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There seems to be a dilemma in the educational system. In order to receive funding, a school system has to test its students annually. These tests are supposed to measure the progress of the students and the school system. But what is really measured with these scores? What do they really mean? Should children be tested as frequently as they are? And most importantly, should the ability to pass on to another grade or to graduate from high school be based on only one test? With so many questions arising from these tests, the answer is to take a stand against them. Perhaps a brief history will provide a better understanding of the standardized testing system. In the 1980’s, the National Governors Association pushed for states to have performance-based accountability of their school systems. Basically, states would grant schools more flexibility in what and how they chose to teach in return for more accountability for academicbased performance. In 1994, Title I, “the largest federally funded education program” (http://www.doe.mass.edu), actually required that all states create performance-based accountability systems for schools (Elmore 2). Now, with the introduction of the Bush administration’s No Children Left Behind, all states are required to annually test their students in order to receive federal grants (Romano 1). In Bush’s attempt to make sure that our schools are held to a high standard, he is threatening their funding based on their students’ performance. Not only are students’ grade advancements and sometimes graduations dependent upon these tests, but so is the funding for their schools as well. Teachers can be dismissed or schools shut down based on test performance. No pressure there, kids. W... ... middle of paper ... ...ardized tests. Utah’s officials were willing to lose $76 million dollars in funding by deciding not to follow federal testing standards (Quindlen 2). If we take a stand, is your state ready to be next? Works Cited Elmore, Richard F. “Testing Trap.” Harvard Magazine. 11 November 2005. http://www. harvardmagazine.com/print/090240html. Massachusetts Department of Education. Massachusetts Government. 11 November 2005. http://www.doe.mass.edu/ Quindlen, Anna. “Testing: One, Two, Three.” Newsweek. 19 June 2005. 4 November 2005. http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8099819/site/newsweek/page/2/print/1/ displaymode/1098. Romano, Lois. “Test Scores Move Little in Math, Reading. Improvement Appears Slight Since No Child Left Behind.” 20 Oct. 2005. Washington Post. 1 November 2005. http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/19/ AR2005101900708.
Michels, Patrick. "Testing the Limits: a Texas Mother’s Radical Revolt Against Standardized Tests." Texas Observer. N.p., 21 Feb. 2013. Web. 27 Apr. 2014. .
Sept 2008 http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/
This is precisely the problem. Standardized tests are old and outdated, and the harm they cause to America’s education system by far outweighs the benefits. These tests were intended to monitor and offer ways to improve how public schools function, but instead they have impaired the natural learning ability of students and imposed upon the judgment of experienced educators. Although a means to evaluate the progress of public schools is necessary, it is also necessary to develop more modern and effective ways of doing so. Standardized testing mandated by the federal and state governments has a negative effect on the education of America’s youth.
Since the U.S. Congress passed the No Child Left Behind program, standardized testing has become the norm for American schools. Under this system, each child attending a school is required to take a standardized test at specific grade points to assess their level of comprehension. Parents, scholars and all stakeholders involved take part in constant discussions over its effectiveness in evaluating students’ comprehension, teachers’ competency and the effects of the test on the education system. Though these tests were put in place to create equality, experts note that they have created more inequality in the classroom. In efforts to explore this issue further, this essay reviews two articles on standardized testing. This essay reviews the sentiments of the authors and their insight into standardized examination. The articles provide sufficient evidence to demonstrate that standardized tests are not effective at measuring a teacher’s competency because they do not take into account the school environment and its effect on the students.
There are many arguments that are pro standardized testing, such as standardized testing prepares students for their futures and gives all students equality with what they have been taught. As I stated above, even though all students may be given the same standardized test, their education is not equal, and therefore the standardized testing is extremely unfair to use the scores to assess whether or not the students prepared. When we had class debates one of the topics was standardized testing and how it affected our schools, one of the arguments against standardized testing was that the tests are not true to showing off the student’s ability. Many students have severe test anxiety and because of that, their testing scores are not what they
The Standardized Testing System, instituted in the public school system, has been used as a guideline in assessing a student’s comprehension of the subjects taught in the classroom and for measuring a teacher’s aptitude of relating the subject material to the students (Fletcher). Florida has instituted a new Bill SB-736 that will now no longer grant teacher’s tenure, and will use the scores from the FCAT to decide whether a teacher will keep their job. While originally created to help the school system, standardized testing has been shown to have many problems, and even to cause harm to students, teachers, and schools. The standardized testing system must be severely revamped, as well as the way the scores affect the schools the students attend.
Many people agree that standardized tests are a reasonable evaluation of a student’s capability. Standardized tests originated in the mid-1800s, in the American education system. W. James Popham defines standardized testing by “any test that’s administered, scored, and interpreted in a standard, predetermined manner” (“Is the Use of…,” 2013). After the No Child Left behind Act (NCLB) came about in the early 2000s, the use of standardized testing became popular. NCLB required yearly testing for specific grades and subjects. If schools did not demonstrate adequate improvement, they were either closed or run by the state. This was done so the state and the tax payers of the schools knew that students were learning and knowing the material. Tax payers especially wanted to make sure their money was going to good use (“Is the Use of…,” 2013). High scores on standardized tests can result in funding for the school, along with bonuses to the facility and staff of the school.
tests were primarily employed as measures of student achievement that could be reported to parents, and as a means of noting state and district trends (Moon 2) . Teachers paid little attention to these tests, which in turn had little impact on curriculum. However, in the continuing quest for better schools and high achieving students, testing has become a central focus of policy and practice. Standardized tests are tests that attempt to present unbiased material under the same, predetermined conditions and with consistent scoring and interpretation so that students have equal opportunities to give correct answers and receive an accurate assessment. The idea is that these similarities allow the highest degree of certainty in comparing result...
Standardized testing is a down fall to many students but also an opportunity for many others. Standardized testing has its pros and its cons. It can be the make it or break it factor into getting into colleges you are hoping to attend or the scholarships you want to earn. Some people may have their opinions about the test, whether they hate it or not but the fact is that it’s here to stay.
One of the biggest topics in the educational world is standardized tests. All fifty states have their own standards following the common core curriculum. There are many positives and negatives that go with the standardized tests. A standardized test is any type of “examination that's administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner” (Popham, 1999). These standardized tests are either aptitude tests or achievement tests. Schools use achievement tests to compare students.
Kohn, Alfie. The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools. Portsmouth NH: Heinemann 2000.
...or standardized testing. Finding the right one is the burden that our society faces today. With the fifty states in this country there are fifty opportunities to find a valuable solution that may solve the issues that face standardized testing.
Standardized testing in the United States is not always a common practice. In the Mid-1800s, Horace Mann, an education reformist, developed a test to administer to a group of students. Its purpose was to determine how students were performing at their current level and whether they were capable of proceeding to a higher level of education, although the student’s success on the test had no negative repercussions. These tests were a necessity at that time because the idea of public education was still being molded and these tests were the only means by which student progress could be measured. Within 35 years of the first recorded examination in 1845, testing became the factor which determined whether students were able to be promoted to the next grade.
1. Legal Arguments: Examples of legal concerns surrounding the practice of mandatory testing include constitutional i...
Fairtest. (1990). Standardized Tests and our Children: A Guide to Testing Reform. Massachusetts: National Center for Fair and Open Testing.