Is standardized testing an effective measure of student achievement? The No Child Left Behind Act was made to close student achievement gaps by providing all children with a fair and equal opportunity to obtain a high-quality education. Every year students are required to take multiple standardized tests such as the end of grade, or end of course, exams along with the SAT or ACT. Although schools measure their student achievements by standardized testing, students do not always meet those standards. This is not an accurate measure of student achievement. As a student who doesn 't test well, standardized testing is always a challenge. After research, it has been proven that standardized testing does not measure the ability to comprehend …show more content…
President George Bush thought testing could be an accountability piece so that the quality of public education was guaranteed to all students; it required all students to be tested every year in grades 3 to 8 in reading and math. The legislation was also put into place to show those schools that were failing, improving, or excelling in the two subjects. More attention was focused on school accountability resulting in more and more testing for schools to either pass or fail sometimes murky criteria. “After the No Child Left Behind Act was passed which mandated testing in all 50 states, U.S. students fell from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st in 2009.” (Is the Use”). No Child Left Behind obligated school districts in all states to ensure that all students are proficient. “After New York City’s reading and math scores plunged in 2010, many schools imposed extra measures to avoid being shut down, including daily two and a half hour prep sessions and test practice on vacation days.” (Is the Use”). Standardized tests measure only a small portion of what makes education meaningful, as recent studies have shown. Standardized testing creates disadvantages for students who do not perform well on tests, or do not have the background knowledge to complete questions effectively. Testing does not take into consideration the external factors that can affect a student. Some of the external factors are problems related to students in their daily life, which include extracurricular activities, family issues and even working
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
Proponents see standardized testing as a way of making testing more efficient and effective by minimizing cost and increasing people’s accountability for their performance in the system. Opponents on the other hand argue that the systems has limitations based on its very nature on what can be tested and as a result of these standards needing to be met sacrifice some very important aspects of students education experience as well as force onto students and teachers a one size fits all model that has failed to deliver on its promises. After having reviewed all the evidence in detail it becomes clear to me that standardized testing is not an effective system for educating students and does more bad than good
Standardized testing has not improved education in America. Standardized tests have been issued in schools all across the nation for years now. Some people like them and some people don’t. They do not help the student learn more information than they would without the tests. The U.S. has dropped from 18th highest scores in schools in the world to be in the 30’s on almost all of the subjects on the test.
The No Child Left Behind act mandates that all students have set goals, leading to these tests. Standardized Tests should be eliminated because they do not measure student achievement accurately, they do not motivate students to try, and they have a negative impact on graduation rates.
People like former Education Secretary, Arne Duncan are “concerned about testing too, but he has written he "strongly believes" in annual tests as an educational tool” (Kamenetz). Although some people see standards as a positive incentive, students and teachers suffer from the repercussions of standardized testing. Additionally, others also believe that data enforces progression and reform. LaTasha Gandy, supporter of standardized testing, believes that because of standardized testing, data shows who is falling behind and struggling. (Gandy).
Since the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, federal and state governments have instituted one reform program after another in an effort to raise American student academic performance levels. American educators have turned to standardized testing for student assessment since World War I, which is when the U.S. Army utilized the "Alpha assessment test" in order to assign new recruits to "suitable positions" (Smyth, 2008, p. 133). Almost 15 years ago on January 2, 2002, former president George W. Bush signed into legislation the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act (Public Law 107–110). The use of standardized testing in the U.S. public school system reached a new high as this legislation made standardized testing the "main vehicle for measuring
“Sometimes, the most brilliant and intelligent minds do not shine in standardized tests because they do not have standardized minds” says historian of education, Diane Ravitch. A standardized test is a test that is administered to third through eighth graders that measures the understanding of the state curriculum. From my point of view standardized testing does not effectively measure someone's comprehension of a subject, because of the likelihood of cheating, the amount of stress put on the students’ shoulders, and the overall inefficiency in the learning environment. First of all, standardized testing should be eliminated because is that students and teachers will do whatever it takes to get good scores. Educators may cheat because the consequences are harsh for not meeting standards.
Unfortunately, standardized testing only gives a rough estimate of what a student can do or knows. It is impossible to tell if a student will improve, or even tell if the student just guessed on all of their answers for the test. This explains how standardized tests do not measure the correct information that school’s are actually searching
Over two hundred parents claim to not let a student go through standardized testing. The earliest records of standardized testing come from China, for the subjects of philosophy and poetry. America “copied” the European education system. In the early 20th century, immigrants took “standardized tests”. To determine possible career and where each person stood socially.
Therefore, the argument that standardized testing helps pinpoint areas for improvement, is weak. It does not account for the students whose intelligence is poorly reflected due to their poor test-taking abilities. Nixon also said that “We can compare our students to their peers at other schools to determine what we’re doing well within our educational continuum.” Additionally, some students are extremely intelligent with poor test taking skills, while others are great test-takers. Thus, comparing students’ standardized test scores is not an efficient method to assess what needs to be improved upon.
For years, standardized testing was the first choice to assess students across the nation on their abilities to comprehend information and be able to answer a question effectively. This method has been used since the 1800s. But is it still the best way to effectively test a student’s abilities? No,it is not. When one test is supposed to determine a student’s future and mental ability,it is not fair.
Standardized Tests: Right or Wrong? Diane Ravitch, a historian of education, once said that, “sometimes the most brilliant and intelligent students do not shine in standardized tests because they do not have standardized minds.” These tests have been a part of American education since the mid-1800s(Is the Use), but now, many people are starting to realize that standardized tests are not as convenient as they thought they were. In 2002, the No Child Left Behind Act required all schools in the United States to test students in grades two through twelve annually in reading, math, and science(Is the Use). But since then, the U.S. has dropped from 18th in the world in mathematics to 36th, with a similar change in science as well.
Thank you so much for taking your time out of your very busy days to join us. It is always wonderful to share thoughts with people of your expertise, especially on a subject that affects my everyday life. Education is paramount to achieving success, and living in the modern world. In my school we take several standardized tests that are supposed to measure how much knowledge I’ve retained throughout the year. These exams have changed the way that children are taught, and have made public schools int a limited learning environment.
The No Child Left Behind act originally was to improve our student’s knowledge but had resulted differently in overly testing students . You’re tested about 14 or more times throughout your middle school and high school years depending on your school district requirements. The government is now willing to do whatever it takes to do to receive money for testing students. An example of how extreme this testing has become can be found in the situation of a student named Joe. He was hospitalized, preparing for open brain surgery, when he was rudely interrupted by his teacher’s visit, with a number two pencil and a standardized test.
Standardized tests have a very long history back to around 206 BC known by China’s imperial examination. Nowadays, they are widely used in the education around the world. They are one of the most frequent methods to check the knowledge of students. However, some people claim that using standardized tests in education system may have a negative effect on the students. Nevertheless, standardized tests also have several positive effects on education as following.