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Arguments Against Standardized Testing

1187 Words5 Pages

Anas Kashif
Mr. Hart
English Composition II
14 October 2017
A Reform in Standardized Testing Has the creation of standardized testing fulfilled its intended goal? In the society we reside in, a student’s competency and future success is projected through a rigorous examination procedure, commonly known as standardized tests. Despite signifying an integral part of one’s education, they can equally represent a source of concern and uncertainty. From the lands of Australia to the coasts of America, the practice of examining students through mandatory annual tests has risen in the present day. As a student myself, and having a significant experience with nationalized tests, I desired to gain answers about an unchanged method which supposedly tests …show more content…

The reading passages are three levels above the child's current grade level” (CNN.com). The article from CNN provides a clear example of a parent who is gradually losing trust in standardized testing. My position is not of an expert, but rather of a concerned student who has taken various examinations throughout primary as well as secondary grade levels. Oftentimes after completing my exam, I wondered whether it is fair for students who exhibit a strong interest in writing or painting to take the same test as students who have interests in math or science. Standardized tests are examinations administered to all students in a grade level in a predetermined, standard manner. Over the years, the different types of nationalized tests have grown significantly, including the American College Test (ACT), Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), and Preliminary SAT (PSAT). After the establishment of the No Child Left Behind Act by President George W. Bush in January 2002, which promoted the use of standardized tests, the country consistently experienced a decline in student …show more content…

After New York City’s reading and math scores plummeted in 2010, a large number of schools imposed extra measures to avoid being closed down, including daily two and half hour preparatory sessions and test practice on vacation days (procon.org) With tests increasing in difficulty and length, some schools spend more than quarter of the academic instruction period, along with days during vacations preparing for annual tests. Correspondingly, the pressure and responsibility teachers experience have inclined significantly. High levels of stress not only declines teaching high-order thinking, which is useful in preparing students for advanced grade levels, but also encourages teachers to replace good teaching methods with rote learning. On the other hand, the blame simply cannot be placed upon teachers, as their tenure depends on student success in standardized tests. As the Center of Education Policy Executive, Maria Ferguson, elaborates, “They’re clearly frustrated and they’re clearly feeling overwrought and asked to do a lot” (USAToday.com). Unfortunately, despite having concerns over excessive test prep sessions, parents cannot do much to eliminate the root cause of the situation. The implementation of standardized tests has and still continues to negatively affect the overall education

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Standardized tests are started way too early in the school systems. "Students as young as 6 or 7 years old are now subjected to weeks of preparation for high stakes tests. Because math, reading, and to a lesser extent, science are the only subjects regularly tested, students are drilled in those topics." (Kumeh).

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Over two hundred parents claim to not let a student go through standardized testing. The earliest records of standardized testing come from China, for the subjects of philosophy and poetry. America “copied” the European education system. In the early 20th century, immigrants took “standardized tests”. To determine possible career and where each person stood socially.

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Furthermore, children are being robbed of their childhoods by standardized testing, which is why this can lead to stress and altered moods. (CS) Hence, all standardized testing should be removed from school because they cause pressure, stress, and

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Despite the numerous accusations that the organization has faced in the past years, Planned Parenthood and other similar groups may have been providing an effective means on educating and making available the use of protection and prevention of unwanted pregnancies. This is demonstrated by numbers released that in 2014, abortion rates in the United States have dropped to a record low of 14.6 per 1000 since 1973. US women are having abortions at the lowest rate on record since Roe v. Wade, the Supreme Court’s landmark 1973 decision that legalized abortion. In fact, the rate has been steadily declining over the past three decades from its peak in the 1980’s.

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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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Standardized tests should no longer continue due to children worrying about tests and gain anxiety and become stressed. It could effects the social life, creativity in the students, and has not been an effect that has improved students learning. Standardized testing is a way for students to get anxiety and to be stressed. Moving on

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Kara Morgan Instructor Jones Eng 111 03 October 2017 Standardized Testing Standardized testing is “any examination that’s administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner”(Popham). The history of standardized testing can be dated back as early as the 7th century in China. During this time period, civil service advancement was achieved through the scoring of written exams.

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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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Kindergarteners should not have to be worried about standardized tests so early in their life. “Forty-four percent of schools in the United States are spending more time on reading and math and less time on other subjects” (Palackal). Young students should focus on things that will captivate their attention and things that are fun to learn. Standardized testing not only takes away from valuable learning time but it also may cause harmful side

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According to Celine Coggins, “The debate on testing is an important one, but debating time devoted to testing without a discussion of test type and content misses the point” (Coggins 23). Time committed to standardized tests, as a matter of fact, might be a more critical controversy than the material included within them. James Popham says, “It has become increasingly apparent during the last decade that many standardized achievement tests are instructionally insensitive; they are unable to discern the differences between students taught effectively and students taught ineffectively” (Popham 5). Students spend hours, days, and years of their education preparing for certain tests even though these tests are not an accurate representation of their intelligence. Schools should reevaluate how they spend their time; less time toward test prep, more time spent towards improving

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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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Based on this, it is clear that test scores have become one of the driving sources of academic decisions, regardless how incomplete they are. Although standardized tests have their time and place, it is clear that testing has become an overused, despite being an incomplete practice. The system of standardized testing should be reimagined and compared to other alternatives, in order to create an actual admissible

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Have you ever thought of what our education system would be like without standardized testing? Henry Chuancy and Wilbur Bender invented standardized testing, the SAT specifically, in order to identify the gifted and talented students (Tozer, 2002, p.231). The Early Cold War had just begun and The United States believed the key to winning it was detecting the gifted and talented students and grouping them so they could excel above the rest (Tozer, 2002, p.231). In this paper, I will argue that standardized testing is needed in our education system. As stressful as standardized testing can be, I believe it is a crucial part of today’s education system and allows students to be measured by intelligence.

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Since the publication of A Nation at Risk in 1983, federal and state governments have instituted one reform program after another in an effort to raise American student academic performance levels. American educators have turned to standardized testing for student assessment since World War I, which is when the U.S. Army utilized the "Alpha assessment test" in order to assign new recruits to "suitable positions" (Smyth, 2008, p. 133). Almost 15 years ago on January 2, 2002, former president George W. Bush signed into legislation the No Child Left Behind (NCLB) act (Public Law 107–110). The use of standardized testing in the U.S. public school system reached a new high as this legislation made standardized testing the "main vehicle for measuring

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French, Italian, English and Spanish students have been subject to standardized testing, as a means to graduate and earn advanced degrees, since the eleventh and twelfth centuries (Dolezalek & Sayre). Although, standardized tests are so culturally rich and long standing, their usage lacked in the United States until the early-to-mid 1900s. Introduction to America came after Lewis Terman’s creation of the Stanford-Binet Scale, a revised standard scale of intelligence quotient (IQ) test, and the first IQ test for elementary school aged children.

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