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Standardized Testing Informative Essay

831 Words4 Pages

Standardized tests were nationally implemented in 2002, when former president George W. Bush signed the No Child Left Behind Act. To this day, the assessments are still being implemented in public schools, causing much controversy and problems. Because standardized tests are failing to achieve their purposes by inaccurately measuring learning proficiency and restraining student growth, alternatives are necessary. Before addressing the issues with standardized examinations, it is important to consider their purposes. Aaron Churchill, research director for the Thomas B. Fordham Institute, discloses that the tests measure student proficiency, thus providing a definition of “student achievement” for pupils and teachers (1). Another purpose of testing is to “measure the effectiveness of teaching” in schools (“Bush” 1). When the results of the examinations are finalized, scores are compared …show more content…

The examinations only assess few subjects, thus excluding other significant skills. According to Dennis Van Roekel, former president of the National Education Association, “math, reading, and science” are the only subjects examined on standardized tests (2). For that reason, the assessments fail to measure “creativity and problem-solving skills” developed in other subjects (Van Roekel 2). In addition, the examinations do not determine aspects of critical thinking. The computer that grades standardized tests “does not understand meaning” as only grammar can be graded (Ravitch 2). This displays that a poorly written essay can earn a passing score under standardized testing. Van Roekel continues that the “multiple choice” examinations cause students to spend weeks of memorizing information that they will likely forget (2). Memorization does not support the use of in-depth thinking, as all thought processes are abandoned. In the end, standardized assessments fail to grasp what a student has

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1285 Words | 6 Pages

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