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Standardized Testing Pros And Cons

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Standardized tests fail to meet their goal which is to measure the schools’ and students’ performance while raising the academic benchmark of education. On the contrary, standardize tests are a major stress factor that affect parents, teachers and students.
Through the years all 50 states have been putting their students under the pressure of taking the tests. With the federal law, No Child Left Behind Act in 2002, schools are required to test the students annually. In Texas, children third grade and up have the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness, or as it is commonly referred to as STAAR. Math, Reading, Writing and Science are the subjects in elementary school. Social Studies is added in middle school, and Algebra I, English …show more content…

As mentioned in the website, standarizedtest.procon, these assessments contribute evidence of schools’ accountability, and they also “ensure that teachers and schools are answerable to taxpayers” ("Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?”). The tests also shows prove of what goes on in the classrooms. Abigail Marshall, states in her book The Everything Parent’s guide to Children With Dyslexia, that The No Left Behind Act have some important arrangements that may benefit children with learning disabilities …show more content…

They are inclusive and non-discriminatory, and they guarantee content is the same for all students ("Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?”). Progress can not be measure with teacher-made tests, or grades. However, the assessments should have a better reading and use. The purpose of these tests, among others, is to compare students’ performance from one year to the next. Nevertheless, they fall behind on reporting about individual students’ success, “whether students are learning critical thinking skill, or how engaged students are in the learning process” (“State Standardized Test Scores: Issues to Consider”). Consequently, these factors are significantly important when evaluating a school.
Teachers and parents argue that “”Teaching the test” is replacing good teaching practices with “drill n’ kill” rote learning” ("Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?”). They say that teaching for the assessment is significantly narrowing the curriculum, and that children spend more time in tedious test preparation that in hands on or project based learning activities ("Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in

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How standardized testing has failed in the U.S. Education is the foundation that our future as a nation is dependent upon. The United States has a goal for the education of its students, “ to promote student achievement and preparation for global competitiveness by fostering educational excellence and ensuring equal success.”. The plan put in place by the United States’ education system is to hold states, schools, and teachers responsible for the advancement of American children through the process of standardized testing. The origins of standardized testing began in Europe where up until recently the only group of people receiving an education were those who planned on going to University afterwards, therefore the curriculum in the secondary

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Standardized testing is a very well known topic for a lot of people. Many people believe they are helpful to measure students intelligence and academic performance. Just as many people believe it is unfair, stressful, and affects the school and state as a whole. Standardized testing is an unfair approach to measure each student’s academic performance; and is something we should get rid of.

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This brings one question into the light: Is standardized testing really teaching and preparing our students in the best way possible? This is a question that has yet to be answered. The American public education system must be changed to meet the needs of today and the best way

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These tests are a very poor measurement of educational quality. Standardized tests are very biased against people with a low socioeconomic status and students of color. They also discriminate against students with learning disabilities which causes them to receive lower scores than people who do not have these issues. Standardized tests are one of the ways a school districts is scored which makes the school district puts an abundance of stress and emphasis on achieving an exceptional score. This causes several of students and teachers to cheat on the tests so as to not get in trouble for doing poorly.

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One of the arguments about state testing is how state standardized tests affect the amount of money that school is given based on how many students pass. The more students who pass the test help get the school more money and the more students who fail prevent the school from getting the money it needs.  Standardized tests exist for administrative, political, and financial purposes, not for educational ones. Because the amount of kids passing or lack thereof affects the amount of money that school is funding, that becomes the sole priority for these teachers and/or administrators

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According to the article, “Don’t Believe the Hype: Standardized Tests Are Good for Children, Families and Schools,” written by Latasha Gandy, states, “Standardized test scores are now broken down by student race and income. This allows everyone—including teachers, parents and policymakers—to see how inequitable our schools are. If you’ve heard of what’s commonly called the “achievement gap”—the shocking difference in educational outcomes between white students and students of color—you probably have standardized tests to thank.” This means that as result of standardized testing, the public has been able to address an underlying issue about how our society is not as egalitarian as we want it to be. Due to standardized tests, schools are being held accountable for low scores.

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American education has involved standardized testing since the mid-1800s, although their use increased dramatically after the 2002 No Child Left Behind Act mandated testing in all 50 states. The debate over whether standardized tests improve education has paralleled education reform throughout the years. Failures in our education system have been increasingly blamed on the ubiquitous use of standardized tests. Historically, they had a good reputation for serving as a test of basic knowledge for admittance into college and providing a structured curriculum for teachers. Nowadays, standardized tests evoke feelings of stress and loathing from teachers and students alike.

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Standardized testing does not measure students’ academic abilities In the beginning of standardized testing, students were set up to fail. They were skewed and not in some people’s favor. For example, on the tests there was questions that only white middle aged people would know, immigrants with little or no English would not compare to an average white middle aged person taking the test.

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The test does not test students based upon progress but based on their skills. Parents were on board with the standardized testing until they realized the effects it has on child development, since the teachers are being evaluated and the students are no longer being taught standard or better curriculum(Johnson, 2015) When a parent sends their child to school they expect the teacher to teach the child to their full extent or potential. A public school parent in Cleveland, MS. told PDK International. “But there’s so much funding attached to testing, if we don’t do well on testing, then we’re going to lose funding, which means we’re going to lose teachers”(Walker, 2015).

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In today’s world standardized tests has become a necessity of the education system in the United States for many years. Standardized testing is described as in the dictionary as any form of test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from a common bank of questions, in the same way, and that is scored in a “standard” or consistent manner, which makes it possible to compare the relative performance of the individual . This need for testing was due to the passing of the No Child Left Behind Act. The need for standardized testing according to the no child left behind act is to hold the teachers and schools accountable for the results the students produce. Standardized testing is not the best

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Even so, such tests have their uses.” (Starr, J.P.,2017) As a superintendent of a school district, Starr realizes that while standardized testing is “meaningless in the real world” (Leadership, 2017) it is helpful to evaluate classes, schools, and school districts. Standardized test scores do not determine the worth of a student, but the quality of education the students are receiving in their school, school district, or state. (Starr,J.P.,2017)

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Standardized tests are not helping the students of the United States of America and they should remove the mandatory tests students are forced to take. Throughout one’s education in the United States of America, a student is going to run into many standardized tests. This is the result of the signing of the No Child Left Behind Act that was signed by President George W. Bush in 2002. It was signed to give more responsibility to the government to educate the children of the United States of America. Underneath all the legal words, it meant that states must test students, from the third grade to the twelfth grade.

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Not only are they being used to assess students, but are tied to to firing staff, giving bonuses and closing schools. The assessments have become the goal of education rather than an indicator” (Diane Ravitch 1). The education system is making really important decisions by the results of those tests. But instead the standardized test are harming the students education and also the teacher's job. Not only are they poor measurements of what students know, but these high-stakes tests do damage student's

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Although the ultimate debate about Standardized Testing is on how the tests are used, whether they present reliable or unreliable evaluations of student learning, the public has many more question(Concepts). Are Standardized Tests fair to all students? Do the benefits outweigh the costs? While some experts, one being Latasha Gandy, Minnesota Program Director for Students for Education Reform, believes that Standardized tests are good for children, families and schools. Other experts, including those at FairTest, believe that standardized testing damages education.

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