Persuasive Essay On Standardized Testing

Standardized Testing Albert Einstein once said, “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish on its ability to climb a tree it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” Standardized testing is ultimately hurting students because it is doing just that. This testing should be eliminated from school requirements because it takes costs a vast amount of money that could be put to better use, consumes a large amount of time, and is not an accurate representation of a student’s knowledge. As of 2012, the cost of standardized testing for some states has cost $1.7 billion yearly. No only is that a massive amount, but it is also a substantial piece of spending money allotted for K-12 (Into). This money could be put to better use by clubs and school supplies. For example, having that much extra money could allow schools to have more up to date technology, thus making it easier for students to obtain information. In some areas, such as the District of Columbia, $114 is spent on each

Now students need to not only study for tests created by their teachers, but also ones mandated by the state. One Chicago school teacher reported that his class had spent 738 minutes preparing for these tests in the past three weeks (Strauss). That is a whopping 12 hours and 18 minutes with the average time spent per day totaling to about 50 minutes per day. The teacher also states that “students are experiencing testing fatigue” and that many other teaches, him included, “devoted a significant chunk of the additional time we were supposed to have for teaching and collaborating to testing” (Strauss). Teachers should be able to focus more on teaching their students and helping them grow than preparing them for tests that will not be of use to them later in life. Standardized testing overall takes up too much time and thus should no longer be