Standardized Testing Persuasive Essay

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Tests in many states are beginning to get harder in order to align with the new common core standards, and are not only being used to grade students, but teachers as well. In addition to students having anxiety over tests, teachers and parents are now getting a little taste of it as well. Many people consider standardized testing as an objective way of grading a student, since computerized scoring removes any kind of bias. Millions are spent on these tests every year since these need to be taken in order to be accepted in graduate and undergraduate programs. Although most schools make students take standardized tests, it does not measure the knowledge of a student. People assume that standardized testing is a good way of comparing the performance levels of various students from different schools and locations, and without standardized testing, many think this will not be possible. What people often do not know is that standardized testing is …show more content…

The test has many flaws, the first being the fact that the most common subjects are over looked. A high level of math for a regularly paced student and decently high level of English are elevated far above their real world relevance. In addition to this, “science” is not usually science and is basically just seeing how fast and accurately one can read a graph. These tests usually look past all electives as well. The test format is not like most taken during regular class, and certainly not like tests first graders are familiar with. The goal of the test is not to find out how well someone can work through a problem or form an idea, but simply to see how much can be memorized. Students know their scores will have high value on future actions so they do whatever it takes to get the good score, even if that means cheating or taking performance enhancing