Argumentative Essay On Standardized Testing

1325 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Standardized tests do more harm than good

As the student walks into the room, pencil in hand, they prepare themselves mentally. The student is ready to do their best, to prove that they have learned from their classes and studied enough to perform well. The student sits and waits and is eventually handed a test booklet and answer key and is read some instructions on how to fill out the test. They are told not to move on to the next section when they are done, not to go back to any other sections of the tests, and the amount of time they will receive to take the portion of the test. Standardized tests are a big part of many students lives, often in their high school years. Many students deal with tests each week or even day and have become very accustomed to them. However, some students do not enjoy them or believe that they are a waste or involve too much stress. While some believe that standardized testing is unfair and involves only memorization, it is one of the most familiar and clear ways to test the knowledge
Over the years, no other objective method has been found to identify the performance of students and teachers than the results of these assessments (Churchill 12). Also, it seems that the only way to test what children have been taught and the knowledge they have received from their teachers are these tests. This fact is important in its own sense because these examinations not only test the children, but the teachers as well. The teachers are the ones that relay the knowledge to the kids and ultimately are the cause for their success. Standardized tests also force the teachers to perform well to insure that these students keep the knowledge they are taught and in turn do well on the tests. To conclude the matter, there is no other way known that objectively and effectively tests this knowledge that the children are receiving from these teachers, which makes these test

Show More
Related

  • Testing is Overrated

    999 Words  | 2 Pages

    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 The need for standardized testing has proven to be ineffective and outdated; some leading educationalist also believe this because the tests do not measure a student’s true potential.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.

    Read More

  • Opting Out Of Standardized Test Rizga Summary

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • (Introduction Paper) The Impact of Formative Assessment and Feedback on Student Learning Using the Student Response System

    2141 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Sol's Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing In Schools

    1900 Words  | 4 Pages

    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

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Standardized Testing

    1321 Words  | 3 Pages

    Why is standardized testing part of the college admission process? Some of us might still remember taking the SAT or ACT when we were applying for college; however few of us question why we have to take such a test. Millions of dollars are spent on prep materials all so we can achieve a decent score and hope colleges will be impressed. The College Board claims a high SAT or ACT score correlates to college success which is defined as a good GPA throughout college. However if you stop and ask yourself what the SAT or ACT has to do with college success, most of us will arrive at the conclusion that these tests have almost have nothing to do with college success. Some of the questions are simply on these tests are simply ridiculous and will never

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Standardized Testing

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    As a senior in high school, I have had more than enough exposure to standardized tests. The ACT, PSAT, ITBS, and countless others have tracked my scholastic progress for the last nine years. Each test takes weeks of preparation for just a few hours of actual test taking. Yet these tests only measure basic subjects such as math, science, and English. What these tests fail to track is students’ abilities to problem solve, empathize, and be honest. Skills that are vital parts of a functioning society. Creating a test that treats the student as an individual would yield better results, and would create a better learning experience for all.

    Read More

  • Against Standardized Testing Essay

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay: Should Students Take Standardized Tests?

    154 Words  | 1 Pages

    Don’t you think students should take standardized tests? To start with standardized tests make sure schools are doing good. It also helps students prepare for later on in school such as elementary school, middle school, high school, and even collage. Even though it takes a while to get the test results back it only takes about 2 days to test. If students didn't take standardized tests how would you know how much they have progressed through the year.It will also give you preperation for next year.Sometimes the time depends on how long the students take to test. It not only tells you how good kids are doing but how well the teachers are teaching. It also shows and helps to know what subjects students are struggling in and what they're succeeding

    Read More

  • How Standardized Testing Effects the Education

    2676 Words  | 6 Pages

    tests were primarily employed as measures of student achievement that could be reported to parents, and as a means of noting state and district trends (Moon 2) . Teachers paid little attention to these tests, which in turn had little impact on curriculum. However, in the continuing quest for better schools and high achieving students, testing has become a central focus of policy and practice. Standardized tests are tests that attempt to present unbiased material under the same, predetermined conditions and with consistent scoring and interpretation so that students have equal opportunities to give correct answers and receive an accurate assessment. The idea is that these similarities allow the highest degree of certainty in comparing result...

    Read More

  • Standardized Testing is NOT Effective

    2388 Words  | 5 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Argumentative Essay On Standardized Testing

    987 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Does Standardized Testing Accurately Measures a Student´s Performance?

    717 Words  | 2 Pages

    In schools, there is the constant debate about whether or not standardized testing accurately measures a student's performance. As several recent articles about the usefulness of standardized testing continue to be published, it is evident that the debate remains a common controversy. For example, Noliwe M. Rooks wrote in TIME magazine that "if one expects less from some students, those lower educational expectations will become a self-fulfilling prophecy for school districts and those students will fall even farther behind" ("Why It Is Time to Get Rid of Standardized Testing"). On the contrary, a Seattle publication states that standardized testing is the "only legitimate indicator of how well schools are doing and offer an in-depth snapshot of students' academic progress" ("What are the Advantages and Disadvantages of Achievement Tests?").

    Read More

  • The Issue with Traditional Testing Methods

    3576 Words  | 8 Pages

    The author addresses paper and pencil tests with no special accommodations, and analyses trends throughout past decades. He also writes of the new era of standardized testing and accountability. Stiggins suggests that while standardized testing may be useful and effective in some aspects, most are not used correctly and that the high-stakes put intense pressure on teachers, making it difficult to actually complete their job which is to teach students new skills. They simply spend their time reviewing already learned skills to ensure good scores on exams.

    Read More

  • Standardized Testing Proposal

    1124 Words  | 3 Pages

    Standardized tests are used to evaluate a student’s performance, however, tests do not take external factors into account. This already means that tests are often inaccurate methods of measuring a students academic potential. Also, the tests do a disservice to students as they evaluate their proficiency at a time of testing, rather than their growth and improvement over the course of the year. The tests have become an outdated method of challenging students and only have negative impacts at this point. The tests develop high levels of stress in students, which is not healthy for an individual during the most important development years of their lives. Eliminating these tests will assist students in the long run as they can accommodate more time towards learning information rather than stressing over a single test. By replacing tests with more in-class lessons students will be free of constant stress and still learn the curriculum. Research shows that students are unable to remember information on standardized tests in the long run, therefore, by spending more time learning and understanding information, students are able to have a better understanding of topics. Therefore, by removing standardized tests students will be provided with a better, more effective, and fair educational

    Read More

  • True Education

    1156 Words  | 3 Pages

    Testing is one of the big issues in our education system. The idea that the whole school curriculum should be planned around tests is a foolish one, if we want to get a quality education that we can actually learn something valuable from. Having students cram empty facts and memorize test answers is not teaching them it is just encouraging more stress and late nights. On some occasions, tests are a necessary evil to see if the student has actually learned anything from what they have been taught, but to gear the whole class a...

    Read More

More about Argumentative Essay On Standardized Testing

Open Document