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standardized tests do more harm than good
standardized tests do more harm than good
overall effects of standardized testing
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Standardized tests, like the SATs are administered to high school juniors and seniors to measure if a student has the knowledge to be successful in college level courses. Standardized tests are beneficial to schools as well as the state. The state administers the tests to all schools to compare the scores of individual students, schools, and to see if students compare to the state’s predetermined score. These tests also help schools improve over time. High school students are required to take a state test every year. The state can evaluate the effectiveness of a particular school by comparing the scores of a student during a four-year period. On the other hand, standardized testing is an inaccurate method to assess the knowledge of students. Learning is not a simple task and there are many different ways to learn one idea. Standardized tests are generally multiple-choice questions with all correct answers, but one of the choices is more appropriate than the other answers. Standardized testing is a one-way street for the state. It simply measures the knowledge of students and compares the scores to various other subjects. Students are not directly benefiting from taking these tests. Standardized tests are not an effective way to assess a student’s intelligence. Intelligence incorporates much more than the knowledge acquired in a school setting.
Standardized testing is a poor method to measure the intelligence of a student. “The multiple choice format of the test measures knowledge and skills, not creativity and problem-solving (Heibutzki). ” Creative thinking and problem solving are the abilities that set one student apart from another. There are many different teaching methods that teachers use to give students the opportunity t...
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...etween students to accept and to deny, the look the student’s SAT scores. The student with the higher SAT score will be the accepted student. In life, I do not believe that knowledge and skills are the best way to compare two people. As humans we are always learning and acquiring new skills. People themselves apart from others by participating in sports, activities, solving problems, and thinking outside the box. Standardized tests do not accurately illustrate the intelligence of a student.
Works Cited
Heibutzki, Ralph. "What Are the Advantages & Disadvantages of Achievement Tests?" Education. Hearst Seattle Media, LLC, n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
Redford, Kyle. "Time to Dethrone the Standardized Test." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
"Standardized Tests - ProCon.org." ProConorg Headlines. N.p., n.d. Web. 05 Mar. 2014.
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.
Standardized tests have been used to see how much a child has learned over a certain period of time. These tests have been a highly debated issue with many parents and just people in general. In the article “Opting out of standardized tests? Wrong answer,” the author Michelle Rhee argues that people should not be trying to opt out of standardized tests because it allows the country to see how much a child has learned and the things they need to improve. On the other hand, in the article “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong,” the author Kristina Rizga argues that standardized tests are not an efficient way to measure a student’s intelligence. Rizga better proves her thesis through the use of solid argumentation. Rizga is more
Throughout the United States standardized testing is a popular way that educators measure a student’s academic ability. Although it may seem like a good idea to give a bunch of students the same test and see how each one does, it is not that simple. The results do not represent how smart a student is or a student's potential to do great things in the real world. In taking a standardized test one student may have a greater advantage over another for many reasons. Reasons that are not shown in the standardized test score.
Evans, Donia. "The Case Against Standardized Tests." The Meridian Star. 24 Nov. 2013. The Meridian Star. 01 Dec. 2013 .
Standardized testing is a type of test usually serve to determine how well you understand a concept which is often used for placement. These types of test include questions in a form of an essay, short answers, multiple choices, or a combination of these together and are given out as early as in kindergarten. This practice has been used for so long that it has become a part of the American culture. Every year, high school juniors and seniors worldwide take the SAT or the ACT in the hope that they score high enough to get into their dream school. However, there has been a lot of ongoing debates revolving around the idea of the use of standardized testing in college admission and the whether or not they are effective in determining a student’s
Students should not have to take a test just to enter in to college because students are more than a test score, they are people too. Why are students compared with a test score that – more often than not - does not reflect their academic ability? These tests are biased because people write the questions and, therefore, they can make the question wordy and choose which ones to omit (Pollard). These test do not measure a person’s intelligence; rather, their test taking ability. As proof, the ACT science portion of the test do not pertain to science knowledge at all; rather, it ...
Intelligence has been defined in many different ways including ones capacity for logic, abstract thought, creativity, and problem solving. Standardized tests play a major role in education systems today. Although these tests do exemplify a student’s ability to read and write English, this test promotes “teaching to a test.” I have first handedly experienced this in my own life. Standardized tests undermine critical thinking and innovation and are not the best example of intelligence.
High stakes testing does not accurately determine a student’s intelligence. In 1999, the National Academy of Sciences researched the appropriate and inappropriate uses of tests. They agreed that “no single test score can be considered a definitive measure of a student’s knowledge”(http://www.allianceforchildhood.net/news/histakes_test_position_statement.htm).
Almost every high school student will take it: the standardized test. Tests like the SAT and ACT are used to measure how well a student will do in his or her college life, but these tests are not always accurate. There are many different types of students and most of the high scores and low scores correlate to certain groups of students which is why some argue these tests are biased. Standardized tests, especially the ones that measure college success, are not as effective at ranking a student’s academic ability as many people believe. Standardized tests prevent students from proper learning in the classroom and they cannot equally measure every kind of student’s intelligence.
Peterson, B. & Neill, M. (2014). Alternatives to standardized testing. Rethinking Schools. Retrieved from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.a sp?path=archive/13_03/assess.shtml
In the society of today, there are various educators who believe in assessment as proper method to measure the performance of a child in school as well as the overall achievement of a specific school system. The assessment may be presented in the form of verbal, written, or multiple choice, and it usually pertains to certain academic subjects in the school curriculum. Recently, many educators began to issue standardized tests to measure the intelligence of a common student body. (Rudner, 1989) These standardized tests were initially created to reveal the success in institutional school programs, and exhibit the abilities of students today. The standardized tests can reveal the strengths and weaknesses of a student as well as the admission into certain programs. The test results also assist various schools in determining the proper curriculum, evaluate a specific school system, or a particular school related program.
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.
Standardized testing is not an effective way to test the skills and abilities of today’s students. Standardized tests do not reveal what a student actually understands and learns, but instead only prove how well a student can do on a generic test. Schools have an obligation to prepare students for life, and with the power standardized tests have today, students are being cheated out of a proper, valuable education and forced to prepare and improve their test skills. Too much time, energy, and pressure to succeed are being devoted to standardized tests. Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students.
Standardized testing remains to be a major controversial issue for the American society today. Exams are given to students at different levels in their educational career and are supposed to measure their academic knowledge, but are these tests really the best way to evaluate students? There have been numerous alternatives suggested to replace or be used in conjunction with standardized testing.
It has been seen that factors like one’s economic and racial background can heavily influence one’s performance on a tests, as they are not given the same opportunities as those given to more affluent students. A student’s emotional well-being is also at stake as many students come out of tests doubting their overall intelligence, even though they were quite confident in the material and so much is hinged on test scores that it places a great deal of pressure on students to do well. Standardized tests also restrict teacher’s ability to learn due to the restrictions that standardized test place on the material being taught, which makes it very hard for teachers to go beyond the required and teach more interesting things. Due to the issues that have arisen from standardized tests many alternative solutions have been used and have been proven to be successful. Some good alternative solutions have been limiting the amount of standardized tests given by sampling a few students, shortening the length of exams, and allotting more time to complete these tests. Other alternatives look to more qualitative approaches in learning by implementing things like projects and portfolios that give an excellent insight to a student’s performance and