Standardized Testing: For Better or For Worse?
Almost everyone in the U.S. recognizes that standardized testing is a central part of the education system in our country. What many people don’t know though is the history of where it came from. Beginning in the mid-1800s prestigious universities decided they wanted to give more students across the country a better chance at going into higher education, but at the time there wasn’t a way to measure the capabilities of students in both high class and low class families. This is how standardized testing came into play. If a student could do well on these tests regardless of their financial position than their scores would hopefully speak for themselves. Although, now standardized testing performs many more roles compared to its simple origins.
In today’s society standardized tests not only shows the capabilities of the students, but they also show how much they’ve learned, and the results can even decide how much funding a school will receive. Due to these factors, a tremendous amount of pressure it put upon both students and teachers. For students the pressure is to do well, and for teachers the pressure is to teach your students well enough to perform their best. These requirements have become part of what shapes the classroom mold. The goal of schooling is to not longer just teach, but is now also to prepare students for taking exams.
One argument that has become prevalent is the debate of whether or not standardized testing should be used at all. Ultimately this is a personal decision; there’s no right or wrong answer considering that an argument could be made for either side. One thing that’s for certain though is that there has to be some standard for determining one’s abilities...
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...ociation for Supervision and Curriculum Development's Update, 1987) puts this issue into a perspective that presents both the good and bad of this issue.
Regardless of whether standardized testing is replaced entirely or if it’s just edited to become more accurate the fact that changes are needed are obvious. It comes down to what one considers more important. Some say that the tests need to become more consistent, some say that the tests need to be more fair to those who had less of an opportunity for education, and some may even say that the changes aren’t worth the expenses needed to make the changes. In the end standardized testing can’t be blamed alone, and other factors will have to be considered as well. Though, hopefully by the end of the debate the U.S.education system will have learnt, grown, and improved for the sake of future generations of our people.
Students dread the time of the year when they stop with their course material and begin to prepare for test. Everyone is in agreement that some type of revolution is needed when it comes to education; eliminating standardized test will aid the reform. The need for standardized testing has proven to be ineffective and outdated; some leading educationalist also believe this because the tests do not measure a student’s true potential. This will save money, stop labeling, and alleviate stress in students and teachers.
Michele Obama once stated, “If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn 't be here. I guarantee you that.” The First Lady is, in other words, to say that standardized testing was a major factor into her life’s outcome and her scores could have potentially not put her in her position of power that she is highly recognized in today’s society. Although standardized tests do play a large role in any college application, standardized testing may not count as much toward one’s college admissions or success because standardized tests are not the only factor toward college applications, these tests only benefit a specific target group of people, and standardized tests are better used for giving insight on one’s
The current education system implemented by most schools measures a student’s progress using two methods: letter grades and standardized tests. However, the pressure put on students to achieve high grades causes standardized tests to be overlooked throughout the school year. Because of this, students enter tests with false hopes of scoring well when in reality they are severely underprepared. Honor roll students with perfect GPA’s can score in the average percentile if they are not adequately exposed to the test material. Schools should put a larger emphasis on preparation for standardized tests so students will be better equipped to take these tests and receive a score that more accurately reflects their knowledge.
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 testing has become the arbiter of social mobility, yet there is more regulation of the food we feed our pets that of the tests we give our kids ” (Robert Schaeffer quotes)
Standardized tests should not be used to measure student proficiency. These tests are becoming much more challenging and high stakes, resulting in a significant amount of stress and anxiety in students. Standardized testing has become a huge weight on students which is leading to test anxiety. Jasmine Evans writes in her article “Problems With Standardized Testing,” from Education.com about critics of the No Child Left Behind, an act passed in 2001 one under the administration of George W. Bush, who say that there is a lot of pressure on teachers, students, and parents, and school officials as a result of these tests. They say the pressure to...
Standardized testing assesses students, teachers, and the school itself, which puts a great deal of pressure on the students. High scores show that the school is effective in teaching students, while low test scores make teachers and schools look as though they are not teaching the students properly. This is not always the case. There are teachers who do teach students what they need to know to pass the test, but their students are still unprepared. Although teachers try to improve instruction, student performance is still variable to other factors that the school cannot control.
Standardized testing caters to one population of people and one style of learning. These tests are supposed to measure if you are on your grade level but can be extremely ineffective. I remember taking the SAT and them asking questions that I did not know how to solve and it was so long that it made me not want to take it. This creates a problem for students because they figure why take a test I know I am going to fail and that take hours to take. The success rate for that is very low. These tests cater to people that a tolerant enough to sit down for hour and comprehend the work in one particular way but everyone is not tolerant enough for it. Just like one of my old professor said everyone learns and comprehends and has tolerance for a lot of things but taking a test that is four hours long with work that you can’t comprehend because you don’t have enough time to think in that particular section is not fair to every stud...
The world is no longer concerned with educating whole human beings, but instead, it is focused on collecting “data.” “Standardized testing robs students and teachers of using their creativity and critical thinking. It holds everyone accountable for meeting this one standard when that is nearly impossible to do. It turns us into robots, dehumanizing both teachers and students.” (Gettysburg College, 1) Standardized test are given to schools by the government. The problem with that is that the government is not in the classroom with students every day. They do not know what the students need. Standardized testing takes away time from student learning experiences where they are not able to think critically or be creative. Standardized tests take place in an artificial learning environment. They are timed, students are not allowed to ask questions, use references, talk to another student, and they cannot even get up and move around. All of these things do not mirror the reality of the real world at all. These tests are reducing the richness of human experience and human learning to a number/ set of numbers. A student may have a deep knowledge of a particular subject, but receive no acknowledgement for it because their test score may have been low. Maybe if students could draw a picture, lead a group discussion, or make a hands-on project, they could show all the knowledge that they really have. They cannot do any of these things in a standardized test. As stated before, testing also creates “winners” and losers.” The “winners” get to move on with their life, but the “losers” often suffer from loss of self-esteem and the damage of “low expectations.” Standardized tests do not value diversity either. There are a wide range of differences in the people who take standardized tests. People have different cultural backgrounds, different levels of proficiency in the English language, different learning and thinking styles, different
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
Standardized testing is not the best way to measure how well a teacher teaches or how much a student has learned. Schools throughout the United States put their main focus on standardized tests; these examinations put too much pressure on the teachers and students and cause traumatizing events. Standardized testing puts strain on teachers and students causing unhealthy occurrences, Common Core is thrown at teachers with no teaching on how to teach the new way which dampers testing scores for all students, and the American College Test determines whether a child gets into college or not based on what they have learned during high school. Standardized tests are disagreeable; tests should not determine ranking of people.
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.
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 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.