In classrooms all across America, students sit perched over their desks in the process of taking standardized tests. As the students take the tests, teachers pace nervously up and down the rows of their classroom, hoping and praying that their students can recall the information which they have presented. Some children sit relaxed at their desks, calmly filling in the bubbles and answering essay questions. These children are well prepared and equipped to handle their tests. Other children, however, sit hunched over their desks, pondering over questions, trying to guess an answer. They struggle to recall information that has been covered many times in class, but they can’t.
Standardized tests are used in classrooms all throughout America, and many people have their own opinions about the ability of tests to reflect the true learning capabilities of our children. Two opposing articles on this subject appeared in At Issue (2012), a book which was published by Greenhaven Press. In “Standardized Tests Effectively Measure Student Achievement,” an article within this book, Herbert Walberg, who has taught at Harvard University as well as the University of Illinois at Chicago for a total of thirty-five years, argues that standardized tests adequately measure student achievement. In contrast, Phillip Harris, Bruce Smith, and Joan Harris’s article, “Standardized Tests Do Not Effectively Measure Student Achievement,” argues that standardized tests are not able to accurately measure student achievement. The main points where Herbert Walberg disagrees with Harris Harris, and Smith are: (1) what tests are able to measure; and (2) the consequences of standardized testing.
Herbert Walberg disagrees with Harris, Harris, and Smith about the me...
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...d tests as well as the consequences of standardized testing. After hearing both sides of the argument it is up to the individual to make up their own opinions about the usage of standardized tests in America.
Works Cited
Harris, Phillip, Bruce Smith, and Joan Harris. “Standardized Tests Do Not Effectively Measure Student Achievement.” At Issue. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2012. 18-23. Print.
“The Tests Don’t Measure Achievement Adequately.” The Myths of Standardized Test: Why They Don’t Tell You What You Think They Do. N.p.: Hoover Institution, 2011. 33-45.
Walberg, Herbert. “Standardized Tests Effectively Measure Student Achievement.” At Issue. Ed. Dedria Bryfonski. Detroit: Greenhaven, 2012. 11-17. Print.
“Stop the War Against Standardized Tests.” Defining Ideas: A Hoover Institution Journal. N.p.: Hoover Institution, 2011. N. pag.
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.
Another major criticism of the “No Child Left Behind” deals with the implications of using a standardized test as means of assessing achievement.
Even with material being taught incessantly, standardized tests can not accurately measure a student’s ability. The tests are “single-target—meaning that every student, no matter what level of achievement or ability, course selection, or cu...
Popham, W. James. "Why standardized tests don't measure educational quality." Educational Leadership 56 (1999): 8-16.
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.
Evans, Donia. "The Case Against Standardized Tests." The Meridian Star. 24 Nov. 2013. The Meridian Star. 01 Dec. 2013 .
Current educational policy and practice asserts that increased standardized student testing is the key to improving student learning and is the most appropriate means for holding individual schools and teachers accountable for student learning. Instead, it has become a tool solely for summarizing what students have learned and for ranking students and schools. The problem is standardized tests cannot provide the information about student achievement that teachers and students need day-to-day. Classroom assessment can provide this kind of information.
Standardized testing scores proficiencies in most generally accepted curricular areas. The margin of error is too great to call this method effective. “High test scores are generally related to things other than the actual quality of education students are receiving” (Kohn 7). “Only recently have test scores been published in the news-paper and used as the primary criteria for judging children, teachers, and schools.”(2) Standardized testing is a great travesty imposed upon the American Public School system.
Argument Against Standardized Testing President Bush is promoting annual standardized testing for all students in grades three through eight. This bill is currently being considered in Congress, and has garnered much support. As of right now, 15 states test students in those grades, and more than 20 have high school exit exams, which look only at the test score of a student, not at his or her academic achievements. Standardized testing is an unfair and inaccurate form of judging a person’s intellect. In many cases, people are either over- or underrepresented by their test scores, partly because America does not currently have the capabilities to fairly score the increasing number of tests.
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
Popham, W. J. (1999, March). Why Standardized Tests Don't Measure Educational Quality. Educational Leadership, 56(6), 8-15.
Sacks, Peter. "The Toll Standardized Tests Take." National Education Association. 2000. Web. 2 July 2015.
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.
Solley, B. A. (2012). On Standardized Testing: An ACEI Position Paper. Childhood Education, 84(1), 31-37. Retrieved December 3, 2012, from http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/00094056.2007.10522967
“If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that.” This quote by Michelle Obama illustrates the idea that standardized testing should not have such a large influence on education in America. However, a majority of people are under the impression that standardized tests are an accurate method to measure a person's intellectual ability. I believe that standardized tests have developed into a very critical part of the American education system that is hindering the growth of students and teachers instead of providing a tool that can accurately measure knowledge.