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Arguments Against Standardized Testing

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Did you know that the United States of America has dropped 13 places from 18th to 31st in the world ranking for math in 2009? In 2011 Arne Duncan, the Secretary of Education, stated, “...almost 82% of U.S schools were failing by the end of 2012.” The main cause of the drop in ranking is due to standardized testing. School systems force students to take biased standardized tests that judges them based on their scores rather than their intellectual capabilities, creativity, and abstract ideas. As a result, top universities accept students mainly for their test scores rather than truly seeing a student’s growth. In general, it is a common misconception that students who do not perform well on tests are less capable than their counterparts. The …show more content…

They are not properly used to measure the growth of students and stress students to the point where they are sacrificing their personal learning in order to get a certain grade on an exam. According to Barack Obama, “School districts use no more than 2% of class time.” He believes that teachers use too much instructional time to get students ready for tests which is taking time away to actually learn the material required and designed for the courses. In order to solve this issue, Obama calls to reduce the amount of testing there is in schools in order for each and every student to learn all the material needed instead of focusing on tests and preparation. The National Education Association (NEA) proposed to congress to change the way schools deal with testing to limit the amount of tests taken in elementary and middle schools in order to eliminate stress and increase student progress. They proposed on improving the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act to give more time for a quality education and rather than wasting time preparing students for tests. Reducing the amount of standardized tests is successful in both ways that allows students to improve in school and earn a better and enriching education …show more content…

Students think that they need to receive good scores on tests which leads to massive amounts of test anxiety.“The New York Performance Standards Consortium, an alliance of 28 public high schools, use performance based assessments in place of standardized exams.” The New York Performance Standards Consortium created a new and innovative way to measure student growth without added stress and nervousness and reduce wasting classroom time. In addition, there are many instances of where we see minority graduation rates improving immensely.“In 2011, 86% of African American and 90% of Latino Americans, graduates of the Consortium schools, were accepted to college. National averages are only 37% and 43%, respectively. 93 % of consortium graduates remain enrolled in four year colleges after the first two years, compared with an average of 81% nationally.” The consortium alternative of standardized testing in high schools has shown dramatic improvements of college acceptances and graduation rates of minorities in New York. Overall, alternative methods should replace standardized testing since it is more successful and less

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The idea that one test can accumulate all of one student’s academic abilities is no longer accurate. Today, the standardized tests that are used not only discriminate against the non wealthy families, it also is not an accurate reading of all of one’s abilities in and out of school. The tests also have become such a huge focus in the classroom that it is beginning to take away the process of learning in a classroom and being replaced with memorization to get good test scores. The standardized tests do not need to disappear all together, however the tests need a lot of revising if the states continue to use them as they do

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Standardized tests are very common in today’s modern society. They are used as a tool to measure a person’s performance and indicate how their estimated performance will be in a college class. Every year hundreds of students take the ACT or SAT in order to get accepted into their college of choice and to receive scholarships, but they fail to see the problems with these standardized tests. As more and more people take these tests, the national average score falls causing doubt in the extremely important system. This is leading people to question whether or not the ACT and SATs are accomplishing what they were created to do.

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For as long as public education has existed in America, discussions on how the education should be managed have always been disputed. The way we educate our future generations of Americans is constantly changing because of these disputes. In recent years however, the way we educate the students of America has been failing. We have not taken the correct tactics and strategies to keep our students up to date with the best ways in education. Instead, we have come up with a strategy to teach that we call “Standardized Testing.”

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More often than not, children who fail these tests can not afford necessary materials to be able to get a quality educations. Like Kohn said, “guess who can afford better test preparation” (Kohn 601), just like poor families, there are poorly funded schools that also can not afford to give the students the education they need. These are obstacles that are frequently looked over by college admission counselors. “ The more that poor children fill in worksheets (in an effort to raise their test scores) the further they fall behind affluent kids who are more likely to get lessons that help them understand ideas” (Kohn 601). Even if there is a good effort to get these students prepared for the tests, it results in being behind on their schoolwork.

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“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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Arguments Against Standardized Testing

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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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Many elementary students did not try hard because they were not fully engaged in their test, leading to them not trying to their fullest potential. This is proving the point that their ability is not measured accurately, eventually showing false test scores. While standardized tests should be eliminated because the achievement of students is not measured accurately, students also are not motivated to

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Us students slipped from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st place in 2009 (Procon.org) Similar decline for science and reading. This shows how Standardized Testing has not helped us in our

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Standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid-1800s. Their use became mandated after 2001’s No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which mandated annual testing in all 50 states for student’s grades three through eight. This act aimed to hold all public schools to a high standard of education, measured by their student’s scores in statewide-standardized tests. High-stakes achievement tests have provoked the most controversy.

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Expensive SAT books and preparation courses with private tutors are a good indicator of inequality in our education system. But in the meantime, these tests provide accurate comparisons between different sub-groups. The sub-groups provide schools with data on socioeconomic status to develop better programs that will help improve their scores. Unfortunately educational inequality exists everywhere and some kids go to private schools, while others don’t have enough money to buy books. But only standardized testing can help these students who are in need, by developing services directed at improving their

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No Child Left Behind, a bill passed in 2002 which required all states to set goals and standard that would follow the guidelines of a national plan. The primary way to assure that all students met these goals was through a standardized test which would be administered once at the end of each school year, but the problem stands that standardized tests are an inadequate method of tracking the progress of students. In its current form standardized tests are designed to only measure proficiency in math, English, social studies, and science. As stated by Gerald W. Bracey, PhD "Standardized tests cannot measure qualities like creativity, critical thinking, resilience, motivation, persistence, curiosity, endurance, reliability, enthusiasm, empathy,

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In a 2009 Scholastic/Gates Foundation survey, 81% of US public school teachers said state-required standardized tests were at least "somewhat important” as a measure of students’ academic achievement, and 27% said that after exams teachers can help students that are struggling with the segment/chapter that they are studying. These standardized exams that students take accumulates. Teachers gathering this information over a period of time will show how students have been evolving over the course of their academic career. School districts also benefit from students doing honorable on the exams receiving increased school funds, practically a reward for the school saying “You are teaching right keep up the good work”. Students also benefit from this increased funding in the way of purchasing new equipment and programs making the learning experience better for the student.

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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.

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These factors demonstrate that this source of testing is not an accurate representation of a student’s intellectual ability; therefore, students pursuit for higher education should not be dictated by one test. Ultimately, standardized tests, such as the ACT, should not control a student’s ability to pursue higher education. Even though institutions view these test scores to decide a student’s eligibility, the ACT does not determine how a student will succeed in a college or university. Nevertheless, while students are required to take these test to graduate high school, institutions should consider more than test scores and not let the ACT be the determining factor in a student’s true ability.

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