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Arguments Against Standardized Testing

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Not only does the school system hurt the concept of individuality in personal expression, but it also encourages higher-ups to think of the student body as a sort of group itself, ignoring the basic needs of each distinct student. When kids are constantly grouped together, it becomes difficult to differentiate herd mentality from individual thinking. Kids often don’t know that such an idea can hurt them because they have been taught from such a young age that there is supposed to be a “standard” when it comes to grading and grades. Standardized testing promotes the culture of thought that there is supposed to be a “good” and a “bad” when it comes to ways and results of learning. According to source C, these testing methods are started as early as kindergarten-- a time …show more content…

Kindergarten is the age when kids’ brains are incredibly impressionable, and when they are told that they could be “below average” when it comes to learning and intelligence it’s possible that such a thought and idea could stick with them their entire lives, hurting the potential for them to do more in the future. Similarly, schools ignore the potential of kids in favor of having them conform to social standards, claiming that they are making them “good members of society”. Just as “average” isn’t a definable term, having a “good member of society” can be incredibly subjective-- and just as harmful-- as that concept. According to source D, the “idea of a school is that individuals must learn in a setting in which individual needs are subordinated to group interests.” In having a high “standard”, schools can pride themselves on the concept that they are turning out well-adjusted members of society, but is that really true? In keeping this standard they are ignoring the capabilities that many kids have. When students graduate, the main idea that they know is how to be a good society member, which, in other words, means that they know how to blend in, to not stick

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