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.
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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