Going 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 tests have multiple categories but in the main courses students need to take are Reading/Writing, Mathematics, Social Studies, Science. These tests are scored in a predictable way which …show more content…
The tests only ask for knowledge or facts that the student can barely recall and when taking these tests they are taken on a school day and they take 2-3 hours to complete. Standardized testing began in the 1920s to test students ability but was renamed to Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) (Livia). The American College Testing (ACT) and the SAT are both used in the United States for college admission. However Swope and Miner believe that, “Standardized tests will never answer the questions of what our children need to learn to be leaders and informed citizens in a multicultural, ever-changing world” (Cole, Hulley and Quarles 19). However, there are other forms of standardized testing. The Iowa Test of Basic Skills (ITBS) this is a test of achievement from kindergarten through the twelfth grade. Another form of tests are the PSAT, which is mainly the preliminary of the SAT test. “52% of teachers surveyed that they spend too much time on testing and test-prep” (Walker). Yet there are a few purposes of these tests, students would not be taking these tests if there were no
Standardized testing just shows what students have learned from that particular test rather than what they have learned in the classroom. Standardized testing has played a role in public education in the United States. This consist of variety of tests throughout each year for students. "The average U.S. student in a big-city public school will take 112 mandatory standardized exams between pre-K and high school graduation" (Lewis).
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.
Despite the fact that the standardized tests might have a little relevance, they are very useless to us students. If you care anything about college, then why would you care about standardized testing? College doesn’t see your test scores. How do you expect the school boards to make us students take all these standardized tests they want to give us seriously, when they know that they have no meaning and so do the students. No one likes taking a recreational test anyway.
“ Standardized test items are not parallel with typical classroom skills and behaviors. Due to the fact that questions have to be generalizable to the entire population, most items assess general knowledge and understanding. ”(Hurst) These tests limit many things and cause a huge disadvantage to not only students, but to the schools as well. Scores don't provide very much information when evaluating a student's achievement, a teacher's competency, or the success of a particular school or program.
Argument against Standardized Tests Standardized testing is one of the most controversial and highly debated topics in the United States today. These tests are commonly used to measure the students’ academic achievements and act as yardstick for teachers’ effectiveness in academic delivery. A typical student sits for at least “112 compulsory standardized tests between pre-kindergarten classes and 12th grade” (Layton). Proponents of standardized testing believe that the practice provides accurate measurements of student performance and teachers effectiveness.
Introduction 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
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
Instead, they were created for students that would not have had the opportunity to attend college had they not had these tests being sent to schools in the northeast. Now, these tests have begun to be used by many schools to determine their “bright” students among the crowd. However, some schools have adopted the idea that standardized test scores are not necessary. They realize that tests don’t measure a student’s growth and achievement.
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
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.
The questions do not have to be high stakes tests, time limited, or multiple choice. It could be a fill in the blank or write your own response. They are organized so that the conditions for administrators, scoring procedures and interpretations are consistent and in a “standard manner”. These test usually matter a lot or the score counts for something big. As a result of this, these tests cause a lot of stress on kids.
First of all, too much valuable learning time is spent testing. According to Newsela article on standardized tests, about 20-25 hours are spent each year specifically on standardized tests. Likewise, the average public school eighth grader spends about 2.3% of the school year taking exhausting
Standardized Tests Should not be Used as a Measurement of Student Capabilities. Thousands of schools among the United States mandate and enforce laws making students participate in standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT, PSAT, NWEA, SSAT, MEAP, CAT, and many more. These tests determine the level of education a student is able to participate in, and this should not be the case, simply because there are many other factors that go into student intelligence that don’t fall under test scores.
Standardized testing only measures the individual performance of the student for one day instead of the overall growth of that student over the course of the year. They fail to measure such important skills, such as; creativity and critical thinking skills. These tests are weak measures of the ability to comprehend complex material, write, apply math, understand scientific methods or reasoning, or grasp social science concepts.
Standardized testing does not require much of an effort. These tests are checked by the computer thus, saving more time and since these tests are administered in the same manner, it would be easier for them to evaluate the test results because these tests have its own standards. These tests are also objective and are based by general-knowledge thus, making the test results unbiased and non-subjective. Educators will also be able to compare and evaluate a student’s progress over a period of time. These tests would show whether a student has performed well or not (OccupyTheory, 2014).