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Arguments Against Standardized Testing

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A pen, a number two pencil and a calculator; seemingly random items to an individual but to others, tools in their battle against the world (Fletcher, 2009). Students clad in uniforms, carrying the very instruments that will determine their future. A future hinging on a sheet of paper. Putting a boy behind a desk and letting a hundred questions decide if his fate may be the most cruel thing man ever thought of. Standardized tests should not determine a students' eligibility for higher levels of education because it is unfair assessment of academic performance, it inhibits creative thinking, and it is not a credible measure of intelligence.
‘In ancient Greece, Socrates tested his students through conversations. Answers were not scored as right …show more content…

Many years ago, tests were given to place students into classes and determine students who needed additional help. Today, tests are used to judge the success or failure of students’ teachers and schools (Kohn, 2000). According to a new study from MIT neuroscientists working with education researchers at Harvard University and Brown University ‘Tests are designed to measure the knowledge and skills that students have acquired in school students who have the highest gains on test scores do not exhibit the ability to analyse abstract problems and think logically ‘. This just shows that the students who excel on such test do not need to be intelligent. Standardized tests tend to measure the temporary acquisition of facts and skills, including the skill of test-taking itself, more than genuine understanding but rather; evaluate how fast a student can answer questions correctly (Kohn, 2000). Test makers fail to realize that the brain evolves, learning and thinking develop as their test remain the same. They believe knowledge can be broken down and that people learn by absorbing the parts, which is a wrong conclusion. Psychologists understand that the process of learning is through connecting what you know with what you experience. Meaning; without active thinking, learning cannot take place (fairtest, 2012). Standard tests exist to make a mockery of knowledge and the thinking process. Furthermore, different parts of the brain are used for different thought processes, researchers show, meaning; separate tests of short term memory, reasoning and verbal skills are needed to measure overall intelligence (Collins, 2012). Standard tests push children to memorize at a young age, inhibiting understanding and brain development at a stage crucial to a child’s education. Rather than allowing students to demonstrate a higher level of reasoning and analysis, standardized test stress on

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804 Words | 4 Pages

All students dread one thing when it comes to school - testing. Standardized test are the main focus in our school systems instead of actually gaining knowledge at the end of the year. As a mother, Michelle Rhee, understands the lack of attention given on education as a whole instead of just waiting on the scores, but she still agrees on continuing with standardized test. Kristina Rizga opposes the opinion of Michelle Rhee as she does not believe standardized test truly measure the intelligence of a student. Kristina Rizga proves her stand against standardized test by utilizing solid use of argumentation.

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877 Words | 4 Pages

Standardized testing creates an environment where children come to despise learning and with that, begin to despise the pursuit of knowledge in general. This focus on “rote learning” stays with children their entire lives, hindering their ability to think at a deeper level and even to create independent and original thoughts and

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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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894 Words | 4 Pages

Standardized tests are one of the most popular ways schools attempt to evaluate academic intelligence of students, school districts, and teachers. These tests are used more specifically to evaluate student performance in the education system by testing their abilities in mathematics, english and sciences. By giving every student the same test, they are setting a standard idea for how well every student should score on the test, such as the SAT or the ACT, no matter the school or educational process they are receiving. Allowing every student to take the exact same test, gives the state a way to generalize student’s academic intelligence without having to do much work to make the testing one hundred percent fair. Standardized testing in schools should no longer be required because it discriminates against the less wealthy families, does not effectively measure achievement and becomes a distraction to the student’s learning environment.

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763 Words | 4 Pages

Typically Math, Reading, and Writing, standardized tests consist of a timed test with around 40-50 questions on average. Although standardized tests can easily evaluate students, ultimately, standardized tests don’t benefit the student because kids perform worse under pressure, teachers only teach the skills required for the test, and the tests don’t fully reflect the potential of the student. Standardized tests become daunting in the eyes of the student which results in stress and lower test scores. Students develop anxiety in order to remember

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501 Words | 3 Pages

“Sometimes the most brilliant and intelligent minds do not shine in standardized tests because they do not have standardized minds.” This quotation by Diane Ravitch nearly perfectly describes the ludicrosity of modern standardized tests. Students may achieve elite grades, volunteer, and participate in a variety of extracurriculars throughout high school, but all of these elements may be for naught if their ACT or SAT score is deemed unsatisfactory. The college application process is demanding enough without the added burden of inessential and unfair standardized tests. The ACT and SAT may put unnecessary stress on high schoolers, because they are an unfair representation of intelligence and education and are a large element of the college admission process.

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524 Words | 3 Pages

Greek religion was polytheistic, meaning the Greeks believed in many gods and goddesses. The Greek gods were anthropomorphic, meaning they were portrayed as human-like in appearance and behavior, with their own personalities, strengths, and weaknesses. Each god had a specific domain or field of influence, and they were often associated with natural phenomena such as thunder, the sea, the sky, and fertility. For example, Zeus was the god of the sky and thunder, Poseidon was the god of the sea, and Demeter was the goddess of agriculture. (Cartwright, 2018) Greek religion was not a united system of beliefs and practices but was rather a collection of regional cults and traditions that were different from one city-state to another.

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1060 Words | 5 Pages

The article “Standardized Testing: Harmful to Educational Health” written by Monty D. Neil, executive director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, and Medina J. Noe, a consultant for Coalition of Schools Educating Boys of Color, explains that standardized tests “assume that all individuals perceive information and solve problems the same way” (Neil and Noe 692). Not every student processes information the same way, which limits the effectiveness of standardized testing. When the test is only created to be beneficial to one kind of student, it marginalizes everyone else. Just because a student does not perform well on a test that is not made for the way they think, it does not mean they are any less intelligent. It only means that they do not process information in the same way as another student that scored higher on the same test.

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1859 Words | 8 Pages

The Controversy of Standardized Testing Students everywhere take standardized tests. However, are they truly beneficial to the students? Are these tests capable of showing what students can really do? Or, are they biased against the test-taker, making it harder to reach his or her goals? Is it fair to base a student’s intelligence on one simple test grade that that student might have had a disadvantage in?

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539 Words | 3 Pages

This is important for iGen to realize because when becoming the “older generation”, they are in charge of the younger generations, removing standardized testing will have the potential to take away a key strength for memory and memory recall. Removing standardized testing will also damage the styles in which educators teach. “When we take a test, we discover which of our study endeavors have been successful and which have not been.” This reveals to iGen that when test results come in, helping give insight to how the educational system is doing in teaching and helping students recall the curriculum

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609 Words | 3 Pages

Some people might argue that we need to test students on what they have learned, but there are so many other creative ways that they could test what we have learned, instead of a written exam that takes hours. An author named Thomas Armstrong says that “a student who writes a more creative answer in the margins of such a test, doesn’t realize that a human being won’t even see this creative response; that machines grade these tests, and

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1394 Words | 6 Pages

The research has shown that standardized testing is fair and looks into some alternative possibilities that could replace these tests (Klenowski). Some assume that all students need to know is tested in these standardized tests, but research show that is not accurate for everyone. Many students go on without discovering their latent talents because they were not pushed hard enough to pursue what they were interested in instead they were told how to prepare taking tests and how to get good scores which doesn’t help them when they join the work

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1476 Words | 6 Pages

Standardized tests have been around for over a century and with its perceived effectiveness, this will continue. A student’s intelligence should not be tested through a series of standardized tests; as there are many alternatives and with the current track the education system is on, may leave a negative impact on more than just the students. Students face many obstacles as they grow in a constantly changing society. The nation’s youth is boggled with mental illnesses and disorders that often go undetectable. The addition of standardized tests adds to psychological torment.

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847 Words | 4 Pages

Therefore, making it impossible to compare the actual cognitive performance of individual or groups of students. For this discussion, it may be shown that standardized testing is an ineffective system in the evaluation of student performance as a whole. Standardized tests may come in diverse forms, multiple-choice and true-false formats are usually used for large-scale testing situations for the simple reason that computers can score them more quickly, consistently, and more cost effective, but that is the only upside. Questions are written by humans but graded by machines, paradoxical.

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1191 Words | 5 Pages

Standardized testing has become one of the most popular types of testing in U.S. public schools to date. Students take numerous standardized tests throughout their childhood schooling. (Studies show that a typical student takes an average of 112 mandated standardized tests between Pre-K and 12th grade.) While standardized testing is one of the main procedures that Universities use to judge incoming students, it is not proven to be the most effective way to convey a student’s actual intelligence level. The U.S. should not focus so heavily on standardized testing because it is not a complete accurate measurement of a student’s intelligence.

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