Due to the fact that standardized testing provides an opportunity of change from a world of fantasy into a reasonable one, this method should be enforced throughout the nation. Although some may beg to differ that children are too young to face the torture of testing, they fail to realize that if children don’t develop these skills at an early age, they will struggle in the future. By exposing children to the new concept of testing at an age where
Standardized tests have been an integral component of the American educational system since the mid-1800s. The use of standardized tests went through the roof with the creation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2002, which made it mandatory for all 50 states to hold annual standardized tests. Standardized tests are defined by W. James Popham, former president of the American Educational Research Association, as “any test that’s administered, scored, and interpreted in a standard, predetermined manner. These tests often consist of multiple choice questions which are able to be quickly scored by an automated test scoring machine. I do not believe that standardized tests are improving education in America because they are detrimental
You sit silently in the classroom. Sullen faces along with yours anticipate the tedious and challenging MCAS assessment. Your shoes tap and you look nervous, knowing this could decide your academic future. You finally receive the test. You know the topics, but your mind draws a blank. You perch there, perturbed about whether you will pass your grade. But why should these state created tests have such an influence on whether you pass your grade or not? How do these tests show a child’s full range of knowledge? Standardized tests should not be a requirement to pass certain grades as these tests display only a small range of knowledge, they don’t factor in reasons why a student might not perform well, and these tests provoke stress.
With so much focus and emphasis on standardized testing, education- the main purpose of school- is pushed aside and becomes the side act to the show of what is standardized testing. To begin, the resources used for educational programs are now allocated towards standardized testing. According to a report published by Education Policy at Brookings Institution (2012), “States spend a combined $1.7 billion annually on standardized testing.” Although this only accounts for about 1% of the annual K-12 education spending, this money could be put towards increasing teachers’ salaries, sponsoring programs for the arts, or supplying schools with more technology and resources. Money is not the only resource that is being relinquished to standardized
Recently, President Obama seemed to contradict himself over his views on education and specifically standardized testing. Appearing to finally succumb to the public backlash over the education reform practiced by the Obama administration, this is a very relevant and important issue for high school students. All across America, students take dozens of standardized tests each year. This is related to government because the Federal and State governments are resopnsible for regulating these exams and create the curriculum to prepare students for tests. A major reform to the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act could drastically affect schools and the government. A large amount of time, a disproportionally large amount of time according to Obama's recent change in view, is devoted to testing and preparing for tests, so a change could also affect students. That is why this sudden flip flop in Obama's view on education is
Last week President Obama announced that he believes the school in america should have less standardized tests. President Obama says “students are spending too much time in the classroom taking tests, many of them unnecessary, and urged officials in the country’s schools to take steps to administer fewer and more meaningful exams.” The white house agrees by saying “a problem the administration acknowledged it has played a role in — has taken away too much valuable time that could be better spent on learning, teaching and fostering creativity in schools. To curb excessive testing, Obama recommended limiting standardized exams to no more than 2% of a student's instructional time in the classroom.” This would allow the student to spend more
In my opinion, public educational curriculums and accountability guidelines should be established at the state and local levels where parents/guardians play an integral role in the decision making process. I do not believe standardized tests alone are an accurate measure of a student’s knowledge; their classwork, projects, and literary works also represent a student’s talent and capabilities. In agreement with Robert Schaeffer, a representative for the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, that federal mandated programs such as the No Child Left Behind and The Race to The Top high-stakes tests foster the temptation to cheat because they serve as means to both punish and reward students, teachers, and principals based solely upon test scores (Schaeffer,
Even though many students absolutely hate them, state assessments are a big part of the American education system. Everyone has taken a standardized test at some point in their life, and almost everyone has done poorly on one. They are primarily used as a measurement of how well students learn, but are they truly accurate? There are strong arguments on both sides, which has started a heated conflict about the productiveness of these tests. Standardized testing has been around for many years, starting in Imperial China where it was intended to determine a person’s aptitude for a government position (“Do Standardized Tests Show an Accurate View of Students’ Abilities?”). In some states, these tests are even used to decide whether or not a student
Standardized tests determine a big decision in their life. Due to their test scores they many feel discouraged to continue their education. For instance, many students may choose to drop out.
Standard 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. In New York State,
Welcome to the age of testing, where standardized tests reign supreme in the classroom. Today, schools religiously use standardized tests as a tool to measure success. Every year a new set of standards are released because the test scores the year before were not adequate. Leaving teachers and students under pressure to perform better. The pressure to do so well has led to cheating scandals and school districts scores being eliminated. Due to the standardized testing obsession, both students and teachers suffer.
The Common Core English Language Arts Exam is an exam that carries a lot of speculation and heavy controversy. This test is one that brings most students, parents, and teachers to their feet. Such an exam has effected education in that it has attempted to grasp a better understanding of a child’s knowledge, but has done it in a way where students feel they have been cheated. What’s to be discussed is the ways in which the exam has changed, the advocators for the exam and those against it.
Neglectful, biased, diverting, or, in this case, all of the above. Standardized testing, including not only the SAT but oftentimes a slew of other state-required tests, overwhelms millions of students and educators in the US annually. The mild benefits and insights these tests offer are no comparison to the stress they cause. The unintended side effects these tests produce have been present since they were first put into place, but have dramatically strengthened in the last decade. This instant push-back should serve as a red flag to districts enforcing the tests. Standardized testing is unreliable and undermines student and educator effort because it ineffectively measures student achievement, produces a numerical
"Assessment should be deliberately designed to improve and educate student performance, not merely to audit as most school tests currently do."(What Are Some Types of Assessment?, 2008, ¶2)