Problems with Standardized Testing

They are left with the responsibility of proving they are teaching what needs to be taught. States as well as the federal government use standardized testing to assess learning. They want someone to be held responsible for students’ learning. The problem lies when the teacher and student suffer from the results of standardized testing. “The pressure on educators and policymakers to demonstrate accountability in schools has driven some to use the test results inappropriately (Holloway, 2001).” Standardized tests are comparisons of one student to another not of how well a teacher teaches or a student learns.

The use of these tests has begun to not only affect the form of education but the level of knowledge students are taking away from their educational experience. Although standardized testing is used throughout the country, it is an unreliable measure of education and is dramatically changing the curricula causing a creativity crisis. Standardized testing is an unreliable measure of schools and should not be used to measure student learning, achievement gaps,and/or teacher student quality. They are unfair and discriminatory towards students from low income and minority­group backrounds; english language learners and students with disabilities. According to W. James Popham, an expert on educational assessment, “if children come from advantaged families and stimulus rich environments, then they are more apt to succeed on items in standardized achievement tests than other children whose environments don't mesh as well with what the tests measure” (W. James Popham).

This brings us back to what the students were taught in class and how it has been assimilated. Curriculum is said to be affected by the standardized test. Some critics say, “That teachers are going to teach what will be covered on the test and unfortunately the information not covered on the test is not taught” (Banta, p.2). I know that if st... ... middle of paper ... ...a greater challenge than what can be tested in a multiple-choice format. Critics of the No Child Left Behind Act say that there is immense pressure on school officials, teachers, students, and parents.

Standardized testing, as it is being used presently, is a flawed way of testing the skills of today’s students. Too much time is being devoted to preparing students for standardized tests. Parents should worry about what schools are sacrificing in order to focus on raising test scores. Schools across the country are cutting back on, or even eliminating programs in the arts, recess for young children, field trips, electives for high school students, class meetings, discussions about current events, the use of literature in the elementary grades, and entire subject areas such as science (if the tests cover only language arts and math) (Kohn Standardized Testing and Its Victims 1). Alfie Kohn, author of The Case against Standardized Testing, recalls a specific incident of how children are being cheated out of valuable class time.

Unfortunately the common core state standards are merely a temporary distraction. Students have a wide array of educational needs and all aspects should be looked at, worked on, and corrected accordingly. To focus solely on math and English language arts creates a disadvantage to our youth. Understanding that these are subjects of high importance, our children are missing out on other learning fundamentals. The common core state standard creates extra pressure on teachers, puts our students at a true disadvantage, and removes parent involvement from our student’s education.

Some criticized that the act permitted states to define what proficient is. Others criticized the punishments for not meeting the targets that were set, which included closure or privatization of schools, losing funds, or being labeled as failing (Ravitch web). Because of those factors, heavy emphases on standardized tests were put in place in schools across the United States. The No Child Left Behind Act’s use of standardized testing negatively affects schools by pressuring schools to change curriculum, cheat to attain better scores, and by making children ill-prepared for higher education. Schools changing curriculum to cater to the testing requirements is one way the No Child Left Behind Act negatively affects schools.

Parents and policymakers state that they prefer this form of testing because it shows them how much students are learning. On the other hand educators and intellectual allies prefer to replace these tests with portfolios of each student’s work, which would show their progress throughout the school year (Phelps). One reason that I am against standardized exams is that these exams are not really testing the knowledge of a child; instead it is testing their ability to remember certain fac... ... middle of paper ... ... 2011. 295-313. Print.

The book Readicide by Kelly Gallagher is the ugly truth of the policies adopted in the school system to prioritized test taking strategies for the most part of the day and killing the enjoyment of students reading. The author points out that students’ reading has shifted negatively and the reading percentage has decreased. Students hate to read and classic novels are slowly vanishing from classrooms. The findings to Gallagher’s discoveries are research based and heartbreaking as the movement of standardized testing has been reinforced in most states. There are too many standards to teach and teachers are held accountable for students testing performance.

Standardized testing has become something of a norm under the No Child Left Behind Act. It has left the student and teacher responsible in having high test scores and has forced teachers to teach directly by the curriculum. What standardized testing does do is help develop memory, but at the cost of creativity (Emanuel 9-10). This is the problem behind standardized testing is that it has become linear and obsolete (Emanuel 9-10). It has been noticed by many for example Sir Ken Robinson said,” Testing in principal is a logical way of measuring student knowledge”, but he continues by saying that, “In practice it creates a very dry learning environment”.

The primary purpose of standardized tests is to evaluate students and show whether or not the standards of the standardized test was met in the school. However, the risks of these tests outweigh the benefits. A standardized test is not the sole test that determines the level of the student’s intelligence. Standardized tests place pressure on teachers to instruct a group of diverse students who are all on different academic levels. When students score poorly on standardized tests, school districts are coerced to lose federal education f... ... middle of paper ... ...ngle test that does not even measure the entirety of a student’s intelligence.