Imagine school in a television series or movie, seeing kids working hard, laughing with friends, being prepared for life in civilized society. Like many televised versions of life, this isn’t quite the truth. Children across America enter school every fall dreading what is to come. A rigorous schedule is immediately implemented to keep students on track with standardized testing courses. Falling behind could spell disaster for schools, students, and teachers alike. Standardized tests are “any form of test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from a common bank of questions, in the same way, and that is scored in a ‘standard’ or consistent manner” and are used as an objective way to measure …show more content…
Their argument consists of three main points: objectivity, comparability, and accountability. Objectivity seems useful because it provides an “accurate unfiltered measure of what the student knows” (Churchill). Comparability is useful in seeing how one’s pupil compares to others of their age group and helps parents decide which school to choose for their child to attend (Churchill). Test results are used to decide which schools deserve federal funding and which require disciplinary action. High stakes testing affects entire communities with the …show more content…
“Children are getting the message at a very young age that if you pick the right choice between several options you can be successful” (Williams 2). Marilyn French once said, "Only extraordinary education is concerned with learning; most is concerned with achieving: and for young minds, these two are very nearly opposite. One is dedicated to experience, the other to control” (qtd in Wasserman 7). Students are taught to value speed and not depth of thought, the tests measure what a pupil can recognize not any original thought processes (Wasserman). If children are being taught to not think for themselves then a degradation of society as we know it will be soon to follow at the hands of an older