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Arguments Against Standardized Testing

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Theoretical Physicist Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” This reflects the mind set of many people who believe that standardized tests in the United States are nothing more than unfair competitions. Standardized tests have been a fundamental part of American education systems for the past two centuries. Following the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2002, the use of standardized testing skyrocketed, mandating yearly testing in all 50 states. Studies conducted by the Council of Great City Schools have found that a usual American student takes 112 mandated tests, beginning in pre-kindergarten and continuing on until …show more content…

First and foremost, standardized testing permits learners located in several schools, regions, and states to be evaluated in comparison to one another. Comparison amongst students would not be possible without standardized tests. Perhaps the ultimate advantage of standardized testing is that schools and teachers are liable for educating students on the material required for standardized tests. This is principally due to the scores becoming publicly recorded, leading to the evaluation and possible termination of instructors and institutions that do not perform up to par. Standardized tests act as a curricular guide for teachers, helping them to determine what to teach their students and the appropriate times to teach them. This reduces wasted teaching time and streamlines timeline management. Standardized tests provide guardians with a firm idea of how their child is doing as compared to other students locally and nationally. This is utilized to indicate how a particular area is performing compared to the residual nationwide landscape. Results of these evaluations provide schools with information to create the appropriate programs and services that focus on improving test scores within the compared sub-groups. These few are among the many reasons why people believe in the value of standardized testing; it allows all students of varying learning styles to be tested on equivalent material. Teachers are encouraged to teach particular material pertaining to these tests and the results assist the educator in identifying what subjects need improvement. Thus, standardized testing is a step toward improving education

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1749 Words | 7 Pages

Parents can compare how their students are doing compared to other schools and even other states. Standardized testing allows schools to compare their results against other schools results. Another reason standardized testing is good is because the tests allow the students’ progress to be tracked throughout the year. If these students are taking similar tests yearly, then it is easy to see if they are improving, declining or staying at the same level. This is very important because then a parent can know what’s going on with their child and if they are improving that’s probably good news

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474 Words | 2 Pages

In addition, Testing puts teaching to the test. When standardized exams become all important in a school or district, it has a massive impact on teaching and learning. Educators frequently start “teaching to the test” if they feel that their jobs only depend on how well students perform. Educators may also stop trying new techniques and teaching methods in the classroom. With every minute counting on the way to their students’ next exam, teachers will worry that a method that is not tested will backfire and their students will score worse than before.

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1718 Words | 7 Pages

Since the No Child Left Behind Act was mandated in 2002, test scores in our schools have steadily declined. In spite of this, proponents argue that standardized testing is an objective and effective method to measure student achievement and to hold teachers accountable. Unfortunately, this is the farthest thing from the truth. Standardized tests are neither fair nor effectual, there overuse and misuse promotes a narrow curriculum which forces teachers to "teach to the test" instead of teaching to the student. This instruction style inhibits creativity and undermines our country's ability to produce innovators and critical thinkers.

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1140 Words | 5 Pages

For years standardized testing has been the scary end of the school year test. Some are against this form of testing, and others believe it is a well needed program. Some people don’t quite understand why it’s so important. Standardized testing is definitely a needed test in schools because it shows what the students know, it gives an idea on what the schools and individual students can improve on, and it gives the kids a reason to pay attention. Using standardized testing shows the school as a whole what their students know.

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2175 Words | 9 Pages

Sweating, heart pounding, pencil tapping, and fighting the urge to look left or right. Many have felt this terrible feeling, most notably as the feeling during a standardized test. A standardized test is a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner. Standardized tests are designed in such a way that the questions, conditions for administering, scoring procedures, and interpretations are consistent and are administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. Ever since 2002, when the No Child Left Behind Act was signed by George Bush, students have been given yearly tests which are used to determine the student’s intelligence within a short amount of time.

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475 Words | 2 Pages

Standardized tests have been a controversial topic in the education system for quite some time. While these tests are meant to provide an objective measure of a student's knowledge and growth, they often fall short of accurately capturing a student's abilities. There are several reasons for this, including the fact that standardized tests are not always equitable, as they tend to favor students who come

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902 Words | 4 Pages

No Child Left Behind, a bill passed in 2002 which required all states to set goals and standard that would follow the guidelines of a national plan. The primary way to assure that all students met these goals was through a standardized test which would be administered once at the end of each school year, but the problem stands that standardized tests are an inadequate method of tracking the progress of students. In its current form standardized tests are designed to only measure proficiency in math, English, social studies, and science. As stated by Gerald W. Bracey, PhD "Standardized tests cannot measure qualities like creativity, critical thinking, resilience, motivation, persistence, curiosity, endurance, reliability, enthusiasm, empathy,

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971 Words | 4 Pages

The First Lady of the United States, Michelle Obama once said "If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that. " Standardized testing is another way students scores can be identified and critiqued. It also helps the school acquire information and statistics about the weaknesses of their students and what they can do to make improvements.

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826 Words | 4 Pages

The day has arrived; testing day. As one walks through the hallways, all that can be heard are students wanting to be already done with their test. According to the studies of the Council of the Great City School, in sixty-six districts of the big cities in The United States, students take about 112 mandatory standardize tests between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade. Students take tests for almost everything. Standardized tests are fundamentally flawed because students with special needs and non-English speakers have a disadvantage on them.

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1012 Words | 5 Pages

Standardized testing has not improved student’s achievements according to No Child Left Behind (NCLB). Testing has been a long occuring teaching technique, which dates all the way back to the Han Dynasty. Although over half of public school educators think that standardized testing is the best way of measuring students’ knowledge, there are facts that show standardized tests are not that great for students; such as the advantages that good test taking students may have or the stress that standardized tests put on students. Standardized testing is beneficial to students, teachers, and parents. There are ways that parents could help either their offsprings by studying the test with them or often teachers get involved and email the parents of the students the review or

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1802 Words | 8 Pages

Although this may sound, effective the NCLB discredits this notion by allowing almost all states now to receive waivers that allow them to miss key elements of the law without any punishments. Moreover, opponents in favor of the law may agree that the increased testing has created an environment where teachers teach to the exam eliminating unneeded materials. If you believe more rigor means more, or better, learning the reality is harder tests do not make kids smarter. Unfortunately, the love of teaching and learning is being diminished by the drills and worksheets used to get ready for “the big test”. The idea of using standardized testing to evaluate student academic performance is not new, and as of yet has shown no measurable increase in student performance.

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1227 Words | 5 Pages

Standardized test gives understanding, such as the standard curriculum that is imperative to grade level requirements and an education reference point for fair and adequate education for each child in

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966 Words | 4 Pages

Standardized Testing Standardized testing has been a large factor of the United States Education system. These test measure students at certain levels of their education. These tests are supposed to measure the students based on a scale that the test makers make when designing the test. The idea behind standardized test is to keep track of student progress throughout their education and compare them to their peers.

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1283 Words | 6 Pages

Originally students had no goal to work towards and standardized testing is used for everything in today's world. Standardized tests are also a way for the school and the state to measure how well a teacher can teach. Tests compose of the majority of the students' grades affecting their GPA, and their future in the long run. However, standardized testing in schools is about how to take a test and get the single answer right while in many subjects there is a possibility of being many answers. A students' future is not dependent on what they know and learned anymore.

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1068 Words | 5 Pages

Standardized testing does not require much of an effort. These tests are checked by the computer thus, saving more time and since these tests are administered in the same manner, it would be easier for them to evaluate the test results because these tests have its own standards. These tests are also objective and are based by general-knowledge thus, making the test results unbiased and non-subjective. Educators will also be able to compare and evaluate a student’s progress over a period of time. These tests would show whether a student has performed well or not (OccupyTheory, 2014).

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