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The importance of standardized tests
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Have you ever worked really hard on something, only to find out that all of your work was not actually necessary? Some might say “these tests are just test- not the end of the world” according to “High Stakes Testing Pros and Cons” by Roberta Munoz. Who seems to not realize that some of these tests can cause you to repeat a grade or not graduate from high school. For example, the FSA, which prohibits you from getting your diploma if you fail the reading or writing part of it. According to “High Stakes Testing Pros and Cons” by Roberta Munoz this “have become a normal thing for students ever since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001.” Which means that students by now should not be affected by standardized testing, but when …show more content…
Teachers and administrators in the Atlanta public schools system for instance, were indicted this year in an alleged scheme of inflating their students’ test scores to avoid sanctions and secure performance-based bonuses” according to “High Marks for Standardized Tests.” This what standardized testing has made people do. Standardized testing has not only has caused stress to educators, but to students and parents as well. It causes people to feel that if they don’t pass that one test, that there whole life is over. In a way there life is over. According to “High Stakes Testing Pros and Cons” by Roberta Munoz “teachers are often feel like they are compelled to teach the test”. Which is not a good thing because teacher are suppose to teach what they feel like is going to help a student in life. “Many student who have to repeat a class usually drop out”(fairest, 2012).Now that does not seem like a good thing, we are suppose to encourage these kids to stay in school not drop out. Parents also feel stressed out with this situation according to “High Stakes Testing Pros and Cons”. “The pressure is overwhelming” according to “High Stakes Testing Pros and …show more content…
That means you have twenty-five percent to get a question right on a multiple-choice exam and even though you don’t get the question you still have twenty-five percent to get right. Statewide standardized testing does not accurately measure the quality of education in school systems. These tests do not take into consideration that there are higher and lower level classes. Usually the advanced students get them right, and the lower level students get them wrong. “The public gets mistaken impression that our education is improving”. Which is kind of sad to see society not understand what really is happening. Sometimes students have a bad day and fail the exam. These tests do not provide accountability and student shouldn't no be judged solely on the amelioration they have done over the last few months. Countries like Japan and China do not only use Standardized tests to judge their students, but instead use students grades and behavior to judge how much the
This specific group of people are considered students who do well in testing than those who do not. John Fensterwald, an author of books and articles on college and career preparation, analyzed a research study conducted on high school students and their performances on a test with standardized testing material. He stated that, “For 11th-graders, only 33 percent of students would be on track for college work in math while 41 percent would have reading and English language arts skills necessary for college work by the time they graduated from high school, according to information by the Smarter Balanced Assessment Consortium, an organization of states, including California, that created the tests” (Fensterwald par. 2). Basically Fensterwald is saying that through the research study, only a third of students performed well on a test that scaled with college preparatory
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.
Although there have been legitimate arguments supporting the benefits of standardized testing, such as their ability to successfully measure students’ proficiency, in recent years there have been concerns and disadvantages regarding how their misuse poses a serious threat to the American education system. Despite the belief that standardized tests should be used to measure students’ proficiency, there are more reasons outweighing this statement regarding why they shouldn’t be used for this purpose. Not only is this a particular issue with standardized testing, but the tests are becoming more high stakes and are being used unfairly to determine things such as graduation, or placement in a school, resulting in a significant amount of stress and anxiety in students. Testing corporations are also profiting from the design of these standardized tests, while standardized testing is also forcing teachers to all teach the same thing, leading to a lack of creativity in the students. Aside from these arguments, standardized tests have been found to be becoming flawed and have poor design.
As in an incoming freshman in high school, not only was I introduced to standardized test but my fellow classmates as well. Standardized test is any form of a test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions or a selection of questions from common bank of questions, which is also scored in a standard or consistent manner. These particular test are given at the end of each school year to the particular students who are enrolled in the the classes of the given test. The standardized test include Algebra I, Biology I, English, and History.We also found out that in order for anyone to graduate those particular test had to passed if not you were not eligible to graduate. However, out of all four test History was the most difficult for students to pass as well as myself. This test in particular was known for being the hardest test to pass. Since the test was so hard to pass we were introduced to that one class specifically History our ninth grade year so that we could take the test for the first time at the end of our freshman year. Not all students had problems passing you had some pass all four on their first try, but then you had the other set of students who could not pass which hindered many from graduating. In the end I do not believe that
I guarantee you that.” This is a woman who is doing very well for herself and is pretty high up there. She even says that standardized tests don’t really do anything for you, or your future.With that being stated we go back to how standardized testing does not work. On May 26, 2011, A National Research Council report found no evidence test-based incentive programs are working: "Despite using them for several decades, policymakers and educators do not yet know how to use test-based incentives to consistently generate positive effects on achievement and to improve education." What this means is that educators and policymakers are just shooting in the dark. They don’t have for sure test or anything of the sort that can consistently gives the results that they want. So what would make them give a test that is fifty fifty on whether or not students have learned “what is
Parents and advocates of education can all agree that they want their students to be in the best hands possible in regards to education. They want the best teachers, staffs, and schools to ensure their student’s success. By looking at the score results from standardized testing, teachers can evaluate effectively they are doing their job. On the other side, a proponent for eliminating standardized testing would argue that not all students care passionately about their education and will likely not perform to expectations on the test. However, receiving the numerical data back, teachers can construe the student’s performances and eliminate the outliers of the negligent kids. Teachers can then look at the individual scores and assign those outliers to get the help they need in school. This helps every student getting an equal chance at education. Overall, taking a practice standardized test can let a teacher look at individual questions and scores and interpret what they need to spend more time on teaching. A school also can reap the benefits from standard testing to ensure they are providing the best possible education they can. The school can look at the average scores from a group and hold the teacher accountable for the student’s results on the test. The school can then determine the best course of action to pursuit regarding the teacher’s career at the school. By offering teachers and schools the opportunity to grow and prosper, standardized testing is a benefit for the entire education
John Bishop of Cornell University found that nations that require standardized tests perform better on international tests compared to nations that don 't (Walberg). But the National Assessment of Educational Progress disagrees. In 2011, only thirty-five percent of U.S. 8th graders were identified as proficient in math. This places the U.S. in thirty-second place in the world (Peterson). But every state in the U.S. requires tests, so why are students performing so poorly? Phillip Harris states, “…[S]tandardized tests inadvertently create incentives for students to become superficial thinkers—to seek the quick, easy, and obvious answer.” For America to start performing well on tests again, we need to take the focus off of our test-taking skills and instead focus on the actual subject matter. To do this, the entire standardized testing system needs to be
Garcia-Pelayo2students, one can find oneself surprised when we learn that each state spends roughly “$1.7billion a year” (Ujifusa 1) on standardized testing. Money for standardized testing if being spentbefore students even set their eyes on a college application, and definitely before they start fillingout their applications. Standardized tests are expensive, and usually required too. Unless astudent knows for sure that the school they’re applying to, and getting accepted to, does notrequire standardized tests, spending those $65 dollars is almost inevitable. What most studentsconsider “back-up schools” might not need high grades, but at the very least they need thesatisfaction of knowing that you took a test and that they have a number by
Pressure is being exerted on students to pass, and teachers to enable their students to pass the standardized tests being presented to them. This takes much classroom time that could be spent instructing students on what might be more valuable information, and instead study for the test by what some consider rote memorization (Silva). Experiments have been done seeing how much different teaching approaches were before and after the implementation of standardized testing (Desimone). These experiments demonstrated how vastly the difference between teaching to the test and teaching what the instructor believes is the most valuable knowledge and the best way to present this knowledge. If there is a disconnect between what America’s teachers believe is best to know, and what is on the examinations, then one of the two is flawed, and it is not likely to be what the teachers are teaching.
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.
As child growing up some of the frightful memories include a visit to the dentist; an evil man with scary drill whose solve purpose is to hurt you or the first day in elementary school you finally leave all behind the cozy classrooms and nap times of kindergarten and enter the big leagues. All of these are considered a cakewalk compared to standardize testing. Since the start of elementary school students in the United States are taught to test. In many instances students are held back or placed in remedial classes because of lower grades. But many don’t realize that some students are not great at testing taking and because of the lower grades some educators believe that these students are lower achievers. This leads to lower self-esteem and encourage students to drop out in later years. Also students are forced to memorize information merely as facts without sparking their creativity or enhancing their knowledge.
Stecher, “The net effect of high-stakes testing on policy and practice is uncertain. Researchers have not documented the desirable consequences of testing—providing more instruction, working harder, and working more effectively—as clearly as the undesirable ones—such as negative reallocation, negative alignment of classroom time to emphasize topics covered by a test, excessive coaching, and cheating. More important, researchers have not generally measured the extent or magnitude of the shifts in practice that they identified as a result of high-stakes testing.” Which means that in completion no test is truly valid or reliable for there are too many mistakes to be had by either the test takers or the Test
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.
The first major learning regarding high stakes assessment from the video "Teachers, parents push back against high stakes testing" is the fact that the results of this type of assessment form the basis for scholarship application, admission in programs for talented and gifted students as well as other educational establishments. Another thing that I found out about high stakes assessment is that it has become subject to strong criticism both amongst parents and among teachers for the unrelenting pressure, it brings on children. What I also found out about this type of assessment from another video is that there is growing evidence that it negatively affects the quality of education ("High Stakes Testing and Student Success", 2013).
There is added pressure to schools to get better scores which adds pressure to the educators and the students. The added pressure can cause health problems with the students or the educators. If health problem come from the stress of the tests it could negatively affect the student’s ability to learn (Pros and Cons, 2013). The test itself is a problem as well. The test is supposed to be unbiased based on the grade level but in most cases the test is not. As much as they try...