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 …show more content…
Standardized tests have, on many occasions, been used for racial and cultural statistic purposes. Time Magazine writer, Noliwe M. Rooks, wrote in an issue, "In Virginia only 45% of black students in each school must pass standardized math tests while 68% of whites, and 82% of Asians must do the same. Officials say that these plans are not discriminatory because students who are the farthest behind must progress the most, but critics reason that if one expects less from some students, those lower educational expectations will become a self-fulfilling prophecy for school districts and those students will fall even farther behind." With the data collected from these tests, test makers can gamble on how other groups will perform on tests, making it easy for some and hard for others. Rooks added, "Do standardized achievement tests unfairly advantage white and Asian students and disadvantage the rest? According to a group of educational organizations and civil rights groups the answer is yes. The recently filed a complaint with the U.S. Department of Education pointing out that black and Latino students in New York score below whites and Asians on standardized tests so consistently that although they are almost 70% of the overall student body, they are only 11% of students enrolled at elite public schools. As a result, the complaint argues that New York City is in violation of the 1964 Civil Rights Act because schools rely on a test that advantages one racial group over another. ' ' Such reports prove that state and standardized exams have rigged results and do not measure educational quality. Based on the evidence supporting my statement, I believe that state exams and standardized tests should no longer be a requirement. They often harm students academically and have more negative results than positive ones. The questions asked on mandatory test favor certain groups, yet make it harder for others. They are not fairly made and are biased
When students could be learning meaningful information, teachers are using up that time and giving them tests and exams. Although, we want to be blaming teachers, states and schools are supposed to give out mandatory tests. Who is to blame? According to washington article post, Valerie Strauss, says “The average student in America’s big-city public schools takes some 112 mandatory standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and the end of 12th grade — an average of about eight a year, the study says. ” The state is to blame.
: In my opinion, standardized testing is beneficial but also flawed. I agree they’re non-discriminatory because the content is equivalent for all students, but teachers are “teaching to the test,” leaving out additional learning opportunities. From experience, I believe the tests are
Even though many students absolutely hate them, state assessments are a big part of the American education system. Everyone has taken a standardized test at some point in their life, and almost everyone has done poorly on one. They are primarily used as a measurement of how well students learn, but are they truly accurate? There are strong arguments on both sides, which has started a heated conflict about the productiveness of these tests. Standardized testing has been around for many years, starting in Imperial China where it was intended to determine a person’s aptitude for a government position (“Do Standardized Tests Show an Accurate View of Students’ Abilities?”).
In theory these tests are a perfect way to boost the education system but in reality it causes a lot of problems and hasn’t helped all that
It’s unfortunate that even in today’s society that institutional racism is something that happens in the everyday life of many people, especially minorities such as African Americans and Hispanics. Koppelman (2014) defines institutional racism as “establish laws, customs, and practices that systematically reflect and produce racial inequities in American society” (Koppelman, 2014, p. 189). One example of where institutional racism is prevalent is in standardized testing in schools. There has always been a question of whether standardized testing, in particular the SAT’s, have been fair to minority students. Even though the SAT board feels that the test has been researched to include questions that give students from different races and
Teachers and the school are obligated to teach the student what is essential for the standardized test. The scores are public record so when teachers and schools do not meet the test requirement they are placed under scrutiny. This can result to job loss and in extreme cases the school may be seized by the state. In the article, Testing does not measure up for Americans, Jeanette Deutermann of North Bellmore, NY objects to the tie between testing and teacher evaluations that has been promoted by the U.S. Department of Education. “If they hadn’t done that, none of this would have gone as it has.
I believe this article in asking the question; Are High-Stakes Tests punishing some students is a valid issue. A high percentage of students who are failing these standardized tests are from poor, low-income, ethnic, racial minority and special education students. Here are some specific tests and results. The ACLU of Massachusetts states the testing gap punishes the poor, and ethnic minority the most. There is a testing gap between rich and poor communities.
Standardized testing (SATs), in the United States has been present for years and has caused plenty of teachers, students, parents, and other individuals who are informed about it to have different perspectives and opinions on it. Before doing my research on the different opinions people had on standardized tests, I always believed they were encouraged by professors and school facilities. As a student myself and on the behalf of other students, standardized tests were always perceived to be stressful and unjust. Test taking was never a strength of mine especially if the test was timed because it just added more pressure to answer the questions quick. In high school, my teachers never discussed how they felt towards the SATs, which made
Standardized testing has become one of the most popular types of testing in U.S. public schools to date. Students take numerous standardized tests throughout their childhood schooling. (Studies show that a typical student takes an average of 112 mandated standardized tests between Pre-K and 12th grade.) While standardized testing is one of the main procedures that Universities use to judge incoming students, it is not proven to be the most effective way to convey a student’s actual intelligence level. The U.S. should not focus so heavily on standardized testing because it is not a complete accurate measurement of a student’s intelligence.
Increasingly today in America’s school system, there is a recognition of tension between individuality and conformity. The struggle between students’ personal needs and the needs of the whole continues to grow. This can be seen though the controversial issue of standardized testing. These are tests that are designed in a way, which are administered and recorded in a consistent method. In standardized testing, all test takers are required to answer the same set of multiple-choice, true or false questions, short answer, and essay questions.
“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
For instance, in Virginia just 45% of dark understudies in every school must breeze through institutionalized math tests while 68% of whites, and 82% of Asians must do likewise (Rooks,
Standardized testing is an issue with students fearful to fail the tests, with all the pressure and tension on them to overcome this predicament, as well as teachers ' jobs being in jeopardy. Most students from lower income families are at a disadvantage with this setup and groundwork for standardized tests, such as the SAT. A wealthier, more affluent family can buy higher quality and superior preparation books. Students even turn to various methods such as cheating, in order to overcome the tests.
Obviously, this is not true. Instead, a group of educational organizations and civil rights groups are saying that standardized tests are an advantage to white and Asian students. For example, “in Virginia only 45% of black students in each school must pass standardized math tests while 68% of whites, and 82% of Asians must do the same,”(Rooks). Also, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing says that students of color are more likely to be held back because of low test scores and score lower on college admission tests such as the SAT and ACT(Racial Justice). In addition, research has shown that minorities have lower test scores than whites because of hidden biases in the development of standardized tests(Reese).
As a student in high school did you ever feel like the standardized test are helping you or making you get in to a better college? Have you ever thought about how many hours students and teachers spend preparing for the standardized test? Many hours and studying are being put into those test but are they really effective and are the test doing the students good in life? Standardized tests are really just to effective, teachers and students spend too much time on them and it’s not doing the students any good, and even it’s not doing the teachers any good. Standardized tests in schools today in Ohio should be stopped because they are causing for teachers to be evaluated by the test results of how the students do on the tests, they are having the students more stressed about school and do they benefit you in colleges and university and do they really look at how well students do on them test.