Standardized Tests Are Put to the Test
"Believing we can improve schooling with more tests is like believing you can make yourself grow taller by measuring your height," said by Robert Schaeffer, Public Education Director of FairTest. This paints a clear picture of one of today’s most talked about education questions; are standardized tests benificial for our nation’s education? A standardized test is a test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions. As a result, the tests are scored in a consistant manner, meaning a student’s test results can be compared with another group of students. These tests are most commonly seen as a multiple choice test that are given to a large population of students. Standardized tests have been
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Some oppenants may argue that standardized tests help schools see whether a child is at grade level and how he or she is preforming relative to other children in the next class, according to educationpost.org. However, standardized tests only measure inteligence, and most of the time inaccurately; the tests do not measure other subjects that are important in life, for example character and social skills. As said by a passionate, outspoke blogger on huffintongpost.org, “these tests strip you of your identity and you suddenly become a barcode. None of your achievements or ambitions in life matter, and these tests do not measure your personality.” In other words, tests do not measure how responsible you are, how kind you are or what social skills you have. So, when students fail an major test, they may think they have no skills and are not ready for the real world, because they are forced to think that a dubious test defines who they are. Another person that has spoken out their thoughts on standardized tests was our very own First Lady, Michelle Obama. As claimed by cbsnews.org, Michelle Obama told a group of students, “don’t let those tests defeat you, don’t let those tests define you.” What Michelle Obama means is tests do not define who you are, because the only thing tests grade is intellgence, and somtimes incorrectly. As mentioned before, many people oppose of standardized tests and believe they do not evaluate any real world skill, which is what an article on standardizedtesting.net, titled “Measuring What Matters Least,” emphasizes, “standardized tests are unrealistic, and do nothing whatsoever toward preparing students for life outside of the classroom.” This is quite accurate, because content and questions on standardizeds tests are said to be preparing you for the real world, but how do