increased to the point where parents have opted for their children to not attend standardized exams.
Standardized Tests Are Destroying American Education
292 Words | 2 PagesEducation is most important item in our today’s society. However, education is also a social capital matter, due to the unity between student, parents, teachers and politicians. Jesse Hagopian had discussed in his lecture how standardized tests are destroying the American educational system because it forces the teacher to teach the students how to answer right on the test, rather than teaching them the important life skill. In addition, the standardized tests are very biased on areas where the student is from. In poorer areas, the school may not able to afford better technology or provide prep classes, compared to wealthier school.
Standardized Testing Rhetorical Analysis
769 Words | 4 PagesStandardized testing has become a very controversial topic amongst the nation. There are two sides, one that agrees that these tests are doing well for students and school officials, and another that argues that these tests are hurting the students taking them and should be put to a stop. Norman R. Augustine wrote an article for the need of standardized testing, and Jessie B. Ramey States the ways that the tests are impairing the learning capability of the students. Norman uses three arguments that people opposing the standardized test would most often use.
Should Standardized Testing Be Required
894 Words | 4 PagesThe idea that one test can accumulate all of one student’s academic abilities is no longer accurate. Today, the standardized tests that are used not only discriminate against the non wealthy families, it also is not an accurate reading of all of one’s abilities in and out of school. The tests also have become such a huge focus in the classroom that it is beginning to take away the process of learning in a classroom and being replaced with memorization to get good test scores. The standardized tests do not need to disappear all together, however the tests need a lot of revising if the states continue to use them as they do
Standardized Testing Persuasive Essay
647 Words | 3 PagesIn fact, the increasing use of standardized testing will do more damage than good, because of its failure to capture the entirety of a student’s body of work. Furthermore, the overwhelming stress that the United States government, and school systems have placed on the usage of standardized tests has become detrimental to American education, and is not the most effective way to gauge the intelligence of American students. The American educational system should be fixated on providing each child enough attention and information so they can succeed in that class and in the future. However, the increasing focus on having to pass a standardized test has blinded schools of the real goal, because they are required to get their students to pass the standardized tests.
Essay Against Standardized Testing
1229 Words | 5 PagesGoing Against the Standard According to Tim Walker, “Only 14% of parents say standardized testing is important in measuring school effectiveness” (Walker). A standardized test is a test that is given in a consistent or “standard” manner. Standardized tests are designed to have consistent questions, administration procedures, and scoring procedures. When a standardized test is administered, it is done so according to certain rules and specifications so that testing conditions are the same for all test takers. They often provide some type of “standard score” which can help interpret how far a child score ranges from the average student (Johnson).
The Argument Against Standardized Testing In Texas
1597 Words | 7 PagesThe state of Texas has been in a constant struggle within itself over just how to evaluate education, and standardized testing in Texas has been a major influencer in terms of the state’s standards for over thirty years. Though these methods of testing have been utilized for decades, resentment to the tests have been continuously rising among educators, parents, and students, but not everyone agrees. Despite government officials trying to quell these protests with changes to administration, and the way the test itself is formatted and formulated, there seems to have been little to no improvement made and those opposing the tests have started calling for an end to all standardized testing. For one to truly understand this ongoing struggle, one must first look at standardized testing’s beginning, then how government today is trying to fix the broken system, and finally consider the opinions of notable figures in the testing world.
Post-Traumatic Stress Disorders: What Are Roadblocks?
1695 Words | 7 PagesFor some, standardized tests become more than just the average little road block they are meant to be, they can become the wreck that changes one’s life. Standardized tests began all the way back in the 1800’s with the use heightening when the No Child Left Behind Act went into place in 2001, then mandating that all 50 states had to
Standardized Testing Policy Analysis Essay
3389 Words | 14 PagesMoreover, standardized testing is more about the craft of test-taking rather than a proper understanding of the material. Affluent families, schools, and districts can better afford additional resources, increasing the inequity of such testing. As such, educators in low-performance schools are under extra pressure to raise test scores, which puts even more pressure on these students. Therefore, standardized testing ultimately perpetuates inequities and reinforces the educational achievement
Essay On Limiting Standardized Testing
573 Words | 3 PagesThe average American student takes about 112 standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade (Strauss). A standardized test is any form of test that requires the student to answer the same selection of common questions in a consistent matter, which makes it possible to compare relative student performance. Standardized tests restrict creativity, waste time, and waste money. We should get rid of standardized tests in our school system. Standardized tests limit a student’s ability to express creativity.
Standardized Testing Essay
1594 Words | 7 PagesMeredith Broussard explains how standardized testing does not prove a child’s general knowledge nor creative in-depth thinking by stating, “Standardized tests are not based on general knowledge... they are based on specific knowledge contained in specific sets of books: the textbooks created by the test makers” (Broussard). Miner also states that standardized testing, “... leads to a dumbed-down curriculum that values rote memorization over in-depth thinking, exacerbates inequities for low-income students and students of color, and undermines true accountability among schools, parents, and community” (Miner). The assessment of a child should encourage a child to want to learn for the sake of learning. Alternative assessments could address a child’s development and learning process. These evaluations can determine why children are more likely to read behind grade level, instead of highlighting their inabilities.
Standardized Testing In Public Schools
1191 Words | 5 PagesSchool’s are using standardized testing for the wrong reason. “A standardized test is any examination that’s administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. There are two major kinds of standardized tests: aptitude tests and achievement tests” (Popham, 1999). The most common examples of aptitude tests are the SAT and the
Disadvantages Of Standardized Testing In The United States
1352 Words | 6 PagesTime and preparation is “needed” for the younger grades. “Even though first-grade students would not be made to take any standardized tests until the third grade, they would spend the next two years practicing and preparing for the test” (Malott, Marie, and Curry). Not all of the time will be used to “teach to the test.” Students will gradually work towards the test, but teaching the young kids all the information needed will take time, slower students may need more time than others. Time is nearly everything when it comes to standardized testing.
Thesis Statement: The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing
1749 Words | 7 PagesIntroduction Standardized tests may be used for a wide variety of educational purposes. For example, they may be used to determine a young child’s readiness for kindergarten, identify students who need special-education services or specialized academic support, place students in different academic programs or course levels, or award diplomas and other educational certificates. Thesis Statement Standardized tests should not be eliminated completely, but should rather be evaluated in addition to other factors such as grades, extracurricular activities, and volunteer hours. This would take pressure off of students during standardized tests, allow colleges to see how well-rounded the students are, and give students who are better in other areas
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