Michelle Obama famously said: “If my future were determined just by my performance on a standardized test, I wouldn't be here. I guarantee you that.” I too struggle with taking tests, which often limits my opportunities to pursue academic programs that require these scores. Unfortunately, today we are slowly moving towards a school system that values high test scores more than anything; testing has become the norm of education. According to a Columbia University report, standardized testing is widely used because it provides a quick and easy way for educators to get an evaluation of a student’s abilities. However, evidence now shows that this type of school system may not be the most effective. Standardized testing should not be so heavily …show more content…
I see this at school everyday. Many of my precalculus classmates spend all their time memorizing trigonometry identities and random laws and postulates so they can finish the test in time. To them, memorizing De Moivre’s Theorem is more important than understanding why it is works. Furthermore, many teachers also encourage--though maybe unintentionally--this formula-memorizing behavior. Instead of teaching us through lectures and experimentation, my chemistry teacher simply passed out a sheet of paper, listing all the reaction rules. Doesn’t this just call for a ‘plug and chug’ …show more content…
In a research study conducted by the American Psychological Association, where students were surveyed on their stress level, over 80% of the students claimed to experience some form of moderate stress in the past school year, with 30% reporting extreme stress. This is an unprecedented stress level among young teens, according to TIME magazine. Though the ability to cope with stress is an important one to have, many adults admit that they would also be crushed by the impending stress of immensely weighted standardized tests. Moreover, stress levels like this can lead to depression, obesity, and many other diseases that young teens should not have to suffer