Standardized Testing Arguments

As Michelle Obama once declared, “If my future was determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn’t be here. I guarantee you that.” The performance of a school’s organization is based off of the results of standardized tests taken by students (Walberg). Standardized tests are a guide to the board of education on how a school can improve its curriculum in a way that is most beneficial to students (Walberg). “The scores of standardized tests are not the same as student achievement” (Harris).

There are so many results for a single test that does not even evaluate a student’s knowledge accurately. A single bad day could be disastrous to a student’s career, and a day of lucky guessing can float them by another year. Teachers are “graded” on their class’s results, so if a teacher’s class does poorly, that teacher may have an intervention coming.[PP1] Some people have even advocated for teachers’ pay and job security to be based upon the results of testing(“High-Stakes Test Definition”). Schools are given “grades” as well, and funding is based on them.

A local teacher said “some principles like standardized test because they can make they’re school look good which equals more money. Most teachers don’t like standardized tests because it makes them have to teach to the test instead of teaching the curriculum. It also puts a lot of pressure on the teachers because in some states they’re tests scores decide on how much they get paid, if they get to say in that grade level, or if they get moved to a different grade level because their scores were better for that grade level” (source 1). A teacher that teaches at a local school said “the state testing I had used for much of my career was severely flawed (STAR) I did

Teachers who are accustomed to using little math language to teach and talk about math concepts will now have to adapt. Avoiding academic terms to explain concepts and processes will be incredibly harmful to students in the long

Brent Staples is speaking about colleges around the country and how the standards that they hold the students to are changing. He believes that students these days are not earning grades as much as they are demanding them. Brent in his article is comparing how students from the past would take the grade that they were given because in that time the teacher was right in their decisions but now, because students pay so much for school they think they should automatically get a good grade. In his article he states, “Twenty years ago, students grumbled, then lived with the grades they were given. Today, colleges of every stature permit them to appeal low grades through deans or permanent boards of inquiry.

Considering these pros into action, there are cons to it. Higher salary based on standardized tests will have negative effects. More manipulation of test results will occur within this. If school board officials are seeing that students are achieving higher test scores, they will take action and give teachers the bonuses, but what the school board does not know is that the teachers are the ones manipulating the tests for their own benefits in this case for money. “Cheating teachers are on the rise as figures show the number illicitly helping children pass GCSE and A-level exams has trebled in the past two years” (Turner).

After students have taken the standardized tests, their scores are then averaged up and published and the different schools are then ranked from highest to lowest score. Because of this, teachers and professors end up teaching to the test due to the terror of losing their jobs. According to Scholastic.com, “it is unfair for schools to be compared because the test-takers are different sets of people, which cause a biased manipulation in statistics.” Educators neglect to teach students the appropriate skills that go beyond the classroom and tests, since they are now too caught up in preparing their students for these standardized tests. Educators are now using their time explaining the topics that will be a part of the tests, which leads them to forget to teach the students life lessons that go beyond the classroom walls.

This test is stressful but worth the stress. Students use the duh and foul method to answer questions. It 's official that this test is preparing kids for college. Standardized test is important because is shows

When students need extra help on a normal 5 day school week it is provided for them. But when they only go to school for four days the extra help isn’t going to be provided due to the slim amount of time spent with the students a week. Students in Idaho felt like they were running out of time to study for tests and finals due to the four day school week. On the other hand, a four day school week would reduce financial cost for the school.

Standardized testing leads teachers to begin teaching to the test because of the fear of economic loss within the school system. Professors Herbert and Hauser stated that, “Standardized test scores promote rote memorization at the expense of critical thinking skills, pressuring teachers to spend most of their instructional time teaching testing material,” (Heubert & Hauser, 1999). Teaching to the test narrows the curriculum from a variety of complex topics to specifying material to what will be on a test. This narrowing of the curriculum can eliminate important topics that encourage critical thinking and can eliminate valuable lessons to students. Over time researchers have found a predictable pattern playing itself out in various states in the United States .When

The education system in the United States of America is frequently questioned, as well as the systems that have been put in place to try and repair it. The schools in the U.S. have learned to depend on standardized testing too much to the point that it is harmful to the students. Today teachers encourage students to be themselves and become their best self and make them conform to national standards all in one breath. Some of the main problems with standardized testing are: the reforms don’t work for the people that need it most, and the nation relies too much on test scores.

Does Standardized Test Define You As A Person? School isn’t about learning anymore it’s about teaching us to pass a test! To expect the average student to manage their already challenging schedule while simultaneously studying for the ACT or SAT is unrealistic and unfair. American students are spending most of their school hours preparing for standardized tests rather than learning quality stuff. Some American schools test over every subject putting even more pressure students.

Firstly, tests are unreliable. “A 2001 study published by the Brookings Institution found that 50-80% of year-over-year test score improvements were temporary and "caused by fluctuations that had nothing to do with long-term changes in learning..." This shows that the information collected from the test can not really provide accurate information for teachers because of the inconsistent data. The data cannot show what students need to learn because of the fluctuations, making the standardized tests inaccurate and unreliable. This will only ruin the recent grades because the teachers do not know what to teach the students.

Singleton doesn’t believe an increase in salary or a merit raise will improve the situation. The only solution is to fail students who do not master the material. Only then will parents take notice in their children’s education and will school boards take notice, since holding a child back and having them repeat a grade cost twice as much as passing them on to the next grade.

Public School Prayer Throughout public schools in the United States, there is a growing concern over whether students should be allowed to pray in school. In “Should Students Be Allowed to Pray in School” Michael Cantrell he states each individual school should be able to decide if prayer is allowed. Many times throughout the article, the author uses fallacies such as poisoning the well, hypothesis contrary, straw man and hasty generalizations to argue his point incorrectly. Although the author attempts to shed light on this highly debated topic, his arguments are not valid and not factual.