The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing

The accountability of teachers has become muddled since the idea of standardized testing became the number on issue. Teachers are now assessed, not on merit, but how well their students can take a test. This has caused teachers to become lazy and only teach to the test, so they can get money. Teachers no longer seem to focus on if the students learn and enjoy school as long as they do good on the state testing. This is a major issue and for these reasons I believe teacher assessment and countability needs changing. Throughout my school career I have been to a private school, public school, and a charter school. Out of all three experience I have to say that the best learning environment was when the idea of taking a state test was not being

According to Douglas B. Reeves, author of Accountability for Learning (2004), “the proponents of high-stakes testing are wrong when they presume that they can evaluate teaching effectiveness solely on the basis of test scores” (p. 49). Essentially, teachers can not be evaluated based on how well students can take a test. Although teachers believe this is all that matters, they need to learn to become accountable for themselves. They need to understand that they are teaching students who need to learn. Teachers should not put so much pressure on students when this test does not actually do anything for the students, all it does it show how well a teacher has taught, or how well a students can take a test. If an educated professional pushed a state standardized test all year long students will not learn, they will only learn how to take and study for one test. It is time that teachers become accountable for what they are teaching. They need to stop putting so much pressure on students for their personal benefits. A teacher needs to start being accountable not only for a test score but for everything else in the classroom. Reeves (2004) says it best when he writes, "their [teachers] value is determined by the performance of students on those tests; the teachers’ actions in the classroom, their design of curriculum, and the decisions of their leaders are all irrelevant” (p. 15). Teachers are responsible for not only the test, but also their actions, what is taught and how it is taught, and deciding whether they will follow others or make their own path. In order to make a difference, teachers first need to become