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Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing In Schools

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No one ever said school was easy. It takes quite a bit of hard work and preparation from both the students and teachers. All within a school year there are different homework, assignments, projects, tests, quizzes, presentations and much more to try and fit into an already busy course schedule. To add to that the Education Reform Law of 1993 was introduced to schools, which required that all public school students have to be tested in the subjects of English Language Arts, Mathematics, and Science and Technology Engineering. Those set of tests are called Massachusetts Comprehensive Assessment System (MCAS) and they are meant to measure students performance based on the Massachusetts Curriculum Framework. Due to Massachusetts requiring all sophomore and some ninth grade students to take the MCAS, students are only …show more content…

In Massachusetts schools there is an average of 16 students that are at a warning/failing level for the three test subjects. At some schools in the county there are no students that are at the point of failing or needs improvement levels for the MCAS tests but at others majority of the results fall under those categories. At Berkshire Arts and Technology Charter School (BART), “ 0 students are warning/failing grade 10- Mathematics,” test for MCAS but at Pittsfield High School (PHS), “ 16 students are warning/failing grade 10- Mathematics,” test for MCAS (School and District Profiles). The difference in tests scores between schools like these are thought to be because of the rate of low-income families that are in attendance. Even with all of the time taken in classrooms to prepare for the MCAS, there are still a lot of students that do not pass or need improvement despite all that

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