Standardized Testing Pros And Cons

A typical student, in the school year 2014-2015, takes about 112 standardized tests all the way from preschool to their senior year. In that same year, the average eighth grader spends 25.3 hours testing. Mandated tests are also putting more pressure on teachers each year, not only do teachers have a very strict curriculum to follow they also have to “Teach the test” which means it becomes more of a memorization game rather than obtaining the knowledge. There are many different types of mandated tests that have come and gone and developed from the Modern day IQ tests and SATs to Army Mental Tests. Standardized test have developed alongside with the technology of the 21st century, and with the way they are shaping our education curriculum,

Johnson’s Great society program and it offers more than 1 billion dollars to aid districts to help them cover for the cost of providing education for disadvantaged students. There have been many different changes and updates to the ESEA and each time, it slightly expands the role of the federal government in education. One of the more recent updates being the NCLB, or No Child Left Behind Act. This was passed through congress, with bi-partisan support, in 2001 and was signed into law January 8th 2002 by George W. Bush. This increased the role of the federal government by holding schools accountable for the academic progress of all of the students. States did not have to follow this law, but if they do not they risk losing some of the funding that they get. Under the NCLB, states must test students in reading and math in grades 3-8 and once in high school and report the results for both the student population as a whole and for particular “subgroups” (English learners, special education, racial minorities and children from low income families). This law also requires that teachers are more qualified and have at least a bachelor’s degree On December 10th, 2015, the newest version of the ESEA gets signed into law with, once again, bi-partisan support and it is called the ESSA- Every Student Succeeds Act. “With this bill, we affirm that fundamentally American ideal- that every child, regardless of race, income, background, the zip code, where they live, deserves the chance to make their lives what they will.” President Obama says this when he is talking about the ESSA. This law, for the first time, requires that all students in America are taught to high academic standards that will prepare them to succeed in college, rather than them just teaching to the tests (Only teaching the information that will be on the test rather than preparing them to obtain the knowledge.) States were