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To Question Or Not To Test Persuasive Essay

1194 Words5 Pages

Ben Novotny
Mrs. Crowe
Lang & Comp.
8 November 2015
To Test or Not to Test, That is not the Question
Despite being citizens of one of the most socially, politically, and economically advanced countries in the world, American students are not prepared for college and careers. According to national ACT test results, 25% of students fell short of the college readiness benchmark while 60% did not meet requirements in two of the four tested subject areas (Sheehy, 1). This education epidemic is a serious problem that can only be remedied by change. The purpose of education is to prepare students for the real world in which they have access to the plethora of facts gathered by centuries of human research. Here, they are tasked with making connections …show more content…

Students are spending the vast majority of their time taking tests. They spend countless hours memorizing facts and preparing for arbitrary assessments that are not effectively preparing them for their future. Countless studies have shown how serious of a problem this is. However, if test questions were changed to force students to make connections between the information they know instead of forcing them to recite random, memorized facts and test takers were allowed to use the Internet while taking tests, this problem could be eliminated. By providing students with the vast amount of facts and research that they would have access to in the workplace, they instead are forced to focus on critical thinking skills by analyzing this information to find connections.

Works Cited Page

Belkin, Douglas. "Test Finds College Graduates Lack Skills for White-Collar Jobs." WSJ. Wall Street Journal, 16 Jan. 2015. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
"Critical Thinking Skills." AMA (2015): 5. American Management Association. 2012. Web. 9 Nov. 2015.
Sheehy, Kelsey. "High School Students Not Prepared for College, Career." US News. U.S.News & World Report, 22 Aug. 2012. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
"Is There Too Much Testing in the Public Schools?" PBS. PBS, 24 Sept. 2014. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
Kamenetz, Anya. "Testing: How Much Is Too Much?" NPR. NPR, 17 Nov. 2014. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
Merriam-Webster. Merriam-Webster, n.d. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.
"PISA in Focus." (2015): 5. Oecd.org. OECD, 2014. Web. 09 Nov. 2015.

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