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Arguments Against Standardized Testing

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At one point in life, every single person has received and education of some sort whether it be from schooling or a parent teaching you how to make scrambled eggs. Whether you liked it or not, you can not name a time in life when there was just no school. We credit Horace Mann for coming up with our current education system all the way back in 1837 after he became Secretary of Education in Massachusetts. At first, schools were these things that you used to pass on knowledge from one generation to another. They still are when you look at them today, but the means by which schools are teaching nowadays are not good. We have these things known as standardized testing which is not the most popular thing among students. What standardized testing …show more content…

He suggested that public schools in the Boston area should have children prove their knowledge through written tests. The goal was to find and replicate the best teaching methods possible so that all children could have equal opportunities (Maan). Although the idea of standardized testing sounds good, that’s the only good thing about it. Since then, this thought has gone downhill. What was and idea to give children equal opportunities became a way to give certain individuals better opportunities. Standardized testing is a way to identify kids who are smarter than others and have the most potential to do great things in life. Those other children don’t have as firm of chances and don’t get the resources they would need to succeed because it would be a waste of time and resources. Although efforts have been made to better our education systems and specifically our standardized testing methods since the 1920’s, the results clearly show that they are not working when seeing that the United States of America is 24th in literacy, 17th in educational performance, and 2nd in ignorance according to research from IPSOS Mori. At least we are top ten in …show more content…

One of the most common complaints you will hear in schools aside from complaining about how teachers won’t curve their grade up 80 percent is, “ When am I going to use this in real life?” It’s a valid question after all. Nobody wants to waste their time doing things that they will never know in life. I as a student have felt this way on many occasions. I may not be the best in math, but it’s not because I don’t understand what I am learning. It is more me realizing that this stuff is not used in real life unless you are a math teacher. The problem 's not really that schools don’t teach true education, but rather that the instructors do no teach it. Instructors teach what they are told to teach. Many of them won’t go above and beyond because there is nothing in it for them. They can’t get paid more or get extra special treatment as seen in the documentary Waiting for Superman. The film follows a group of children trying to get a better education so that they can get out of their rough neighborhoods or be successful in life. The fact that there are so many people working so hard to have a chance in life is sad. Why aren’t all schools succeeding? It’s the

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439 Words | 2 Pages

Todays twelve year trip through knowledge has (unknowingly) fabricated students from the same cloth. These same students are just statistics, they are just test scores published by greedy states vying for the title of “Good Educators.” Which further proves that America has a flawed school system, not only in the sense that students are slaves to the lofty test score goals but, schools also suppress creativity and the

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860 Words | 4 Pages

In High School, there 's a strict lesson plan that schools follow when it comes to learning math or any other subjects. High School teaches their student all different types of history, math and a wider range of English and science classes. The question is, how do kids use these different type of course that they’re being placed in later on in their future? High School is where teenagers learn how to become responsible young adults, teaching high school students how to calculate income tax, manage their income, maintaining good credit, and other essential life skills. Instilling these lessons helps navigate them into the real world post high school.

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1594 Words | 7 Pages

Meredith Broussard explains how standardized testing does not prove a child’s general knowledge nor creative in-depth thinking by stating, “Standardized tests are not based on general knowledge... they are based on specific knowledge contained in specific sets of books: the textbooks created by the test makers” (Broussard). Miner also states that standardized testing, “... leads to a dumbed-down curriculum that values rote memorization over in-depth thinking, exacerbates inequities for low-income students and students of color, and undermines true accountability among schools, parents, and community” (Miner). The assessment of a child should encourage a child to want to learn for the sake of learning. Alternative assessments could address a child’s development and learning process. These evaluations can determine why children are more likely to read behind grade level, instead of highlighting their inabilities.

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1754 Words | 8 Pages

Standardized testing is currently used all over the world. It is used many different ways. It ranges from determining intelligence levels, to deciding your future with colleges and jobs. Each test is made up differently, and each standardized test taker reacts differently to them. The tests cause the test taker to be stressed, along with the mental, and photometric aspects.

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1178 Words | 5 Pages

The growing minds of scholars in elementary, middle and high school should be exposed to a more creative system of measuring education. When reflecting on the current state of testing, John Holt states, “And so, in this dull and ugly place, where nobody ever says anything very truthful, where everybody is playing a kind of role, as in a charade, where teachers are no more free to respond honestly to the students than the students are free to respond to the teachers or each other” (E) This reflection on America’s education system represents the controlling and ineffective tactics. Students and teachers have confirmed to an unnatural fruitless environment including standardized testing. This demonstrates the effects of attention away from the needs of an individual. Secondly, on a design for a book about how to prepare kinder gated students for standardized testing, it shows images of pencils, clocks and a slip of paper including four answer bubbles.

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1577 Words | 7 Pages

“Students have lost the will to learn for the sake of knowing and expanding their own minds,” June S. observed. “I see and hear too many students who ask, ‘Is this on the test? Why do we need to learn it the’” (S., June). Our society has conditioned students to focus on a numerical reflecting their ability to regurgitate information, rather than developing knowledge and applying it through critical thinking to produce a true education.

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514 Words | 3 Pages

Known by many as the boisterous and charismatic Pre-Calculus and AP Calculus teacher, Mr. Kwon is well liked by the high school community. A replacement for the much missed Mrs. Jacus, he has previously taught math and chemistry at a Canadian school in Shenzhen for 3 years, before getting his master’s degree in Hong Kong this year. Mr. Kwon asserts that he became a math teacher because he genuinely enjoyed math, and “wanted to help struggling students who don’t understand the material.” He also claims, “Compared to teaching chemistry at my old school, which is very abstract at times, precalculus and calculus are more practical and useful.” In terms of challenges in teaching, Mr. Kwon lists the major challenge as convincing students that they don’t need their calculator.

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1059 Words | 5 Pages

In this piece the question of why schools need to test was answered and reasoning behind standardized tests were specified. Aycock believes we must test in order to figure out what students know and what they are able to do, this, in turn, will inform instruction. In other words, if the students understand the lesson already, the teacher does not need to teach

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1111 Words | 5 Pages

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

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1000 Words | 4 Pages

Is Standardized Testing Really on Our Side? Everyone has experienced the stress of having to take a standardized test at least once in their lives. In fact, pre test break downs are now so common, that it has become regulation for test booklets to include instructions for an event where a student might vomit on their booklet. Clearly, there is something wrong with our current way of measuring intelligence if it has gone so far that students and teacher are being unfairly given such and amount of stress and anxiety. Standardized testing is not effective as it doesn't only inaccurately test intelligence and misrepresent student’s potential, but also does more harm to students and society than good.

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1248 Words | 5 Pages

According to the article, “Don’t Believe the Hype: Standardized Tests Are Good for Children, Families and Schools,” written by Latasha Gandy, states, “Standardized test scores are now broken down by student race and income. This allows everyone—including teachers, parents and policymakers—to see how inequitable our schools are. If you’ve heard of what’s commonly called the “achievement gap”—the shocking difference in educational outcomes between white students and students of color—you probably have standardized tests to thank.” This means that as result of standardized testing, the public has been able to address an underlying issue about how our society is not as egalitarian as we want it to be. Due to standardized tests, schools are being held accountable for low scores.

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788 Words | 4 Pages

If standardized testing had been used at that time, the student may have known sooner that she was not as high achieving as the students from the other side of town and would have been able to do something sooner to fix the problem. Throughout the article, Almagor discusses how standardized testing levels out the playing field for all schools on all sides of tracks. It places a standardized goal that all schools should achieve. She also states that it is good for parents to have the knowledge of their students academic success compared to all students of the same age around the

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1859 Words | 8 Pages

In America, this happens every day. Although many people believe standardized testing is a justified way of measuring intelligence and grading students, a growing number of people in America feel that standardized test taking is biased, inaccurate, and an ineffective way of measuring student intelligence. Some parents

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1356 Words | 6 Pages

Using real-life situations would capture a student’s attention aligned with their interests. Depending on the grade level students start to question the relevancy within how a subject will affect their future. When students struggle in the subject math, I love the gratitude and appreciation that students show towards appreciating the help I give them. As a teacher, I believe I can provide guidance in various parts of life. I hope to inspire and become

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1191 Words | 5 Pages

School’s are using standardized testing for the wrong reason. “A standardized test is any examination that’s administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner. There are two major kinds of standardized tests: aptitude tests and achievement tests” (Popham, 1999). The most common examples of aptitude tests are the SAT and the

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