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.
In 2015, a poll was taken from over 1500 National Education Association members, and more than 70 percent of those polled believed that standardized testing is not useful and helpful to students in developing any skills (Walker). Standardized tests have been taken since the early 1900s in many age groups. A standardized test is any sort of test that has both the same questions and the same answers to all people it is given to. They are usually given over wide areas, such as states or even whole countries, and can be used to see what knowledge a general population has gained from their educations. Some major standardized tests are the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT). These tests are taken by people that are
Over two hundred parents claim to not let a student go through standardized testing. The earliest records of standardized testing come from China, for the subjects of philosophy and poetry. America “copied” the European education system. In the early 20th century, immigrants took “standardized tests”. To determine possible career and where each person stood socially. Testing is around 115 years old; it started being taken seriously in academics in the early 1900s for the United States. Although it seems minor, standardized testing should not be a thing in any type of school because it causes physical and mental stress for students and teachers, causes a major financial strain in many schools, and takes time to complete and prepare for.
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 tests have been historically used to measure how students compare with each other and how much of a particular curriculum they have learned. Increasingly, standardized tests are being used to make major decisions about students, such as grade promotion or high school graduation, and schools(Galegroup). Standardized testing is not an effective measurement of how capable and knowledgeable a student is due to it negatively impacting schools, its serious limitations, and its harm on student’s learning.
As Michelle Obama once declared, “If my future was determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn’t be here. I guarantee you that.” The performance of a school’s organization is based off of the results of standardized tests taken by students (Walberg). Standardized tests are a guide to the board of education on how a school can improve its curriculum in a way that is most beneficial to students (Walberg). “The scores of standardized tests are not the same as student achievement” (Harris). In spite of the people who believe that standardized tests are a key factor to determine a student’s academic abilities, standardized tests distract students from their current studies, they are only designed for one way of learning and comprehending material, and they are biased to students.
Everyone has had to endure the pain at some point in his or her life. The awful, long hours of preparation for one thing: standardized testing. These tests in many states are beginning to get harder in order to align with the new common core standards, and are not only being used to grade students, but teachers as well. Because of the increase in the level of difficulty of the tests, students are beginning to have anxiety. Teachers and parents are not getting a little taste of it as well as they become such a prominent part of the evaluation of students success. People aren’t realizing that standardized testing is not a reliable way of measuring the success and performance of students. Many people think that because it is a computerized
Why standardized testing might have a little relevance to a high school student, standardized tests are pointless. What even is the real point in taking standardized tests? Colleges don't see them, they aren’t for a grade and it's a waste of a school day. Despite the fact that the standardized tests might have a little relevance, they are very useless to us students.
In the article "Standardized testing hits a nerve" by Katherine Reynolds Lewis, the author discussing the effects and issues regarding standardized testing. Over the years, standardized testing has increased tremendously. This cost money and time to conduct efficiently. Health problems have arisen due to mandatory testing. This includes headaches, stress, and getting very little sleep. The problem is they want students to take a variety of standardized tests to determine if they pass. The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was created to allow no students to get left behind. This act required students to be tested in math and English every year starting in third grade. The new Common Core curriculum has set standards to help prepare students for college and the real world. In some states, certain students could get opt-out of testing. Standardized testing just shows what students have learned from that particular test rather than what they have learned in the classroom.
Standardized tests are tests that are used to compare the relative performance of individual students or groups of students. A standardized test requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from a common bank of questions, and is scored in a “standard” or consistent manner. These questions are usually in a multiple-choice or true and false format which can be scored quickly and consistently, but can also include short-answer questions, essay questions, or a mix of question types which are more time-consuming to evaluate consistently. Previously, standardized tests were paper-based, for instance OMR sheets were used for multiple choice tests where test takers were required to fill in their choices using pencils and these answer sheets were then read by OMR machines. Some tests are still paper-based but as technology advances, standardized tests are increasingly being administered on computers connected to online programs that make correction easier, quicker and relatively inexpensive.
Standardized testing has been around for more than a decade, showing how students do compared to other students, but I believe that Standardized testing should be excluded from schools. Standardized testing is a test taken by students all over the country, helping teachers know what kids do and don’t know academically. Additionally, Standardized testing can be an online test, MAP, for example, is a standardized test. The test is corrected by computer, so the questions are usually fill in the blanks, or answering the question by filling in A, B, C, D, etc. This helps make it easier for the computer to check it. To continue, Standardized testing is mainly reading and math, for all ages; from kindergarten to the end of highschool. However, even
Tests in many states are beginning to get harder in order to align with the new common core standards, and are not only being used to grade students, but teachers as well. In addition to students having anxiety over tests, teachers and parents are now getting a little taste of it as well. Many people consider standardized testing as an objective way of grading a student, since computerized scoring removes any kind of bias. Millions are spent on these tests every year since these need to be taken in order to be accepted in graduate and undergraduate programs. Although most schools make students take standardized tests, it does not measure the knowledge of a student. People assume that standardized testing is a good way of comparing the performance levels of various students from different schools and locations, and without standardized testing, many think this will not be possible. What people often do not know is that standardized testing is
" Becca, it 's ok, not everyone is the best at taking standardized test." My grandmother told me that the day I got the results of my ACT. The ACT is a standardized test that colleges and universities use, to determine what students are good enough to go through their admissions process. With subjects like Math, English, Reading, and Science the highest score anyone can make is a 36. But the average score is a 20. My score on the other fell just below average at a 17. I was so hurt by the score because I felt so confident about the test; I figured I at least made above a 20 this time. Instead I waited two months and three weeks to find out I made a 17. I was crushed I actually cried over it, the ACT really made me feel dumb. I didn’t
Standardized testing has become one of the most popular types of testing in U.S. public schools to date. Students take numerous standardized tests throughout their childhood schooling. (Studies show that a typical student takes an average of 112 mandated standardized tests between Pre-K and 12th grade.) While standardized testing is one of the main procedures that Universities use to judge incoming students, it is not proven to be the most effective way to convey a student’s actual intelligence level. The U.S. should not focus so heavily on standardized testing because it is not a complete accurate measurement of a student’s intelligence.
Standardized tests are tests designed to evaluate a student’s performance and as well as the teacher’s performance where these tests contain the same set or common questions which are taken by the students annually in the same way (The Johnson Center, n.d.). However, these tests may also vary depending on which of the student’s or school’s ability would they like to evaluate.