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. In this paper, I will be illustrating the …show more content…
Children are being hurt today because they're passing the tests, and the tests are not recognizing that they cannot do what they need to do." (Merrow, 2001). For instance, if a student continually struggles on the math portion of the standardized test, he or she will know where they need extra assistance. On the other hand, if a student is continually scoring high in certain areas or all areas, they are probably not being challenged; consequently, they are not reaching their full potential. Standardized tests gives insight as to where a student stands compared to the rest of the nation. They cannot be argued that one student’s test was easier than another’s, because they are all the same, which provides equal circumstances to all students. Parents also play a huge role in the education system and deserve to know where their child stands, so they can obtain assistance for them if needed (Procon.org, …show more content…
Therefore, it does not represent their intelligence because a student’s performance can range from day to day (Procon.org, 2014). Two major external factors that are not taken into consideration are the students testing ability and testing anxiety (Procon.org, 2014). For example, a student may perform poorly on the annual standardized test because he or she has trouble concentrating for long periods of time, not because he or she did not understand the material. Another external factor would be a student near you has caught a cold and cannot stop coughing; as distracting as that is, there is nothing you nor the teacher can do about it. Although the tests are “standardized” so every aspect should be the same for all students, it is impossible to eliminate all external