Over the course of approximately seventy years, standardized testing was developed. The topic started in 1838 as merely an idea but over time progressed into a national concept. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a law that bestows money for educational aid for poor children in exchange for enhanced academic progression and requires states to test students in reading and math. This form of testing was primarily made to improve education in America however it is failing to do so. This is because it consumes the time needed for students to be thoroughly educated, is an imprecise way to grade educators, it narrows the curriculum, and causes good learning and practice skills to be replaced with rote learning.
The time for teachers to educate their students is being consumed by tedious and unexciting preparation for tests.
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Educators are pressured into teaching to the test leading teachers to focus more on ensuring their students memorize facts that will most likely be on the end of the year test. For example, the High-Quality Teaching study examined elementary students and what the teachers do to help their students succeed in reading and mathematics. The study found that certain factors including curriculum coverage, pacing the curriculum, and practicing for test began to be what teachers focused on more when several policy directives progressively commanded practice, particularly in schools vulnerable of not meeting adequate yearly progress (Valli). A policy environment frequently results in teachers feeling overwhelmed. Therefore, it is no surprise that teachers began to concentrate on teaching to the test.
Not only do standardized test put pressure on educators, standardized tests are an inaccurate way to measure the performance of teachers or professors. This chart shows student test performance is profoundly related to child
Discussion Post- Chapter 7- High stakes testing Claim: High stakes testing is an extremely problematic political issue within the education system because it holds all students to the same standards regardless of disabilities or disadvantages , it encourages educators to teach strictly on information that relates to the tests, and it can have major consequences for schools across the country that are unable to make Adequete Yearly Progress (AYP). Evidence: The Learning to Teach Edition Nine textbook outlines key disadvantages to high stakes testing. Although the textbook does consider some of the advantages, which include a focus of attention on the achievement of students and providing information on areas where students may need to improve,
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
Standard testing is a very controversial and important subject because it deals with the progression of the American education system. The practice of these assessments has been highly scrutinized not only for the way it has changed the format of classrooms, but also for its accuracy, pressure, and abundance. In 2001, standardized testing became federally mandated through the No Child Left Behind Act by former president George Bush Jr. According to research from the Council of the Great City Schools, students have been taking “an average of 113 tests from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade” (K. Hefling). These numbers have increased to the point where parents have opted for their children to not attend standardized exams.
Instead, the boss will present a problem and expect its employees to come up with solutions to this problem , anticipated to be presented for discussion later that week. It is expected, in whatever career, to know simple skills like problem solving and even how to write a well-educated report based on research. Many schools have switched over to standardized testing as an accurate measure of a student’s, teacher, and a school’s success. However, evidence shows that standardized tests lead to stress, most importantly,
If teachers did not have to spend so much of their time focused on covering each topic that the state will test on, they would be able to create a safe space for students to try, fail, and ultimately love to learn. Sadly, this is not the
31 Jan. 2017.) Teaching students how to take test does not teach them the things they need, to be prepared for everyday adult life. Which is not helping prepare them for their future adult lives. Also Test scores are used to reward or punish schools and
Although this may sound, effective the NCLB discredits this notion by allowing almost all states now to receive waivers that allow them to miss key elements of the law without any punishments. Moreover, opponents in favor of the law may agree that the increased testing has created an environment where teachers teach to the exam eliminating unneeded materials. If you believe more rigor means more, or better, learning the reality is harder tests do not make kids smarter. Unfortunately, the love of teaching and learning is being diminished by the drills and worksheets used to get ready for “the big test”. The idea of using standardized testing to evaluate student academic performance is not new, and as of yet has shown no measurable increase in student performance.
This is why we have standardized testing(1). To add on, people say that teachers have to “teach the test” or teach what the students need to know. This causes teachers to do this because their job depends on it. Yes, teachers should teach the students what they need to know for the test, it is part of their job(2). If the school or teacher isn’t, then the teacher gets fired, or the school gets shut
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.
Introduction Standardized tests may be used for a wide variety of educational purposes. For example, they may be used to determine a young child’s readiness for kindergarten, identify students who need special-education services or specialized academic support, place students in different academic programs or course levels, or award diplomas and other educational certificates. Thesis Statement Standardized tests should not be eliminated completely, but should rather be evaluated in addition to other factors such as grades, extracurricular activities, and volunteer hours. This would take pressure off of students during standardized tests, allow colleges to see how well-rounded the students are, and give students who are better in other areas
We have learned about how the No Child Left Behind law, passed in 2001, required states to give tests to improve academic progression. To ensure this goal be met, Congress required states to evaluate schools and teachers, based on student's test scores. In doing this, standardized testing has caused academic issues and has affected the schools, and their teachers and students. School ratings decreased and were suggested to need improvement. Being evaluated from student test scores lowered the academic progression in schools.
(Stephens) In Florida, teachers spend much more time preparing students for tests rather than imparting knowledge. This results in narrowing down the curriculum as subjects such as social studies, science, etc. are pushed aside to make time for test preparations. Thus, students are only learning tricks and strategies to pass the tests. Moreover, students in need of special assistance are neglected and left behind.
(2) How do teacher prepare children to take standardized test.? Getting student ready for testing, teacher must prepare instruction that not only prepare students for testing, but they must also make sure that the state standard is being met. Accordingly, to Hollingworth (2007) as stated in the text, there are five ways to prepare student for testing. (1) Teacher adjust their instructional program with the state’s curriculum to make sure they are teaching what is on the test; (2) They also set goals for student and record their progress; (3) They give the student reading and writing activities to help
Statewide testing can put an enormous amount of pressure on teachers to ensure their students do well and are successful in the future. This pressure can lead to a focus on test preparation, rather than meaningful learning experiences that the students need. Additionally, teachers may feel pressured to “teach the test” which can lead to the narrowing of the curriculum the students are on and lose their track of
The education system puts a disadvantage on schools by creating a blanket standard for all of the students in the state. This is a cookie-cutter approach to education that does not personalize standards for individual schools. While it is important for students to be held to some sort of standard, it is more beneficial to set an attainable, yet challenging, requirement that is tailored to small regions. Low achieving students may struggle to meet a standard that may be considered average and still find themselves, even after hard work, to be below proficient. If the child’s starting point was on the bottom end, he or she could have made leaps and bounds of improvement in crucial skills throughout the school year.