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The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing

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After analyzing the three interviews I conducted, each interviewee had different thoughts and applications to standardized tests. I want to start off by stating what each of my participants believes about standardized tests. Sara stated that “too much time is spent on studying for these tests” (interviewee #1, 1). She also said that as a teacher she wanted her “students to LOVE history, sometimes I feel that that got lost in the desire to have them all pass” (interviewee #1,1). Mary’s opinion read, “I don’t think that it is fair because a simple test shouldn’t judge your whole intelligence” (interviewee #2, 2). Rider’s opinion is that they are “great in theory, but poorly executed (interviewee #3, 3). The main theme that was presented throughout all the research I have attained is that standardized tests are not the best option to using …show more content…

Not a single one said yes. Sara stated that “testing now is out of hand” (interviewee #1, 1). Rider, another of my interviewees stated, “tests are necessary, but not a test that is designed to fail” (interviewee #3, 3). Furthermore, I asked the participants to state flaws within standardized tests if any found. I made it clear to them in how I stated my question that there may not be any flaws. I did not want to allude to the conclusion that there are flaws in standardized tests. This question was designed to see if taking standardized test is a perfect way to analyze students’ merit. Two of the participants states that a flaw found in standardized tests is that they are timed. They both believe that some students need more time that what is allotted to them and they it puts more pressure than what they may already have (interviewee #1, interviewee #2). In addition, two of my participants said that when they hear the word test they tie it with of negative feeling (interviewee #1, interviewee

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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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Standardized testing (SATs), in the United States has been present for years and has caused plenty of teachers, students, parents, and other individuals who are informed about it to have different perspectives and opinions on it. Before doing my research on the different opinions people had on standardized tests, I always believed they were encouraged by professors and school facilities. As a student myself and on the behalf of other students, standardized tests were always perceived to be stressful and unjust. Test taking was never a strength of mine especially if the test was timed because it just added more pressure to answer the questions quick. In high school, my teachers never discussed how they felt towards the SATs, which made

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Standardized testing has become a very controversial topic amongst the nation. There are two sides, one that agrees that these tests are doing well for students and school officials, and another that argues that these tests are hurting the students taking them and should be put to a stop. Norman R. Augustine wrote an article for the need of standardized testing, and Jessie B. Ramey States the ways that the tests are impairing the learning capability of the students. Norman uses three arguments that people opposing the standardized test would most often use.

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One of the biggest flaws is standardized testing has not improved student achievement. " Despite using them for several decades, policymakers and educators do not yet know how to use test-based incentives to consistently generate positive effects on achievement and to improve education." So if these tests aren’t improving our students, then why do we have them? I believe we need to change the tests or improve them somehow so that we do see some sort of improvement. Tests are very crucial to education because they show what a student knows, if we took these tests out completely then we would have no idea if students are improving or declining.

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Although standardized testing has its cons, it also has pros. For example, Two important things Standardized testing provides is the ability to see students weak areas and progress. Although having the ability to see students weak areas may sound like a good thing, it really isn’t. The ability to see weak areas is moreso a benefit to educators when teaching students so they know what to help students with and fix so students can improve in these areas. But, teachers don’t really help students one on one rather as one big group of up to 30+ students at times.

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Americans for Educational Testing Reform has criticized the organizations for collecting millions in profits while maintaining the non-profit status and avoiding federal taxes. The people that are creating these tests are not even educators. Thinking quite simply, the people who work most closely with kids would hypothetically be the most likely to understand the limits of standardized tests. Support for testing seems to grow as you move away from the students, going from teacher to principal to school board member to state board member, state legislator, and governor. Those for whom classroom visit are essentially non-existent are most likely to be big fans of testing.

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I think standardized test really help you recall everything you 've learned about. I think students take standardized test because it helps them remember everything they have studied about. The purpose is so they don 't forget what they were taught. I think they can be useful for helping you with future things you will learn about. I don 't think there are problems with standardized test I think they are good for refreshing your learning skills.

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Argument against Standardized Tests Standardized testing is one of the most controversial and highly debated topics in the United States today. These tests are commonly used to measure the students’ academic achievements and act as yardstick for teachers’ effectiveness in academic delivery. A typical student sits for at least “112 compulsory standardized tests between pre-kindergarten classes and 12th grade” (Layton). Proponents of standardized testing believe that the practice provides accurate measurements of student performance and teachers effectiveness.

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Certainly, some people say that standardized testing is the only way to determine growth and achievement within students. But, these tests don’t usually provide an entire measure of educational attainment. They don’t give attributes such as a sense of wonder, leadership, compassion, curiosity, and critical thinking. Daniel Koretz, a psychometrician stated, “…tests can measure only a portion of the goals of education, which are necessarily broader and more inclusive than the test could possibly be”(humbleisd.net). Standardized tests can at best only measure if a student is good at their core classes.

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There are people that believe that standardized testing is beneficial for students and an effective way of evaluating the student’s performances as well as the performance of the educators. Other than hearing my parent’s share how they feel about standardized testing, I have honestly never heard the opinions of other people. Regarding the topic of public opinion, a man named Richard P. Phelps wrote a book titled, Defending Standardized Testing. This article is about the study of various polls about the beliefs people have regarding standardized testing over time. His findings show a majority of parents actually believe that these tests are beneficial and should be administered (Phelps, 2005).

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In large it seems like there is a mountain of opinion and evidence against standardized testing suggesting that we did not and our children are not benefiting from this high-stake testing. The purpose of this study is to determine if we should just once and for all do away with the antiquated testing and move to a better more improved form of learning that is not based and limited to what is on these tests. When these tests first came into being in the early 1800s, they seemed to hold a place then to help further assist us in the growing need for education about the booming population. However it did not take long for these tests to be used for purposes it was not intended for. Even though we have advanced as a society we are still stuck in trying to revamp these tests to fit our modern needs

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These people see standardized testing as inaccurate and a false way of measuring academic achievement. That is only a few of the many things seen as cons for standardized testing. Along with that the tests fail to measure such important aspects such as creativity and critical thinking skills. Studies indicate that standardized tests reward superficial thinking and might discourage more interpretive thinking. Next, as a result of the small fragment of knowledge that is tested, standardized tests capture a incomplete picture of student achievement.

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A standardized test, according to W. James Popham of ASCD.org, is “any examination that is administered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner.” In standardized testing, examinees are instructed to precisely answer a specific set of questions, which are usually multiple-choices. Although standardized testing is believed to be an objective method to grade students, administers should understand that these tests are not only a waste of time, but also a waste of money. Standardized testing is irrelevant to a student’s education because it is an unreliable way to measure a student’s knowledge, causes stress, and hinders a student’s overall learning potential.

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