The Pass Fail System of Standardized Tests

"” Stress from theses tests have become so common that there are now instructions on how to deal with it. It is no longer just taking the test for students, but learning to preform under the stress and anxiety brought by the test. “Critical thinking cannot be tested accurately using standardized tests. Also many students who have grasped the main topics and concord the materials have not scored well on these tests due to stress anxiety.” A student is made up of more than just a number, for each student has creativity and personality that can never be measured by a standardized test. A student may be failing a class but it is the most challenging class in the school.

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.

While other students really struggle with taking tests and making sure they are done on time. It is required for the all the students to know this certain information and it is required in all core subjects. The National Research Council concluded that negative consequences of misusing these test include, narrowing the curriculum, teaching to the test, driving teachers out of their professions and undermining student engagement and school

Following the recent studies, test anxiety has been related to situations where students want to either sit for an examination or perform on stage, further test anxiety is common in places where one is supposed to perform and produce results (Watson and Driver, 1983). Part 1 Test anxiety is actually one of the greatest dangers in the education system. In most cases, test anxiety leads to health problems like students becoming stressed because of failing to achieve a target or failing to do something. Following such occurrences, test anxiety can bring about depression, anger, hatred, and agitation (Walberg and Haertel, 1992). This kind of anxiety is not good for human health.

The teachers are judged based on how the student 's score on the test, which could involve their jobs being put on the line. This of course causes excessive amounts of stress which then in turn has the teacher 's constantly relay how important high score are to the students. That also creates an extremely harsh amount of stress. Especially for the students that already become nervous and struggle to take test. The standardized test cannot measure the other aspects of the child 's life that they should be focusing on in school.

Putting children into specific classes based on their successes during standardized tests is not fair to kids who had a bad day, missed a bit too much school, or have yet to understand the importance of trying. This not only inaccurately describes a child’s current intelligence, but also can falsely determine his or her future success as a student. Children’s knowledge varies based on many factors including living situation, cultural heritage, and family income. Most schools with low test scores have high diversity and limited resources; these schools are in need of financial support the most. In order to create the best education system, we must adhere to every student’s needs, no matter who they are or how they learn.

Standardized testing requires students to study for something that is supposed to show how much students have learned over their years of school when they should be devoting their time into class they are currently taking at school. A test that is supposed to display how much a student has learned over their years attending school should not affect what college you go to. A person could be really smart and have all “A’s” every year, but he has test anxiety and scores very low on the standardized test. Therefore, he will not be able to get accepted by the major Universities due to his low scores. Many students feel stressed out when having to take standardized testing.

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.

Many students are affected by test anxiety or do not show their learning well on a standardized test, resulting in inaccurately lower scores” (Fairtest). These tests punish students for what they can’t control, making them stressed and panicked that they won’t graduate or move on to the next grade. Some children are from low-income families attending schools with large classes with little to no materials for learning what is on the test. In addition to that, some teachers have never been educated on test content, which is not their fault, and this results in low-test scores. This all leads to why there are such negative feelings throughout classrooms of many

When studying for standardized tests, students are taught to seek the simple and quick answer. Students may then use this tactic not only when they are taking the test but in all aspects of their academic career. Because they are trained to just skip the hard parts and make an educated guess when they do not know, students begin to transfer this superficial thinking to all aspects of their school work. This shows how the tests creates incentives for superficial thinking (Harris). Standardized testing puts a tremendous amount of pressure on students and trains them to think a certain way to ensure good test scores.