Arguments Against Standardized Testing

Despite standardized testing practically being an age old concept, a large number of educators and parents protest it, providing evidence that they are not fit to test the bottomless pit of knowledge students learn. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 has been portrayed as “a nearly utopian statute that required all public-school students to become proficient in math and reading by 2014, as judged by their test scores” and handed out sanctions to schools that didn’t progress appropriately (Aviv). Certainly, the inflicted penalty of state monitoring or overhaul reconstruction of the school curriculum and staff without any say would be a strict yet fitting discipline for failing schools. The overly idealistic goal of mastery of math and reading

Without support from teachers, students, and parents, standardized testing becomes a grueling barrage of tests with little to no reward for all the students’ hard work. Furthermore, the foundation of the endless test score misunderstandings, come from the fact that they only test a minimal amount of knowledge and skill rather than a direct or extensive measure of educational achievement (Koretz 9). It would be impossible to test students on their entire learning career but testing random bits and pieces that can easily be memorized proves nothing besides students’ stamina. Likewise, the fact that government agencies believe that one individual test of insubstantial value should determine the success rate of schools or students is inhumane. Humans are creatures of errors, the idea that a multiple choice test testing something that could be a star student’s worse topic seems preposterous. Obviously, the merit of standardized testing based on shallow knowledge cannot possibly represent success in

In his weekly address on February 14, 2015, President Obama remarked that “we have to equip all our kids with an education that prepares them for success, regardless of what they look like, or how much their parents make, or the zip code they live in” (Obama “Weekly Address”). To look beyond meaningless characteristics, a goal in the fight against poverty and racism, would enable students of all backgrounds to receive an education roughly equal to each other all while giving them a helpful hand for their future. Thus, the only way to verify students’ education equivalency would be to have standardized tests. President Obama also declared in his speech at the America’s Promise Alliance Education Event that “because we know that about 12 percent of America's schools produce 50 percent of America's dropouts, we’re going to focus on helping states and school districts turn around their 5,000 lowest-performing schools in the next five years” (Obama “Helping America”). He therefore recognizes the difficulty in wrestling bottom dwelling test scores into the national average, but he also refuses to allow schools to wallow in their poor performance. By focusing invaluable yet limited resources on the most demanding schools, the government will be able to come closer to