Should Students Have to Pass Standardized Test to Graduate?

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Should Students have to pass Standardized Tests to graduate?
One time I heard a teacher at my old high school tell a new teacher that their job is to teach to the test and nothing else. I did not really know what she meant, but I knew something about what she said sounded very wrong. I thought why are they just teaching us how to pass the test instead of just teaching us what we need to know? Later I found out that whether or not I graduate depends on passing the test. The idea of standardized testing to say whether or not students graduate is a bad one. Not just bad for schools, principals, and teachers, but it can mean the end of a student’s future before it begins. That means not only does schools suffer, but everyone in our communities, states, and country suffers. It used to be that students had to take standardized tests every year. The results of these tests said what school districts would get more money or less money for the next school year. And it would also tell schools and teachers if some students needed to be put into higher level programs such as gifted and talented or advanced placement courses or if they were having problems and should be put in special education.
Even way back then, the whole thinking of giving more money to schools that score higher than schools that score lower seemed like a really dumb way to do things. Now, students have to do testing every time they turn around. The testing not only affects the money the government gives to the school district. It affects the individual students much more. Students that test low are not able to graduate even though they have completed and passed all of their classes.
Giving less money or no money to districts that have low test scores while giving more ...

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...ere like that. It all starts at school and it can all end there because a student’s future is written in education. It seems like standardized tests that decide if a student graduates plays a big part in keeping the undereducated down by not giving money to the schools that need it the most. This makes sure that students who go to poor schools will have a harder time getting into higher education like college and training schools which means they won’t have very many choices in the job market. But someone has to run the fry cooker at McDonald’s, so the educational system is set up so that the future minimum wage workers are will be ready to take their positions when they are not able to pass the test. Standardized tests, especially state tests that are high stakes for seniors, are a key part of this system of failure for students who are already less privileged.

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