Abolishing Standardized Tests

Colleges now are not only interested in testing scores, they have also added a writing portion in the admission process. This allows the colleges to see your personality through your own words. One way for the colleges to see what a full rounded student is, is to have a baseline score. Supporters also advocate that the tests are a good method of holding teachers accountable for the student’s performance. Many teachers also feel that the amount of data from the test is valuable and can be used to improve their teaching skills. There needs to be a baseline measurement because "We cannot fix what we cannot measure. And abolishing the tests or sabotaging the validity of their results only makes it harder to identify and fix the deep-seated problems

They have been looking with a myopic focus on how to improve the education system.(Busteed) The one term that keeps coming up is “more test.” The recent initiative on education was the No Child Left Behind Program, which set out to “raise test scores.”(Busteed) Busteed feels that “The biggest problem with standardized testing is that it seeks standardized answers;we 're actually testing standardization.” (Busteed) The test has now created a grade conscious mindset for students because now the student worry more about grades than they should be. Cheating has also become more prevalent since the answers are the same and the scores are more vital to get into a good

Arne Duncan, who is the secretary of education has stated his own opinion: “I 'm as concerned as any parent or teacher about over-testing and teaching to the test. But I 'm equally concerned about kids slipping through the cracks if we aren 't keeping track of their progress and holding adults accountable for helping them learn.” (Duncan) There is now a case of Test Anxiety which is a psychological condition where a student experiences an immense amount of distress, which can inhibit the ability to learn and can also hurt their test performance. Many students have test anxiety and it becoming more prevalent because the test are becoming more and more important to graduate or to get into college. Also when a student receives a low score, this cause the student to feel demotivated and it discourages them from trying harder. I know from personal experience how a low score can affect me. I use to be discouraged and not want to talk with other students, when I got a low score. Humankind has been constantly been ranking each other and that creates tension. Many students have committed suicide because they did poorly on the tests. The test do not also reflect what America was founded on. America was founded on creativity and exploring new possibilities. Standardizes test just hinders creativity and it makes people less creative. The education system