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The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing

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The tradition of standardized testing in an educational setting got its start in 1845 when American educational reformer Horace Mann proposed Boston Public School students demonstrate their knowledge of learned material through written tests. By moving to standardized written testing from the accustomed annual oral exam Mann aimed to provide students the opportunity to prove their abilities through the same benchmarks across as many dimensions as possible (Gallagher, 2003).
Administration of standardized exams began to gain significant momentum in American schools after the formation of the College Board after the end of World War I. Using the Army’s Alpha and Beta tests as a model for schools, the College Board worked to standardize the …show more content…

NCLB has changed the landscape of teaching and learning; many have cited the government mandated testing as conducive to a narrowing of curriculums due to the pressure put on educators to prepare students for exams, a practice commonly referred to as teaching to the test. In part to federal and state summative exams students in grades 3 through 9 take 10 exams throughout the school year, averaging around 15 to 16 hours according to a report from the Center for American Progress (Lazarin, 2014). In addition to disrupting learning, frequent standardized testing is shown to cause high levels of stress and negative effects on students’ emotional and physical well-being during pivotal stages of emotional development and maturity (Abeles, …show more content…

Many argue such tests take a one-size-fits all approach that lack the ability to deliver accurate results and no matter how well crafted will never be a solution for all issues. Standardized exams lack the ability and quality to adequately measure such a large and diverse population presented within the U.S. student body and is based on false assumptions that compound biases and inequalities. Opponents argue testing doesn’t really even the playing field for all students as was originally intended by NCLB. Standardized testing hurts students from disadvantaged backgrounds because while in being given the same exams, students from more affluent backgrounds have the means to hire personal tutors and take expensive test prep courses to specifically prepare for test (Neill & Medina,

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804 Words | 4 Pages

Ever since the first American schools were established in the 17th century, millions of students have been enrolled in the public schooling system since then. However, since the years have passed, the main focus on schooling has been shifted. What once was a place to learn and build upon already acquired knowledge has turned into a setting of extravagant tests. The American public schooling system’s prioritization of standardized testing wastes classroom time, does not teach students the required life skills they need to succeed in life, causes unhealthy stress and is not an accurate measurement of student progress.

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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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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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“Standardized tests are unfair and discriminatory, because students with diverse backgrounds and skill levels are expected to answer questions written for the white, abled majority. " I think this point is very hard to argue with because if these tests are written for the white students, then how are students with a different background or diversity supposed to do well? One improvement could be that maybe there isn’t just one test for the whole country or the state, but instead there are multiple tests for multiple regions. Certain regions get certain tests because of the situation they are in. This makes sense and I believe it would improve the scores and even if it didn’t

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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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Standardized testing is a way to determine the potential of the student and the academic achievement. The American students are ranked against others around the world, and the number that America is in is not encouraging. The tests are not fair, and their use is producing a narrow curriculum and this kind of tests only limits the chances of the nation to produce qualified professionals like innovators. Standardized testing does not help the American students because the tests do not give the true potential and the ability of the student. The tests are given to the students to determine how well they have prepared, but this does not portray the true potential of the students.

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1691 Words | 7 Pages

Although standardized testing has been around for many years, it has become an increasing problem within the past decade. Many teachers, students, and parents feel administering these tests waste time in the classroom and add unnecessary stress onto children. Much of pressure is put

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Even if the tests were unfair it would not be as much of a problem if the tests helped us at all. Despite the tests having been in place for over 50 years, their implementation has not increased America’s scores on an international level. But of course, some are going to disagree as people always do. Those who disagree say that the tests help to determine who will do well in college. An edited volume, Defending Standardized Testing, edited by Richard Phelps, was created on the basis that standardized tests have benefits for students and teachers.

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Standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid-1800s. Their use became mandated after 2001’s No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB), which mandated annual testing in all 50 states for student’s grades three through eight. This act aimed to hold all public schools to a high standard of education, measured by their student’s scores in statewide-standardized tests. High-stakes achievement tests have provoked the most controversy.

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Opponents to the abolition of standardized tests legitimize by saying “"Teaching to the test" can be a good thing because it focuses on essential content and skills, eliminates time-wasting activities that don't produce learning gains, and motivates students to excel.” (Gesell Institute, 2010) Moreover, standardized test do not specify how good or bad is the learning capacity of a student. Standardized tests have a standard grading manner. Just like all schools are not the same, students are all different as well.

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“The average student in America’s big-city schools takes some 112 mandatory standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and the end of twelfth grade - an average of about eight a year.” (Strauss) FairTest explains who is most often hurt by these testing practices; students from low-income and minority-group backgrounds, English language learners, and students with disabilities, are more likely to be denied diplomas, retained in grade, placed in a lower track, or unnecessarily put in remedial education programs. There are hundreds of articles and research showing these harmful effects of the overload of testing in U.S. public schools. Harmful testing policies also raise questions about it hindering teaching practices. All research points

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1029 Words | 5 Pages

Standardized testing has become a big part of students’ lives in the United States in every states(excluding 5 of them). Ever since the No Child Left Behind Act in 2001, students starting from grades 3 until 8 are required to take a reading and math standardized test. According to the Huffington Post, $1.7 billion are spent every year to fund these tests. This is a large sum of money spent on testing, testing that is very disadvantageous. Standardized testing creates stress for everyone, students, teacher, and parents.

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1454 Words | 6 Pages

Standardized tests have been an integral component of the American educational system since the mid-1800s. The use of standardized tests went through the roof with the creation of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) of 2002, which made it mandatory for all 50 states to hold annual standardized tests. Standardized tests are defined by W. James Popham, former president of the American Educational Research Association, as “any test that’s administered, scored, and interpreted in a standard, predetermined manner. These tests often consist of multiple choice questions which are able to be quickly scored by an automated test scoring machine. I do not believe that standardized tests are improving education in America because they are detrimental

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1435 Words | 6 Pages

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