Standardized Testing Pros And Cons

Standardized testing is a prevalent method of testing which is ubiquitous throughout the United States. However, a point of controversy consistent in the history of the U.S education system is whether standardized testing is truly effective. Thus I make the following contentions regarding the ineffectiveness of standardized testing: The United States has not seen any increase in the overall education standard since the “No Child Left Behind Act”, the economic standing and spending of the United States in contrast to its results, and the methods used by the education system to reward or punish students or schools based on the outcome of the outcome of the test.

The Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) shows results of the

However; the countries comparable in the field of K-12 education with U.S were far less developed economically. This is to say that other less economically stable countries were able to surpass the U.S average in math, reading, and science. The PISA of 2015 showed the following results: For math, the U.S average was comparable to that of Israel and Croatia. For reading, the U.S average barely surpassed the OECD average and surpassed three other countries; two of which were second world countries. For science, the U.S performed modestly; surpassing Austria and France. But the fact that the U.S had a GDP of roughly 18 trillion USD in 2016 which dwarfs every country in the world must be taken into account. With such a high economic standing, the very fact that the United States has a math average comparable to Israel, a country with a GDP of 318 billion USD, shows that (while there are other factors that may affect this) standardized testing is not the most efficient. As of 2012, the average spent on for education was 115,000 USD (per student) in comparison to the Slovak Republic’s 53,000 USD (per student). This large disparity in spending should show a large disparity in education levels; yet their performances rivaled each other in the 2012 PISA scores. Furthermore, the state-run educational institutions suffered from lack of funding as the country was previously under communist rule and the use of standardized