Standardized Testing Controversy Analysis

Standardized testing is becoming a concern for many. There are many pro and cons associated with standardized testing and students. In our present education system, standardized testing is view as a way to find out the progress the student has or is academically. However, this may not always be the case. Standardized testing is actually putting a lot of pressure on students, families, teacher, and the school system. The reason why the pressure is rising is because a high score translate, the student is academically doing great, but a low score means possible evaluation needed. The concern for an evaluation for a student to be evaluated may not always be the case. A low score doesn’t meant evaluation, perhaps, it means more time needed.

Often when the term standardized testing is used in the United States it is referring to the tests given in our public education system. However, standardized testing doesn’t only refer to multiple choice tests given to children at the end of the year to see if they can move on to the next grade. A standardized test is any test that is scored and administered in a constant, or “standard”, way (Procon.org, 2015). These tests are designed to control for as many of the variables that can influence the assessment (Thomas & Allen, 2012). Standardized tests are used in work settings, licensing, in addition to their use in education. Since the 1800s standardized testing has been used in the American education system

Standardized testing is favored by some, but disapproved of by others. Standardized testing includes tests such as the ACT and the SAT. These tests are looked at by colleges, and students are often admitted or rejected according to college requirements. This choice of deciding a person 's entrance or exclusion has its share of supporters. However, the effectiveness of standardized testing is questionable amongst some. Certainly, critics oppose standardized tests with the rationale that they do not accurately measure students ' knowledge, and they are expensive and stressful.

Standardized testing is a popular tool used by a lot of schools and universities to measure the qualifications of a candidate attempting to enter a program, university, or even a high school. These tests are designed in such a way that they offer a consistent reference to school and university administrators in order to determine whether the applicant has the necessary skills to succeed in future academic endeavors. These tests usually have multiple choice questions and the applicant is awarded a grade based on a point system. Some argue that standardized testing is an inaccurate tool and cannot really measure the intelligence or knowledge of a student. On the other hand, many also argue that these tests are considered an unbiased and objective method to measure a student’s academic ability; and one of the

In today’s education department, the success of a student is determined by their ability to excel on a standardized test. However, society is starting to debate whether standardized tests should actually determine whether a student passes to the next level. In both Anaya Kamenetz’s book and TV documentary, The Test: Why Our Schools Are Obsessed with Standardized Testing but You Don’t Have to Be, she describes problems in within the school system, ultimately leading the corruption and mistrust of the school system. The book review and Book TV have a lot of similarities and differences regarding the way the author’s views are expressed.

Schools in America take a test each year called the standardized test, which is a tool used to measure the effectiveness of the school, the teacher, and the performance of the student. However, “standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid- 1800s. Their use sky rocketed after 2002’s No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandated annual testing in all 50 states” (Standardized Tests - ProCon.org.). In addition, for years teachers have been on a schedule to cram their students with information that is a majority of the time only relevant to what is on the standardized test. Teachers push this information onto their students because the Standardized test scores are really important to the school, and it makes the school appear

The whole point of the education system is to teach students important things that will help and benefit them later in life. Focusing and putting all our time and energy into memorizing a curriculum just to pass a test that is required isn’t how we should be spending our schools days. Personally when I know I have a huge test to study for without a doubt I can say it goes in one ear and out the other. I’m not completely processing and reading between the lines everything that I’m learning because I know that in the end it just is about passing a multiple choice test. Standardized tests have proven to lack the critical thinking that students should be learning everyday. "Children are getting the message at a very young age that if you pick the right choice between several options you can be successful. That's not the way to learn, especially creatively. That's not experimenting or exploring or creating.” (Galegroup). Due to a test kids are lacking simply skills that are a necessity in life. Learning is not a one-size-fits-all principle. Kids and our schools shouldn't have their whole futures riding on how well children can fill in little circles, to be scored by machines. Others claim that Standardized testing is a good way to measure students learning. They want to make sure that high school graduates are have acquired the knowledge and skills they need for further education and adult life. “Over

Although standardized testing has its cons, it also has pros. For example, Two important things Standardized testing provides is the ability to see students weak areas and progress. Although having the ability to see students weak areas may sound like a good thing, it really isn’t. The ability to see weak areas is moreso a benefit to educators when teaching students so they know what to help students with and fix so students can improve in these areas. But, teachers don’t really help students one on one rather as one big group of up to 30+ students at times. So, since teachers can’t teach every student one on one and really fix those weak areas it leave the students with information that they still might not understand or it might help the student in a minor way. So in the long run, students will never truly fix those weak areas and, going back to self esteem, can lower the way they view themselves as a student/lower their self esteem. Next, seeing student progress isn’t really something that helps students other than letting them know what they approved on, which doesn’t help students academically, or showing students what they didn’t do well on that time around compared to a previous standardized test, going back to the weak areas. Seeing student progress is moreso a way to assess teachers and see if they are truly helping the students and it’s more of a reflection on the teacher rather than the

One of the biggest flaws is standardized testing has not improved student achievement. "Despite using them for several decades, policymakers and educators do not yet know how to use test-based incentives to consistently generate positive effects on achievement and to improve education." So if these tests aren’t improving our students, then why do we have them? I believe we need to change the tests or improve them somehow so that we do see some sort of improvement. Tests are very crucial to education because they show what a student knows, if we took these tests out completely then we would have no idea if students are improving or declining. “Standardized tests are unfair and discriminatory, because students with diverse backgrounds and skill levels are expected to answer questions written for the white, abled majority." I think this point is very hard to argue with because if these tests are written for the white students, then how are students with a different background or diversity supposed to do well? One improvement could be that maybe there isn’t just one test for the whole country or the state, but instead there are multiple tests for multiple regions. Certain regions get certain tests because of the situation they are in. This makes sense and I believe it would improve the scores and even if it didn’t then we’re back where we started. It’s also hard to argue for abolishing the

Standardized testing has become a very controversial topic amongst the nation. There are two sides, one that agrees that these tests are doing well for students and school officials, and another that argues that these tests are hurting the students taking them and should be put to a stop. Norman R. Augustine wrote an article for the need of standardized testing, and Jessie B. Ramey States the ways that the tests are impairing the learning capability of the students.

Today I will talk about how standardized tests should be modified. I will be talking about how standardized tests are taking up too much class time and they need to be shorter. Standardized tests should be shorter they take up too much time and children have no fun at all with just worrying about the test. Standardized tests take all the fun out of a child's day. This essay will persuade the reader the the government needs to modify the test’s because they are taking up too much time, they are sucking the joy out of children because they have to worry about the tests, and that the test just repeats what they already tested on.

All students dread one thing when it comes to school - testing. Standardized test are the main focus in our school systems instead of actually gaining knowledge at the end of the year. As a mother, Michelle Rhee, understands the lack of attention given on education as a whole instead of just waiting on the scores, but she still agrees on continuing with standardized test. Kristina Rizga opposes the opinion of Michelle Rhee as she does not believe standardized test truly measure the intelligence of a student. Kristina Rizga proves her stand against standardized test by utilizing solid use of argumentation. Rizga successfully takes an argumentative stand by including credibility, evidence, and demonstration of audience awareness.

Standardized Testing hurts children who think in different ways. This is quoted by Valerie Strauss, who makes a great point by saying children can only learn by the way it 's taught and it cannot be learned from other sources. Standardized Testing limits what children can learn and how they learn. Schools also spend an extraordinary amount on testing that could be going to better education and more funding to arts and extracurricular activities. Although, some say standardized testing is beneficial to the way students learn, statistics show that this is simply not true, standardized testing adds unnecessary stress on students, suppresses their creativity, and limits the creativity of teachers.

The test ensures the equivalent content for all students. Michelle Rhee, a former Washington, DC, school counselor, argues for equivalent content saying, “‘You can't separate them, and to try to do so creates two, unequal systems, one with accountability and one without it. This is a civil rights issue.’” It would be unfair for student, for example in the minority, to have an alternate test. Therefore, standardized tests are inclusive and non-discriminatory. Within these tests, they measures students skills and problem-solving ability. A feature on these tests is the multiple choice which is graded by machines. Therefore, it does not subject to human subjectivity or bias (“Standardized Tests” 1). These tests do not only prove to be a way to measure a student’s ability without bias, but a way to ensure teachers are meeting the standards and needs for the students. An issue surfaced when Kath M. Newman, an associate professor of English at Carnegie Mellon University, stated that she was angry at her son about a test. She stated that these “high-stakes” test will not reflect his true abilities due to pressure. Some educators agree that the testing format from standardized tests are not ideal. However, there were other educators who disagree stating that these tests are needed to ensure that educators are doing their job and for student to absorb the material (Tony 8). What the standardized tests already ensure are the unbiased and reliable way in measuring a student’s ability and a teacher’s effectiveness in the classroom. Having said that, making stricter standards and increasing testings are way to better the student in preparation for college. In January 1998, Public Agenda found that 66% of college professor said “elementary and high school expect students to learn too little.” After a surge in

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