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The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing

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Over the course of approximately seventy years, standardized testing was developed. The topic started in 1838 as merely an idea but over time progressed into a national concept. No Child Left Behind (NCLB) is a law that bestows money for educational aid for poor children in exchange for enhanced academic progression and requires states to test students in reading and math. This form of testing was primarily made to improve education in America however it is failing to do so. This is because it consumes the time needed for students to be thoroughly educated, is an imprecise way to grade educators, it narrows the curriculum, and causes good learning and practice skills to be replaced with rote learning.
The time for teachers to educate their students is being consumed by tedious and unexciting preparation for tests. …show more content…

Educators are pressured into teaching to the test leading teachers to focus more on ensuring their students memorize facts that will most likely be on the end of the year test. For example, the High-Quality Teaching study examined elementary students and what the teachers do to help their students succeed in reading and mathematics. The study found that certain factors including curriculum coverage, pacing the curriculum, and practicing for test began to be what teachers focused on more when several policy directives progressively commanded practice, particularly in schools vulnerable of not meeting adequate yearly progress (Valli). A policy environment frequently results in teachers feeling overwhelmed. Therefore, it is no surprise that teachers began to concentrate on teaching to the test.

Not only do standardized test put pressure on educators, standardized tests are an inaccurate way to measure the performance of teachers or professors. This chart shows student test performance is profoundly related to child

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Proponents see standardized testing as a way of making testing more efficient and effective by minimizing cost and increasing people’s accountability for their performance in the system. Opponents on the other hand argue that the systems has limitations based on its very nature on what can be tested and as a result of these standards needing to be met sacrifice some very important aspects of students education experience as well as force onto students and teachers a one size fits all model that has failed to deliver on its promises. After having reviewed all the evidence in detail it becomes clear to me that standardized testing is not an effective system for educating students and does more bad than good

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If teachers did not have to spend so much of their time focused on covering each topic that the state will test on, they would be able to create a safe space for students to try, fail, and ultimately love to learn. Sadly, this is not the

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Instead, the boss will present a problem and expect its employees to come up with solutions to this problem , anticipated to be presented for discussion later that week. It is expected, in whatever career, to know simple skills like problem solving and even how to write a well-educated report based on research. Many schools have switched over to standardized testing as an accurate measure of a student’s, teacher, and a school’s success. However, evidence shows that standardized tests lead to stress, most importantly,

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Standard testing is a very controversial and important subject because it deals with the progression of the American education system. The practice of these assessments has been highly scrutinized not only for the way it has changed the format of classrooms, but also for its accuracy, pressure, and abundance. In 2001, standardized testing became federally mandated through the No Child Left Behind Act by former president George Bush Jr. According to research from the Council of the Great City Schools, students have been taking “an average of 113 tests from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade” (K. Hefling). These numbers have increased to the point where parents have opted for their children to not attend standardized exams.

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Discussion Post- Chapter 7- High stakes testing Claim: High stakes testing is an extremely problematic political issue within the education system because it holds all students to the same standards regardless of disabilities or disadvantages , it encourages educators to teach strictly on information that relates to the tests, and it can have major consequences for schools across the country that are unable to make Adequete Yearly Progress (AYP). Evidence: The Learning to Teach Edition Nine textbook outlines key disadvantages to high stakes testing. Although the textbook does consider some of the advantages, which include a focus of attention on the achievement of students and providing information on areas where students may need to improve,

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As Moon, Brighton and Callahan (2002) have noted, more than 75% of teachers spend more time on test related material than they would if there were no tests involved. In fact, if information isn’t going to be on the test, there’s a chance that the information won’t get covered at all (2002). While educators agree that hands-on activities, incorporating art projects, and group directed literature workshops are essential to improving educational quality, teachers feel that they need to teach in formats similar to those on the test, which include rote memorization and worksheets (Moon, Brighton, and Callahan, 2002). Even in schools where teachers and administrators downplay the importance of standardized testing, saying they don’t count it as important, they often continue to carve out time in the school year for test prep. Grinell and Rabin state that the school they observed for their research was such a school (2013).

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Introduction Standardized tests may be used for a wide variety of educational purposes. For example, they may be used to determine a young child’s readiness for kindergarten, identify students who need special-education services or specialized academic support, place students in different academic programs or course levels, or award diplomas and other educational certificates. Thesis Statement Standardized tests should not be eliminated completely, but should rather be evaluated in addition to other factors such as grades, extracurricular activities, and volunteer hours. This would take pressure off of students during standardized tests, allow colleges to see how well-rounded the students are, and give students who are better in other areas

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After New York City’s reading and math scores plummeted in 2010, a large number of schools imposed extra measures to avoid being closed down, including daily two and half hour preparatory sessions and test practice on vacation days (procon.org) With tests increasing in difficulty and length, some schools spend more than quarter of the academic instruction period, along with days during vacations preparing for annual tests. Correspondingly, the pressure and responsibility teachers experience have inclined significantly. High levels of stress not only declines teaching high-order thinking, which is useful in preparing students for advanced grade levels, but also encourages teachers to replace good teaching methods with rote learning. On the other hand, the blame simply cannot be placed upon teachers, as their tenure depends on student success in standardized tests. As the Center of Education Policy Executive, Maria Ferguson, elaborates, “They’re clearly frustrated and they’re clearly feeling overwrought and asked to do a lot” (USAToday.com).

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This is why we have standardized testing(1). To add on, people say that teachers have to “teach the test” or teach what the students need to know. This causes teachers to do this because their job depends on it. Yes, teachers should teach the students what they need to know for the test, it is part of their job(2). If the school or teacher isn’t, then the teacher gets fired, or the school gets shut

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Although this may sound, effective the NCLB discredits this notion by allowing almost all states now to receive waivers that allow them to miss key elements of the law without any punishments. Moreover, opponents in favor of the law may agree that the increased testing has created an environment where teachers teach to the exam eliminating unneeded materials. If you believe more rigor means more, or better, learning the reality is harder tests do not make kids smarter. Unfortunately, the love of teaching and learning is being diminished by the drills and worksheets used to get ready for “the big test”. The idea of using standardized testing to evaluate student academic performance is not new, and as of yet has shown no measurable increase in student performance.

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31 Jan. 2017.) Teaching students how to take test does not teach them the things they need, to be prepared for everyday adult life. Which is not helping prepare them for their future adult lives. Also Test scores are used to reward or punish schools and

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In 2001, the President of the United State of America, George W. Bush, proposed legislation to start the “No Child Left Behind” act. The legislation was designed and written to attempt to aid children in disadvantaged communities and to reduce inequalities that existed within the public school system. Once the legislation was put into action later in 2001, the culture of primary and secondary education was altered drastically. The education system created a whole new means for assessing progress of students, teachers, and school districts as a whole. The main change came through the large increase of standardized testing.

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(2) How do teacher prepare children to take standardized test.? Getting student ready for testing, teacher must prepare instruction that not only prepare students for testing, but they must also make sure that the state standard is being met. Accordingly, to Hollingworth (2007) as stated in the text, there are five ways to prepare student for testing. (1) Teacher adjust their instructional program with the state’s curriculum to make sure they are teaching what is on the test; (2) They also set goals for student and record their progress; (3) They give the student reading and writing activities to help

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Statewide testing can put an enormous amount of pressure on teachers to ensure their students do well and are successful in the future. This pressure can lead to a focus on test preparation, rather than meaningful learning experiences that the students need. Additionally, teachers may feel pressured to “teach the test” which can lead to the narrowing of the curriculum the students are on and lose their track of

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(Stephens) In Florida, teachers spend much more time preparing students for tests rather than imparting knowledge. This results in narrowing down the curriculum as subjects such as social studies, science, etc. are pushed aside to make time for test preparations. Thus, students are only learning tricks and strategies to pass the tests. Moreover, students in need of special assistance are neglected and left behind.

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