Should Standardized Tests Be Changed?

754 Words4 Pages

Have you spent 25.3 hours testing in one year? No? If not this is what many current eighth graders have to deal with because of the outburst of standardized tests. In this current debate on standardized tests, some people want to change the way we test while others do not. I think standardized tests should be changed because standardized tests are unreliable, children and teachers spend a lot of time preparing for it, and standardized tests are causing stress in students and teachers.

Firstly, tests are unreliable. “A 2001 study published by the Brookings Institution found that 50-80% of year-over-year test score improvements were temporary and "caused by fluctuations that had nothing to do with long-term changes in learning..." This shows that the information collected from the test can not really provide accurate information for teachers because of the inconsistent data. The data cannot show what students need to learn because of the fluctuations, making the standardized tests inaccurate and unreliable. This will only ruin the recent grades because the teachers do not know what to teach the students. This will result in students being he 'd back from there whole potential. This is a first reasons as to why we should change standardized …show more content…

This essay explains some of the reasons as to why testing needs to change. This essay tells how standardized tests are unreliable, how students and teachers spend too much time preparing and taking standardized tests, and, finally, how stress affects students testing. The standardized tests may not show growth and what students need help on because of fluctuations. Students and teachers spend a lot of classroom time preparing and taking the test when they could be learning other things that students need to work on and finally students are getting so stressed out that they freak. After reading my argument essay, I hope you can agree with me that standardized testing has some complications that need to be addressed and