Say No To Standardized Testing (Rough Draft) On average, students are given 113 standardized tests from their kindergarten through their senior year, most of them being given in the 11th grade year. “‘In some places, tests — and preparation for them — are dominating the calendar and culture of schools and causing undue stress for students and educators.’” (“Testing: How Much Is Too Much?”) The cause of all of this testing is simple: The No Child Left Behind Act. Though the No Child Left Behind Act was noble in theory, it has proven to be extremely ineffective and done the complete opposite of what it was intended to do.
The No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) was an act passed in 2001; generally, it was supposed to “raise achievement and close
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All their years of school, they are drilled in algebra, calculus, world history, European history, biology, chemistry, until their brains feel they are going to explode. But will that help them in the future? Most likely not. And is not the point of school to prepare a student for their future? And it is not like the teachers are to blame, it is the funding. The funding gained from standardized tests is poured into core classes. Though all knowledge is valuable, some knowledge is more valuable to to …show more content…
Often, instead of receiving praise where praise is needed, a student will receive feedback on what they could have done better, or scolding if they did not pass. A growing mind requires praise so that they know they have done well and feel accomplished and desire to continue to do well for themselves. An often over-looked issue within school systems is that a student is told to succeed for the school, not for oneself as a student. Instead of being told to do better so that the school can look better, a student should be awarded when they do well so that they will want to help better their own education, not the ratings of the school. Similarly, whenever a student is berated constantly, they will often give up. Few people are determined to well and try and improve if they are only told when they mess
The unfortunate truth of the matter is that while both of these programs support such aims, they want to get them by forcing students to compete with each other. Where there is competition, there are winners and losers, which is incompatible with the priorities they have set forth, especially that there is no child left behind. In fact, when there is a competition with such high consequences, teachers cannot give the students who need help the aid they require. With these conflicting ideas, one has to be the primary goal, because they cannot both be implemented at the same time (Aske, et al. 2013). Unfortunately the winner, especially after the Race to the Top was put into effect, was the competitive portion, asking districts to battle for funding, and those districts that did not have the numbers would be removed from the equation, by closing the schools and having students moved to other areas (David,
There are also much better ways to test a student’s capability to learn; a 2006 Center on Education Policy conducted a study and found that a curriculum that follows state standards and uses the test data as feedback led to higher scores than those that prioritized test-taking skills. When teachers are more focused on teaching material rather than test strategies, their students benefit from it (“Do Standardized Tests Show an Accurate View of Students’ Abilities?”). Several alternative methods to state assessments for measuring a student’s academic success include comparing high school graduation rates and the number of dropouts, offering advanced placement courses, and looking at the percentage of the former students that are admitted to colleges. State assessments are more harmful than helpful to students; they are a large cause of test anxiety and a majority of teachers can never fully prepare their students. Although state assessments are an easy way to be able to see the growth of students, that does not mean that they are the best
Since 2006, overall SAT scores have dropped by 21 points. It is safe to say that the increase in standardized testing has done more bad than good. When standardized testing became more prominent, the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) saw a plateau in reading and math scores. Additionally, the NAEP saw no further closure in the test score gap. The test score gap affects all minorities.
Students want to have a childhood, they don’t want to sit in a school building taking tests. “‘Kids spend too much class time taking standardized tests,’ President Barack Obama said on October 24. According to a new report, “students spend 20 to 25 hours each school year, taking these tests”(A Call). Students are spending a whole day staring at a computer or paper bubbling in answers that they won’t even remember the next day. Kids aren’t learning anything from
The values they set into the education system no longer interest students. The students are, however, finding that they can look up to those who did not apply themselves to education, and are getting the wrong concept of
The average American student takes about 112 standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade (Strauss). A standardized test is any form of test that requires the student to answer the same selection of common questions in a consistent matter, which makes it possible to compare relative student performance. Standardized tests restrict creativity, waste time, and waste money. We should get rid of standardized tests in our school system. Standardized tests limit a student’s ability to express creativity.
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
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
A lot of students are not receiving the education that they could because of the testing. ”(Dianis High-Stakes Testing Hasn’t Brought Education Gains). Standardized tests have almost eliminated the education that students need to receive. The students in of this generation should have the same opportunity to learn and develop themselves into contributing adults of society. Without proper knowledge, there could be an increase in poverty because the students were not able to meet their test requirements which could limit or take away scholarships.
A person with a growth mind-set is demonstrated by their passion for a subject; they want to learn. However, those who hate school or a subject have a fixed mind-set and couldn't care less about the lesson. Parents should not praise their children for good grades. This encourages more kids to have a fixed mind-set because they think its better to have good grades rather than putting in the effort to know the subject. Most students get it done just to get it over with rather than learning the
In 2001 George W. Bush in started the no child left behind program. This program stated that children from grades three through twelve should be given a standardized test at the end of their course. The original purpose of these tests was to hold educators accountable for their teaching method. While the no child left behind program (NCLB) might have made teachers actually teach, there has been some bad effects to this program. Some of the bad effects of the program are the stress put on children, the inaccuracy of the standardized test and finally the tremendous cost of these tests.
Summary of “The Perils and Promises of Praise” In the article “The Perils and Promises of Praise”, author Carol S. Dweck demonstrates many ways in which a teacher should praise students in a way that can impact them to become a better student. “The wrong kind of praise creates self-defeating behavior. The right kind motivates students to learn.” (Dweck 7)
If a student were to fail a course or grade level, said student should be made to retake the course or grade level with extra help and guidance. If a student is thought to be at risk for low self-esteem caused by retention, they should be given the option of academic or social counseling. Pushing a child forward when they’re unprepared is unacceptable. Social promotion is causing a bigger issue than retention.
A Scandalous School System 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.
There are results though that show that the ACT produces inconsistent results or no results at all, providing us with the claim that they are a hindrance and do not help provide a student’s success. The program that enforces standardized test is the Congress issued program, No Child Left Behind. This program pushes that all students have an equal chance at succeeding in high school and that all students be encouraged and pushed to bring home good grades. It is stated in a research article that “Overall, 45% of the public, and about the same percentage of parents with children in public schools (43%) – say the law overemphasizes standardized testing, based on those have heard a lot or a little about No Child Left Behind” (Heimlich). This law is one that brought along many of the standardized test that all different grades take today.