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Pros And Cons Of Being Standardized

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Are Standardized Tests Truly Standardized?

A standardized test is "any form of test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions ... and that is scored in a 'standard' or consistent manner" (Standardized). These two requirements of a standardized test attempt at assigning a fair grade to each student that is representative of that student's overall knowledge and understanding of one or many subjects. Some of the most known types of standardized testing in the US are the PSAT, the SAT, and the ACT which each have their own purposes such as admission into colleges. In a perfect world, standardized testing would work and would be fair since every student gets the same tests with the same qualifications and answers. However, some …show more content…

He says “For a fair selection everybody has to take the same exam: please climb that tree”. Such a simple sentence highlights one of the biggest flaws in standardized testing; it is not made for everyone nor is it standard. Taking a deeper look at each of the individual animals proves its point even further. First, a bird is depicted who can easily fly to the top of the tree, but in no regards can it “climb that tree”, likely representing a student that can achieve high scores in school or on other tests, but has trouble succeeding on standardized testing. Next is a monkey, who can climb the tree with ease, representing a student that has no problem with taking and succeeding at the test. Next is a penguin, who is technically a bird, yet cannot fly, representing a student who should be able to do well in school yet does not achieve highly on standardized tests. The largest animal is an elephant which by no means can climb the tree, representing a student not able to succeed at standardized testing. The fish may be the most curious one, as highlighted by typepad.com, because “The fish, being the intellectual of the group, already perched himself atop *a* tree” (TYPEPAD). This could represent a student that was set up for success such as financially or mentally, but fails to meet its overall expectations. The seal and the dog have about the same trouble as the elephant. This piece of art captures the problem beautifully since it seems the ‘proctor’ is asking a simple, standardized question about climbing the same tree for fairness, yet the different types of students all are unique and have their own levels of successes and failures, representing the non standardness of the standardized

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