Benefits Of Standardized Testing

A classroom void of color, bare and blank walls drown the light in the room, piles of student art put away on tables and empty bookshelves, all in the name of standardized testing. Students monotonously fill in tiny bubbles with dull number-two pencils, all in the name of standardized testing. After the stress and preparation, students will receive a number, told that the number before them represents their intelligence and thus, their worth. How could a number measure a person’s skill? How could a test possibly determine their future? Supporters of standardized tests say that it is fair. Every student gets the same test, but that test does not accurately measure student achievement, and the stress and pressure they put on both students and

For example, proponents of testing say that standardized testing has proved to be an objective way to measure student performance, allowing educators and administrators to better teach their students (Walberg). Standardized testing aims to create an even and controlled base to measure student progress, but the tests are created without the style of the classroom in mind and English-language learners or students with learning disabilities are not considered. A test that measures top-tear honors students and students still learning English on the same scale is erroneous at an institutional level. Also, supporters say that the tests encourage students to achieve goals beyond their current academic standing. A study on U.S students found that when required to pass a standardized test in order to graduate, students spent more time on school related tasks like completing schoolwork and discussing topics with their parents (Walberg). However, students are rarely encouraged by looming intellectual assessments; they are motivated by friends, parents, and other loved ones who want to see them triumph and succeed in life. In addition, teenagers rarely have long discussions with their parents. School is the stereotypical “safe” and “easy” topic of conversation at the dinner table yet, most kids reply with mundane answers. In

In many instances, exam results are linked to funding and salaries. Test scores and funding are knotted together so tightly that teachers must choose between giving their students a complete education or keeping their school open (Williams). When presented with a decision of that magnitude, many administrators choose to change their curriculum in order to maintain school funding. Choices like that should never have to be made, and students have the right to their schools and their teachers, as well as their complete educations. This pressure often leads to other abrupt decisions in order to save schools. For instance, examples of test fraud have been appearing in headlines since the beginning of standardized test administration. Because of standardized testing, teachers are more likely to skew results or have a spiteful attitude towards their students (Williams). This fraud demonstrates just how inadequate these evaluations are. Standardized tests cannot even accurately measure students, how could they possibly accurately measure whole schools? When teachers are stressed, they often show a short-temper towards their students. Children deserve to be educated by teachers who are happy and content in their field of work, not ones who know that they have to adopt corrupt curriculums and teaching styles. Standardized testing effects students and