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essays on standardized testing for and against
essays on standardized testing for and against
debate surrounding standardized testing
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Throughout our education, students like myself, are constantly given tests to assess our knowledge on the material that we have learned. However, do we really know what our test scores indicate? Lately, it has been a constant public debate as to whether or not test scores are a good indication of a student’s competency. Test scores do not accurately depict a student’s knowledge for several reasons. To fully understand the concept, we should first define what a test is. According to the article “Important of Testing is Psychology and Education,” published by a2zPsychology in 2002, “A test is defined as a measure of a person’s knowledge, intelligence, or other characteristics in a systematic way.” Teachers are required to give their students exams for many reasons that includes: identifying what students have learned, discovering their learning abilities, determining their strengths and weaknesses and deciding where to place a student. As stated in Charles Daves’s article “Value of Standardized Tests in Indicating How Well Students are Learning” published by Jossey-Bass in 1984, “Critics have charged that such tests measure only a narrow spectrum of abilities, that the tests by their very nature discourage creative and imaginative thinking, that the results of the tests have far too significant an effect on the life chances of young people, that the emphasis in a multiple-choice test is wrongly on ‘the right answer’ and on simplicity instead of thoughtful judgments, that the tests favor the advantaged over the disadvantaged while claiming to be neutral, and that the tests are inherently biased against those who are unfamiliar with language and concepts of the majority culture.” Any test scores cannot accurately determine a future ... ... middle of paper ... ... In order for norms to work effectively, it is established that students must take the same test under standardized circumstances. Standardization is a set of uniform procedures for treating each student in a test, making sure that everyone is testing in the same conditions. There are several cases where a student may not be tested under the same conditions as their peers. For instance, a student may get more time than others. For this reason, it is not fair. Other issues include: being given clearer or more detailed instructions, allowing to ask questions, and getting motivated by a tester to perform better. Due to these conditions, it is difficult to analyze what a given test score indicates or how it is related to a comparison group. To fix this dilemma, explicit instructions should be included to inform the administer how to give an exam to avoid any unfairness.
The two most common aptitude tests administered for high school students are the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and American College Testing (ACT), devised to assess a student’s potential for success and readiness in college. However, experience is still regarded as important; school-related learning, particularly in language and mathematics, is a prerequisite for success on the tests. Because aptitude tests are regarded as reliable, they eliminate teacher bias and differences in teachers’ grading practices, thus, adding valuable information in predicting future college success. There is no widely accepted definition of “aptitude” and “ability,” and the terms are often used
“One test result is the worth one-thousand expert opinions.” The result of standardized testing can establish many results but do they imply the true capabilities of a student or their ability to study for the test. I will discuss in this paper what the arguments on both sides are for standardized testing.
Standardized tests have been a controversial issue regarding whether they are helping or hurting students and their academics. People that are for standardized testing argue that the tests are fair because all students nationwide are learning and being tested on the same thing. Bruno, Kemmerling, and others agree that these tests are beneficial to schools, students, and teachers. Others who are against standardized testing disagree because teachers are only teaching to the test. Littky, Caines, and Hanford see the negative aspects of standardized testing and want to change how people perceive it. Both sides of the issue have a credible argument.
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
Throughout high school and college we will go through a vast amount of testing but why? Testing is used to show a person’s amount of knowledge on a particular subject. Usually it’s for one specific subject and not a majority of them, the standardized tests include all testable subjects as in English, math, science, writing, and reading. However, before we can all begin our college careers we have to take one of two tests, the ACT or the SAT. These two tests determine the college you get into, the amount of scholarships you will receive, and even whether or not your will be accepted into any college.
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.
Students do not get to express their understanding of the world or to even form their own opinions. Instead they are given a limited amount of time to dance the steps that are deemed important. In these tests there is only one right answer and no room to question or to think critically about them. The “whys” students have always wanted to ask are never answered on the test. If intelligence includes abstract thought, questioning, and creativity, then Standardized tests are in no way measuring students intelligence.
Lyndsey Layton has been covering nation education since 2011, she has written on many different topics in education, and has been employed by the Washington Post since 1998. In her article about standardized testing she states, “...students should be judged by multiple measures, including student work, written teacher observations and grades. And they overwhelmingly think teacher quality is the best way to improve education, followed by high academic standards and effective principals.” (Layton pg.1). This quote shows that standardized tests only judge certain measures of a student's intelligence. Students should be graded in multiple areas not just how well they can answer multiple choice problems. Standardized tests only grade students on one way of thinking and discourage creative, out of the box thinking. Kira Zalan is an editor for the U.S. News Weekly, she first appeared in September of 2011, and has been writing since. Zalan states, “...there are multiple paths to the same outcome and that engagement is an extremely important aspect of the equation.”(Zalan pg.1). Standardized tests only allow for one path of thinking. There can be multiple different ways to find an answer, but if students do not answer the “correct” way they will be graded as wrong. Because these tests are graded by machines and not people, the participants answers
Authors Amy Witherbee and Denise B. Geier of “Point: Standardized Testing is the best Way to Establish Education Standards” say, “Standardized tests are important, not for the testing, but for the standards. They are, in essence, a benchmark that when properly done, sets out for students, teacher, parents, and a nation, goals for the next generation” (1). Standardized testing can aid in measuring student success, but they are not always an accurate representation of a student’s knowledge or a teacher’s capabilities. The key phrase in their claim is “when done properly”, which is not something that is easily said or done. It is nearly impossible to ensure that the system is not being corrupt, or to prove that everyone is testing the same way, “standardized” or not. Some students are simply not good test takers. They could be the next Einstein, but when it comes to their ACT scores students may seem as though they lack basic knowledge. Other students may be master test takers but have no comprehension of what they are answering. Sure, they know the nucleus is the center of the atom, but do they know what that means? These tests are much less accurate than their supporters may
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).
In the United States of America, Standardized testing has become a way of life for students and children, especially in public schools. Many argue that standardized testing does not measure the students as a whole, takes up valuable classroom time, and creates drastic mental health problems in students and teachers. In recent years, a controversy surrounding the idea of standardized testing has been brought forth as something that needs to be changed or adapted to the growing needs of today’s students and this can be examined when exploring the negative effects, the testing has had on society’s future.
Standardized tests are used to measure academic success, but they are not a fair or accurate measurement tool. If a student is achieving good grades in class but fails to pass a state test, there is obviously a flaw in the system. Many of today's standardized tests are written so that only middle-class, English-speaking students can succeed. Standardized tests are often multiple-choice and rely on mental tasks rather than on spatial or visual abilities. As a result, these tests often reflect a student's disabilities. For example, standardized tests assume that each student will read each question in the same manner. However, research proves that each student processes words differently (Kohn, 2000). The case against standardized tests is not new. Banesh Hoffman, professor of mathematics, stated, "Multiple choice tests pena...
Having a standardized test can keep everyone at an equal level in our education system. For example, a teacher by the name of James Ayoc wrote on an online blog, “ the purpose of testing kids is to figure out what they know and are able to do.” (Aycock) Mr. Aycock uses these standardized tests to assay what his students know and are capable of doing. Another reason Mr. Aycock uses his test is to mark his ability to teach. Mr. James also argues that without the use of standardized testing, he would be unable to compare scores to measure
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.
A well created test can measure learning and diagnose a student’s weakness (Merrow, 4). In testing, the idea is for the student to get the correct answer on information they know and incorrect answers on the information they do not. However, a testing error may occur. A testing error is when a student gets an answer correct of information they did not actually know or an answer incorrect, they may have actually known (Gellman, 30)The people who create these tests want straightforward measures. However, test designers do not design these tests to measure what a student can do academically (Fusaro, 1). Large testing companies produce tests and sell them all over the country. This causes the test to be not specialized for the school or county and students do not do as well as they could have if the test was specialized (Popham, 4).three possible ways of testing a student’s knowledge exists: multiple choices, answer in essay form, or they are asked to perform a task and then graded on the performance (Merrow, 5). Some tests are designed to assess an individual’s performance, like an