Pros And Cons Of The No Child Left Behind Act

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. Standardized tests distract students from their current studies and take away any extra learning opportunities that they have to elaborate on a specific topic. Standardized tests take away time for students and teachers in the classroom to continue their studies or learn something with purpose

Student should not have to take standardized tests because it is not worth it. First standardized test take up 2.3% of class during class time. Student can get more class work done instead of taking a test. Taking the test doesn 't accomplish anything. Obama said “learning is more than just filling in a little bubble”.There are so many bubbles that students miss have of there being a lot of bubbles so they would loose track.

The strict and narrow subject focus leads to numb disinterest as whatever a student may be interested in is suddenly discouraged in the face of passing tests. Schools, academically, have been reduced to just learning to take high stakes tests, generally in a standardized form. The majority of standardized tests are multiple choice questions, which can be taken without a single thought. There is essentially no effort required for the tests, compared to projects or essays. On the flip side, simple mistakes or a bad day can lead to bad results.

With this amount of time you would expect to see major improvements in our system, but no real improvements have occurred. In fact, the obsession with making kids succeed with this terrible system has lead to detrimental effects on our staff. The wants and actions of people and politicians have led to state governments across the country to enforce punishment on schools that fail this already flawed system. The effects of this punishment can be seen nationwide from superintendents rigging test results in their favor to teachers helping their students to cheat. These effects are a far cry from their desired effects of pressuring staff to do their best in everything they do.

“Such tests reward quick answers to superficial questions.” (FairTest). Standardized tests do not allow students to think creatively and encourages teachers to teach to a constricted curriculum instead of more depth of knowledge. Most students are able to achieve a proficient score to meet requirements, but for some it has become a hurdle that has kept them from achieving their diploma. Some at risk students feel overwhelmed and defeated and choose to drop out of high school without receiving a diploma. Trying to be meet a “standardized” test score now limits these students in achieving their full academic potential and may limit their career

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

Higher test scores result in financial benefits for the school. The financial benefit does not eliminate the negative impact of standardized testing on students. Miner said, “Today, children are being flunked, denied access to a preferred program or school, or even refused a high school diploma on the basis of a single standardized test.” How are standardized test good for students if they give them all these negative limitations if a student doesn’t do well, if a student does terrible on a test, then will they get a chance to retake it? No, a student is only allowed to take the SAT one time, so it’s all or nothing when it comes to these tests. Now that I’ve described to you the basic arguments against standardized tests do you want students sitting in a room filling in millions of bubbles taking a test that is supposed to prove how smart you or when it really only proves how well you can take a standardized test or do you want to eliminate standardized testing and focus on truly educating our youth?

Humans were not made to be the same, we were meant to encapture our own individuality and express ourselves in the ways that make us feel satisfied and free. With a standardized reading curriculum our desired fantasy worlds within literature are be blocked off by rules and regulations. Students- whether they be in high school, middle school, elementary, or college- should not be required to conform to a standardized reading curriculum. The public school system is, as widely criticized, flawed. Students are forced to take standardized tests and are placed in classes where they don 't belong as a way of comparing them to the "better and brighter" pupils.

Standardized testing does not fairly consider the differences between students, they can cause anxiety for the students, and standardized tests lead to teachers changing lessons and teaching to the test because standardized tests are not the most beneficial option for students education and emotional health. Overall, Standardized testing has not improved students education and has caused many negative effects including greater stress levels among students, teachers cutting out important lessons and limiting students creativity, and the test are unfair because they are not made specifically for different: ethnicities, races, and socioeconomic backgrounds. Standardized tests have not caused an increase in the United States ranking in the world in fact the United States has gone down from 18th in the world in math to 31st since they have mandated them nationwide, So are these inaccurate unfair tests really worth the stress and educational suffering of America 's

Therefore, the curriculum will continue to narrow even more than it did under George W. Bush’s No Child Left Behind Program, as a result of the link created between teacher wages and student scores. Furthermore, there will be less time available for the arts, as most arts classes do not have standardized test to evaluate student performance (Ravitch). According to Obama’s Race to the Top Program, teachers in subject areas and grade levels that do not have required state tests (music, art, and kindergarten through third grade) or do not have enough state tests to accurately measure student growth will become the state’s responsibility to create an alternative system of evaluating student growth

A Big Think (2011) article stated “The trick for educators, colleges, and individuals is remembering that test scores are merely one (imperfect) indicator of how you stack up against the crowd, not an assessment of any your future potential” (p. 1). A test should not be a success indicator. I have learned that human behavior is unpredictable, so we cannot assume a number will determine a student 's success. Claude Steele (2012), Psychologist, pointed out that the SAT only measures about 18 percent of the things that it takes to do well in school. The SAT doesn’t effectively measure the elements which have been learned throughout high school; instead it seems to test how well of a test taker people are.

many teachers teach specifically for the standardized test, focusing exclusively on the test content in order to boost student scores and thus their own perceived performance. This hardly helps improve education. These tests are nothing more than a long list of trick questions and irrational thoughts. Standardized test in no way is this an adequate measure of anyone’s intelligence. Schools should take your actual grades and teachers first hand opinions into consideration rather than a test average.

The number of tests that students have to take removes their ability to be creative and have an opinion. Bronwyn Williams expresses this when she says, “Standardized testing, to be standardized, must create questions that leave no room for interpretation…allow for no independent meaning making from students.” (154). I personally have experienced “teaching to the test” with taking Advanced Placement tests where teachers teach the test and not the information. Headden shows her despite of teaching to the test with her description of what is lost when teachers solely focus on the test and its results (A12). Her list includes: “vocabulary” “character”, and “high-order thinking” (Headden A12).

Standardized tests have caused so many teachers to be labeled due to how their students performed on tests. If their class performs well, the teacher is deemed to be a "good" teacher ; if their class does not perform so well than the teacher is often labeled "unfit" . Teachers dedicate so much teaching time to standardized tests and state exams when in all actuality, they are harming students more than they are helping them. For this and many other reasons, I believe that standardized and state tests do not measure educational quality and should not be a requirement. From pre-kindergarten until students have received all of their credits, they are required to take state test and exams, which have no reflection on how they 're

The NCLB act specifically made students take and pass standardized testing to prove that they have learned the basic English and math skills appropriate for their grade. This act had put school’s faculties and especially instructors under a lot of pressure because if students did not meet their expectations, the schools will not get funded. That is why schools started considering that recess should be left out of the school curriculum, so that teachers can have more time of the day to improve the student’s