A truly inspiring woman once said, “If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that”(Obama). This quote is an excellent example of how even a person so high up in the political world can disagree with the ways of standardized testing and she is Michelle Obama. Even she can admit that if her career was decided on what percent she got on a standardized test she would not be where she is today. In the future if kids just keep believing the test score they get on these tests is what they truly will be then they are definitely not reaching their full potential. Kids often believe that these test scores will decide their future but that is hardly the truth. If these kids really …show more content…
Schools should not be teaching them how to fill in bubbles on a test and brain washing them that these scores will make or break the rest of their lives. Standardized testing should be cut down in schools across America in grades k-12 since they cause easy avoided stress over the grades, they do not improve students abilities, and the system used is harmful to education. The stress caused by these standardized tests can be really easily avoided. The problem with this is that students tend to obsess the letter grades they get on the tests and they obsess too much to the point where they disappoint themselves and their parents if the get a bad grade on the tests. Testing should never be this way, but it still is and we are not doing anything about it. An example would be, “A high-stakes standardized test is precisely that thing that causes the threat. So a student who can do excellent on the same test if it's not told that this is a standardized test will underperform on the same test if he's told that it's …show more content…
This is a good point and it is awesome to have easy accessible grades but this only proves our laziness to put easy to read grades over meaningful and truthful ones. If the grade that you see is the true representation of the understanding and knowledge on that topic then it is definitely a worthwhile one. “Proponents argue that standardized testing is the most efficient method of assessing the performance of students and institutions and of maintaining the quality of education.”(Standardized testing).Standardized testing may be the most proficient and the best looking test scores but that does not mean that they are the best for the students and how the teachers teach the students on the topic. These testing methods often sways teachers just to teach according to what’s going to be on the test but this is not good because there is much more understanding outside of the test. Sometimes tests only show a small portion of what is being teached and don’t truly test kids on their understanding but what they can pick from a little multiple choice bubble. “Tests were used in ancient China, Greece, and Rome to determine fitness for public and government service. Many early testing systems attempted to evaluate reading and writing abilities as well as qualitative characteristics such as creativity. Attempts to codify testing procedures eventually made it
True high-stakes standardized testing was begun in 2001, as part of the No Child Left Behind Act, which was put into place to help make it so that all children would have an equal opportunity to learn, regardless of their race, ethnic background or their families’ income level. While their goals sound admirable, the problem began with the implementation of the act; they wanted to ensure that each child was at least proficient in the standards that they developed, so they decided that testing was the best way to do so (Aske, Connelly & Corman, 2013). The issue with this is that not all students excel at test-taking, and putting so much emphasis on it can cause a student severe stress and anxiety (Colwell, 2013). In 2009, Race to the Top was implemented, but instead of placing less emphasis on testing and more on learning, it made the stakes worse, ensuring that schools that had students who did not perform as well could be shut down, or individual teachers could be fired if they did not show what was considered to be appropriate progress in test scores, which might soon prove impossible since the optimal goal is to reach a level of 100 percent of the students in a school to the proficiency level (Tavakolian & Howell,
Proponents see standardized testing as a way of making testing more efficient and effective by minimizing cost and increasing people’s accountability for their performance in the system. Opponents on the other hand argue that the systems has limitations based on its very nature on what can be tested and as a result of these standards needing to be met sacrifice some very important aspects of students education experience as well as force onto students and teachers a one size fits all model that has failed to deliver on its promises. After having reviewed all the evidence in detail it becomes clear to me that standardized testing is not an effective system for educating students and does more bad than good
In theory these tests are a perfect way to boost the education system but in reality it causes a lot of problems and hasn’t helped all that
Many people have different opinions on whether or not standardized testing should be continued. There have been many disagreements on if standardized tests accurately measure student accomplishments or if they have helped students in the long-run. Numerous teachers do not like “teaching to the test”. Even students are tired of being deprived creativeness in the classroom and they are only learning certain objectives that
Many students are smart and understand the content, but it doesn't show on test scores (Gregory J. Cizek, 2001). In essence, testing brings out stress in even the brightest of students, messing with their heads come test day. The facts show that from the 50 states, 700 school districts claim that standardardized tests are causing greater anxiety than the average everyday assessments (Joseph Spector, 2015). In conclusion, student achievement
A 2001 study conducted by the Brookings Institution found that 50%-80% of year-over-year test score improvements were simply "fluctuations that had nothing to do with long-term changes in learning". Standardized testing doesn't tell really help colleges who is better prepared and who isn't. Because of this, students that might actually be better equipped for college might slip through the cracks, not even considered because the standardized test proved an unfair barrier. Next, standardized testing doesn't test some things that are important to be a good student. I feel that the test cannot measure our creativity, our intuitive ability, nor our critical thinking, among many qualities that can define a truly worthy student.
Although this seems like it could be a good argument against getting rid of standardized tests, teachers have no real control if a student does well in a single test. As W. James Popham, PhD, noted, “standardized achievement tests should not be used to determine the effectiveness of a state, a district, a school, or a teacher. There’s almost certain to be a significant mismatch between what’s taught and what’s tested. ”(“Why Standardized Tests Don't Measure Educational Quality.”).
School’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
Time 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.
Standardized testing is something very familiar to anyone and everyone who has experienced public education since 1926. Teachers hate it, students loathe it, and test makers just get paid for it. A student 's ACT and/or SAT scores are often the deciding factor in which a student is accepted into a college or not. It can also decide how much scholarship money the student will receive if any. According to The Washington Post, lost learning time, loss or curiosity and love of learning, harmful stress, and altered school culture are just some of the negative by-products of these standardized tests.
It is average for a student in high school to take multiple standardized tests that judge how successful they will be in the future. Students tend to be stressed out, under pressure and try to cram everything they’ve learned from the past 18 years of their lives into their head for a test that may mean success or failure. In my opinion, standardized tests should not be mandatory to take for multiple reasons such as people may not be excellent test takers and other factors that come into play when an important day comes up; illnesses, stomach ache, stress, homework, studying and lack of sleep. Standardized testing does not truly test one’s intelligence. It does not let one think for themselves or develop their own thoughts or intellectual
There is a doctor, Thomas Armstrong, that focuses on youth development, and he believes that standardized tests don’t help or let anyone, whether it’s teachers or students, improve. He wrote that “Standardized tests don’t provide any feedback on how to perform better. The results aren’t even given back to the teachers and students until months later, and there are no instructions provided by test companies on how to improve these test scores” (Armstrong). Since the test companies of standardized tests don’t give feedback to teachers and students, it is impossible for them to know what they need to work and improve upon. If students can’t improve their scores, they are stuck either staying in the same spot or downgrading in the education system.
(FairTest). Standardized tests do not allow students to think creatively and encourages teachers to teach to a constricted curriculum instead of more depth of knowledge. Most students are able to achieve a proficient score to meet requirements, but for some it has become a hurdle that has kept them from achieving their diploma. Some at risk students feel overwhelmed and defeated and choose to drop out of high school without receiving a diploma. Trying to be meet a “standardized” test score now limits these students in achieving their full academic potential and may limit their career
Standardized assessments to many others can be considered an important role in the educational system and they believe that they have brilliantly positive effects on improving a student’s learning based the results of these tests. “My appreciation of having had the privilege of introducing standardized tests in my school cannot be too strongly emphasized… No school can accurately determine the progress of its pupils, either as a group or individually, without using these tests” (E.M.W. 126). It is true that these tests can review results of standardized tests, but does it hold accurate results of how effectively these children are learning educational material? It’s important to understand that these results can only tell one side of the story.
Let’s face schools have put too much emphasis on standardized tests. Schools make too much unnecessary tests which was judging them by students test scores. If schools have less test we will have more high achieving students. There is also a lot of unfair logic about the students and the schools. That’s why I think schools are placing too much emphasis on standardized tests.