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Standardized Testing Argumentative Essay

1660 Words7 Pages

President Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 into law in early 2002. At first, it was used to determine whether or not a child needed extra help in their classes. Now standardized testing can determine whether or not a student graduates from high school. It is now under scrutiny, as some do not believe it is an effective way of testing students. Standardized testing does have its advantages, like giving teacher a guideline on what they should be teaching. Standardized testing does more harm than good, though. It forces teachers to “teach to the test”, robbing kids of other important areas of education, along with only evaluating how a student does on that particular day, not taking into account external factors. It also does not evaluate a student’s higher-level thinking. Our children’s future is at stake. America needs to find a better way of effectively measuring a student’s intelligence to ensure that its future is a bright one. Students need to be well equipped to get into college and, later, the work force. Standardized testing is not going to prepare them for either. Standardized testing should not be required because doing so would lead to better students …show more content…

Standardized testing is a way to see if children understand the basics of math, reading, and writing but it does not do so in a way that truly shows if the child is learning. For example, to get a better paying job than a clerical one, one must be good in algebra and geometry, which are both topics covered in standardized testing. “Businesses need people who can understand a simple formula, read a graph, and interpret a statement about probability”, says mathematician Lynn Osen. But despite math being important to a child’s success, 43% of tenth graders in the United States failed or did not meet the minimum requirements in both reading and math in 2002 (Sharma, 2003). Obviously, standardized testing is not working for

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All students dread one thing when it comes to school - testing. Standardized test are the main focus in our school systems instead of actually gaining knowledge at the end of the year. As a mother, Michelle Rhee, understands the lack of attention given on education as a whole instead of just waiting on the scores, but she still agrees on continuing with standardized test. Kristina Rizga opposes the opinion of Michelle Rhee as she does not believe standardized test truly measure the intelligence of a student. Kristina Rizga proves her stand against standardized test by utilizing solid use of argumentation.

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Standard testing is a very controversial and important subject because it deals with the progression of the American education system. The practice of these assessments has been highly scrutinized not only for the way it has changed the format of classrooms, but also for its accuracy, pressure, and abundance. In 2001, standardized testing became federally mandated through the No Child Left Behind Act by former president George Bush Jr. According to research from the Council of the Great City Schools, students have been taking “an average of 113 tests from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade” (K. Hefling). These numbers have increased to the point where parents have opted for their children to not attend standardized exams.

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Meredith Broussard explains how standardized testing does not prove a child’s general knowledge nor creative in-depth thinking by stating, “Standardized tests are not based on general knowledge... they are based on specific knowledge contained in specific sets of books: the textbooks created by the test makers” (Broussard). Miner also states that standardized testing, “... leads to a dumbed-down curriculum that values rote memorization over in-depth thinking, exacerbates inequities for low-income students and students of color, and undermines true accountability among schools, parents, and community” (Miner). The assessment of a child should encourage a child to want to learn for the sake of learning. Alternative assessments could address a child’s development and learning process. These evaluations can determine why children are more likely to read behind grade level, instead of highlighting their inabilities.

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Standardized tests are one of the most popular ways schools attempt to evaluate academic intelligence of students, school districts, and teachers. These tests are used more specifically to evaluate student performance in the education system by testing their abilities in mathematics, english and sciences. By giving every student the same test, they are setting a standard idea for how well every student should score on the test, such as the SAT or the ACT, no matter the school or educational process they are receiving. Allowing every student to take the exact same test, gives the state a way to generalize student’s academic intelligence without having to do much work to make the testing one hundred percent fair. Standardized testing in schools should no longer be required because it discriminates against the less wealthy families, does not effectively measure achievement and becomes a distraction to the student’s learning environment.

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In fact, the increasing use of standardized testing will do more damage than good, because of its failure to capture the entirety of a student’s body of work. Furthermore, the overwhelming stress that the United States government, and school systems have placed on the usage of standardized tests has become detrimental to American education, and is not the most effective way to gauge the intelligence of American students. The American educational system should be fixated on providing each child enough attention and information so they can succeed in that class and in the future. However, the increasing focus on having to pass a standardized test has blinded schools of the real goal, because they are required to get their students to pass the standardized tests.

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Since the No Child Left Behind Act was mandated in 2002, test scores in our schools have steadily declined. In spite of this, proponents argue that standardized testing is an objective and effective method to measure student achievement and to hold teachers accountable. Unfortunately, this is the farthest thing from the truth. Standardized tests are neither fair nor effectual, there overuse and misuse promotes a narrow curriculum which forces teachers to "teach to the test" instead of teaching to the student. This instruction style inhibits creativity and undermines our country's ability to produce innovators and critical thinkers.

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Standardized Testing Anyone who has ever taken any sort of standardized test knows that they can be stressful, costly, time consuming, and can even cause weaknesses in the education system. Standardized tests have been around since the mid 1800s, however, The No Child Left Behind Act passed in 2002 requires students in all 50 states to test annually. There are multiple arguments on whether or not these tests are helpful. The main purpose is to provide all children with an equal opportunity to obtain a quality education.

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Albert Einstein once said: “What is tested does count, but much of what counts cannot be tested.” A child's efficiency should not be determined by the value of a test. Change needs to take place and a difference needs to happen within our education system in order for more students to transcend and succeed. So many different organizations have tried to tackle this problem due to the harm it has caused our youth. Yet, thus far standardized testing still remains a factor in the school systems (NJ.Gov, 2016).

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Have you ever thought of what our education system would be like without standardized testing? Henry Chuancy and Wilbur Bender invented standardized testing, the SAT specifically, in order to identify the gifted and talented students (Tozer, 2002, p.231). The Early Cold War had just begun and The United States believed the key to winning it was detecting the gifted and talented students and grouping them so they could excel above the rest (Tozer, 2002, p.231). In this paper, I will argue that standardized testing is needed in our education system. As stressful as standardized testing can be, I believe it is a crucial part of today’s education system and allows students to be measured by intelligence.

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The primary reason that standardized testing is unnecessary is because fewer can lead to better results. A large number of students graduate every year who still need the basic fundamental classes like reading and science in college because the tests show what they know,

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Standardized Testing Standardized tests are deeply flawed ,and cause many issues in the school system. Like mental abuse to children and making their only goal about their test scores. This also causes stress for teachers who have children who struggle with Testing. Standardized tests should not be allowed in the schooling system. It doesn't show how smart a student is and it causes too many problems with both teachers and students.

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Standardized testing has become one of the most popular types of testing in U.S. public schools to date. Students take numerous standardized tests throughout their childhood schooling. (Studies show that a typical student takes an average of 112 mandated standardized tests between Pre-K and 12th grade.) While standardized testing is one of the main procedures that Universities use to judge incoming students, it is not proven to be the most effective way to convey a student’s actual intelligence level. The U.S. should not focus so heavily on standardized testing because it is not a complete accurate measurement of a student’s intelligence.

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