The Nonconstructive Nature of Standardized Testing

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Standardized testing? Those two words are being heard by students all over the world and is beginning to be a repetitive non constructive assessment. This nonconstructive assessment has become relied upon by the school board to somehow grade the students accurately on a subject that is taught in a small window of time. This is a window that is a two week period and doesn't give teachers nor students enough time to learn or teach it. This is detrimental to the student body by not allowing a them to be properly +assessed.

Throughout the last century, American education has used standardized testing to assess the aptitudes and achievement of our students. These tests have been used to make informed decisions about curriculum and instruction. The validity of the tests have been questioned. Standardized timed tests are really just about a student's performance in a determined amount of time on a given day. “The passing of the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001 is responsible for this shift toward high-stakes standardized testing, requiring the states to adopt a system of accountability based on standardized test scores”(Tager, n.p.).

These days, if a school's standardized test scores are high, people think the school's staff is effective. If a school's test scores are low, they see the school's staff as ineffective. In either aspect because educational quality is being measured by the wrong yardstick, those evaluations are more likely to be an error. One of the chief reasons that students' test scores continue to be the most important factor in evaluating a school. Most educators do not really understand why a standardized test provides a misleading estimate of a school staff's effectiveness.

The main point children go to school ...

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... Lu. "States reconsider Common Core tests." McClatchy - Tribune News Service. 26 Jan. 2014 eLibrary. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

Tager, Jane Anne. "Standardized tests, standardized mess." Asheville Citizen - Times; Asheville, N.C.. 19 May. 2013: A21. eLibrary. Web. 11 Feb. 2014.

"Council of the Greater City Schools Council of the Greater City Schools Holds News Conference on Its Report on Urban School District Performances." N.p.: Narr. . Federal Document Clearing House, 28 Mar. 2005. N. pag. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.

Lestch, Corinne, Ben Chapman, and Jennifer Fermino. "City Students' Scores Take Dramatic Plunge on New Standardized Tests ." NY Daily News. N.p., 7 Aug. 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.

Bui, Lynh, and Ovetta Wiggins. "State Test Scores Drop as Maryland Schools Prepare for Common Core." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 26 July 2013. Web. 17 Feb. 2014.

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