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High-Stakes Testing In Schools

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I have a hard time seeing the value in high-stakes testing, although they may contribute data and performance levels, I think it’s hard to say whether or not the data is reliable. The first thing I think of when it comes to testing is how detrimental it can be for students. For a majority of students who may struggle in school, or are bad test takers, testing can greatly effect their self esteem. I also think testing takes away from the fun of school, teachers are and sort of have to spend more time teaching to the test in order to prepare their students. This takes away from authentic and engaging experiences to be able to occur. “Authentic learning experiences can only be provided by teachers who have the time and resources to do so: the government and administrators need to trust teacher judgment.” This relates to the idea of teachers having less time to give their students what they need, which is rich, hands on, exciting, and overall authentic learning. …show more content…

A lot of the time students want to do good, not only for themselves, but also for their parents and teachers. Testing may also take away from other subject areas, as teachers try to squeeze in everything needed to go over before a state exam. For example, the school I sub in, last year before 4th grade took their math and science state exams, they were primary doing only math and science instruction. For a good two weeks before the test, they spent a majority of their day taking practice exams. Although, I think it is beneficial to take a practice exam before any type of test either for practice, or to get comfortable with the test layout. I think two weeks is

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