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Standardized Testing Argumentative Essay

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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. In New York State, …show more content…

If students perform well on standardized tests, then they could possibly be selected for “gifted programs, colleges, scholarships, or employment.” (D. Thompson) Public schools receive funding from the state when excelling students in their state perform well on standardized tests. The state funds the schools in order to provide their students with merit based scholarships. This is important because this data helps schools find the most promising students in their state. This can ultimately equate to priority on-campus housing, tuition reductions, dream colleges, and jobs; aspects of college that are not always guaranteed without exceptional test scores. AP (Advanced Placement) exams can ensure college credit for a certain subject if the student performs well, preferably scoring a four or five out of five. “For example, if you score well on the AP English Literature exam, you may not have to take the college’s required freshman-level English course.” (Taking Required Tests) If every college did not consider standardized tests, then universities and employers would miss out on academically inclined prospects. Students would also miss out on merit awards from their test

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1749 Words | 7 Pages

Introduction Standardized tests may be used for a wide variety of educational purposes. For example, they may be used to determine a young child’s readiness for kindergarten, identify students who need special-education services or specialized academic support, place students in different academic programs or course levels, or award diplomas and other educational certificates. Thesis Statement Standardized tests should not be eliminated completely, but should rather be evaluated in addition to other factors such as grades, extracurricular activities, and volunteer hours. This would take pressure off of students during standardized tests, allow colleges to see how well-rounded the students are, and give students who are better in other areas

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536 Words | 3 Pages

FW #5 A better alternative to standardized testing would be to use student portfolios in order to assess learning and growth. “A student portfolio is a systematic collection of student work and related material that depicts a student's activities, accomplishments, and achievements in one or more school subjects”(Scherba de Valenzuela). Using this system wouldn’t require kids to miss classes to take standardized tests, it’s a better representation of a student's learning during the year, and It increases self-motivation to learn and grow. It doesn’t take them out of class to take the test.

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471 Words | 2 Pages

Growing up, from first grade until graduation, like clockwork students are required to take standardized tests. In Arizona we had the Arizona’s Instrument to Measure Standards or AIMs. During a student's sophomore year it was a requirement to take the math, reading, and writing versions and pass to graduate. The problem was not that a standard was made, the problem was that the testing for that standard came only halfway though a students time in high school.

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224 Words | 1 Pages

When you start testing kids as soon as the hit the school doors the playing grounds are no longer even. The “gifted” are separated from all the other kids and giving better tools and more opportunity. So, when a kid who was not deemed

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2294 Words | 10 Pages

In school, ranging from elementary to high school, even those pursuing higher education, have to face many challenges and obstacles during their academic career. One of those challenges is standardized testing. Standard testing has always been around in school. It can vary from a district-given test such as a benchmark test, to see what ‘level’ the students are at, or a nationwide test, such as the SAT, PSAT, and ACT. It is used very often in school.

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730 Words | 3 Pages

When it comes to standardized tests, many students, parents, and teachers have strong opinions about how effective it is and how they feel about it. In 1998 Florida introduced it’s first standardized test, the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) (Florida Department of Education; FLDOE). The FCAT consisted of various subjects for grades three to eleven to determine the students improvement toward meeting the Sunshine State Standards (SSS) (FLDOE). During the 2010-11 school year, Florida began the transition from the FCAT to the FCAT 2.0 and Florida End-of-Course (EOC) Assessments (FLDOE). Keep in mind that there were still certain grades and subjects taking the FCAT until the change was complete.

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518 Words | 3 Pages

Although standardized tests show teachers what they need to teach, the tests are hard on the students and only test them on limited amounts of knowledge; therefore, students and teachers need to put pressure towards the companies to make a less stressful and widen range tests. Even though standardized tests help the teachers, the tests are really stressful and hard on the students. One good point about the tests are that they not only are for the students but for the teachers too. According to Herbert J. Walberg, “Computers streamline this process by providing immediate feedback about correct and incorrect responses far more quickly and with much greater patience than teachers and tutors can provide” (Walberg). After students take a standardized

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557 Words | 3 Pages

The test also supports different kind of districts to decide whether school curriculums are achieving or it is just a showing the abilities of district students. The tests are differentiated with grades on a school record that are given by teachers, which can simply change whether a student graduates or goes to a better school. Many of school districts, teachers and parents believe that standardized testing supports to decide how well a student has learned from material that has been taught in school. However, in my opinion a student should understand why these tests are important for

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898 Words | 4 Pages

To start, colleges are very serious about testing scores, so testing sufficiently is essential. When starting the college admissions process, students want to have test scores and resumes that will hopefully guarantee admittance into certain schools. Second, colleges look at one’s evaluation grades to see if one is a good fit for the curriculum. If colleges have difficult programs, they will see if a student is able to handle the rigors of their assessments, and therefore standardized tests can reveal a natural fit for colleges. Lastly, standardized tests show whether one has adequate test-taking skills to pass one’s classes.

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1361 Words | 6 Pages

In 1914 Frederick Jay Kelly created standardized testing (Davidson, 113). Cathy Davidson stated that one reason Kelly created standardized testing was, as Kelly wrote, “There has always been a demand on the part of teachers to know how effectively they are developing in their children the ability to get meaning from the printed page. Nothing is more fundamentally important in our school work than the development of this ability” (114). Many institutions still use standardized tests to determine a student’s understanding of a subject.

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647 Words | 3 Pages

In 2002 the act No Child Left Behind (NCLB) of forcing testing every year in every state in the U.S cause increasing in the use of these tests. The U.S. students rank in math and science have declined from 18th in the world to 31st in 9 years, but remain the same in reading. So many different areas can cause the education to collapse, such as educators’ performance, and the increasing level of using the standardized tests. The American Educational Research Association previous leader W. James Popham defined standardized tests as, "any test that is administered, scored, and interpreted in a standard, predetermined manner (¶4).

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1789 Words | 8 Pages

Standardized tests are used commonly in the school systems and they do not measure the overall students’ achievement. For this reason, educators and administrators must take into account how economic elements are affecting the grades on standardized tests. Usually, this group of students averages below the acceptable grades on standardized examinations regardless of the subject. For reasons beyond their control, children from low socioeconomic level face an increased risk of failing standardized examinations. The failure of the tests could cause an overwhelming impact on students, families, the school system, and society at large because eventually, the students may be dropping out of school.

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581 Words | 3 Pages

Standardized testing is very common in the United States, and has been in the United States of America (US) for more than fifty years. In today’s society, standardized tests have become the norm. They are more pressure packed and strenuous than ever. Standardized testing used to only be used sparingly, but now every child from elementary school to a college graduate school must take these rigorous exams. Standardized tests can be very helpful when it comes to positive student achievement, equal content and comparison, and helps prepare you for college.

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2058 Words | 9 Pages

The No Child Left Behind act originally was to improve our student’s knowledge but had resulted differently in overly testing students . You’re tested about 14 or more times throughout your middle school and high school years depending on your school district requirements. The government is now willing to do whatever it takes to do to receive money for testing students. An example of how extreme this testing has become can be found in the situation of a student named Joe. He was hospitalized, preparing for open brain surgery, when he was rudely interrupted by his teacher’s visit, with a number two pencil and a standardized test.

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1134 Words | 5 Pages

Year after year, students all across the country from five to eighteen years old are burdened with the stress-inducing task of taking standardized tests. Hours upon hours of valuable time is spent measuring intelligence and knowledge, when having instruction time instead could be far more beneficial. Students aren’t the only ones being affected by the tests that can cause deep anxiety in many, teachers also are succumbed to the stressful testing sessions and preparations. The many tests forced upon students across the nation are irrelevant to the actual improvement that is occurring among these students. The use of standardized testing among pupils in America is not improving education, but is heavily damaging it instead.

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