Against Standardized Testing Research Paper

All in all, standardized testing does not improve student achievement or education. Increased testing has not shown positive improvement in student achievement and education quality. Standardized testing only focuses on math and language arts. As a result, it narrows the curricula taught in many

Would you like to take a test that is unfair, expensive, and unreliable? Chances are you already have. Standardized testing in schools is not only bad for the students, but also bad for our country’s future. Some might think standardized testing is a good thing, because it is the only way to measure all students the same across the country. However, this thought is wrong for many reasons.

“There is something deeply hypocritical in a society that holds an inner-city child only eight years old "accountable" for her performance on a high-stakes standardized exam but does not hold the high officials of our government accountable for robbing her of what they gave their own kids six or seven years before,” quote Jonathan Kozol. As this quote apptly states many children are often robbed of simple childhood pleasures by standardized testing. These strenuous tests should be cut back to the absolute minimum. Standardized tests should not be required because they provide unnecessary stress, are often inaccurate because of computer and human error, and some students, particularly minorities, are at a clear disadvantage.

Standardized testing does have its place in school. Often times it is misused and overused. “Measuring what and how well students learn is an essential building block in the process of strengthening and improving our nation's schools.

Although the blame cannot all be placed on the administration, the problem with standardized testing itself stems from government involvement. The introduction of the No Child Left Behind Act led to more and more standardized testing. The Act was issued in “an attempt to build an accountability system” (Cox). If every school in the nation was held to the same standard, the government would be able to dissect where students and schools are struggling and where they are succeeding. Ideally, every school would not only be held to the same standard, but every school would also be fulfilling the expectations set out. Unfortunately, with all the competition and hardships we naturally face as an economy and a society, it is difficult to envision an ideal situation becoming reality. If schools were scrutinized in more efficient ways, it's possible the gap between the highest and lowest schools would be smaller. However, the method the government uses to gather data is testing, and this has led to figures that are shocking. In the US “a typical student takes 112 mandated standardized tests between pre-kindergarten classes and 12th grade” (Layton). “The Assistant Secretary of Education in the first Bush administration, Diane Ravitch, became known for her push to establish national standards for K-12” (Erickson). She admits that test scores have become the end goal for politicians, and not actually teaching. She reveals “Test scores are not being used for diagnostic purposes but as a clumsy and myopic way to evaluate (and penalize) American schools, teachers, and students”

Do standardized tests destroy schools and fail prepare students for the real world? Our teacher’s spend time on memorization of specific words that will be on the state test, not vocabulary building exercises. They have pep rallies and time spent away from lesson plans to learning cheers on how the students are going to do well on the test. Excess teacher and administration time is spent figuring out game plans, not for teaching students, but for figuring out how to increase test scores. Meanwhile, when a student is truly excited about exploring a topic in depth, they are shut down because there is no time to learn, only time to work on memorizing items that might be on these test. Standardized tests waste classroom time and do

Other people think that after the tests it messes with your schedule and you learning ability.The standardized tests help because teachers say when you do little brain activities you don't have to think that hard and have a brain gain because you already have it. And it motivates students to excel and to better in school."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. (Source 6)The standardized test helps the teachers teach the important basic skills and harder stuff not the simple, easy stuff. And so they can be all at the same place and so everybody isn't at different places so they all can learn the same thing so it's not confusing.“We can see whether a child is at grade level and how he or she is performing relative to other children in the next class, across town and around the country.Better to prepare for college- The standardized helps you prepare for a good college because if out do the test then you will get good grades and probably will get a good scholarship and then you can pick a school and if you don't get good grades then you probably won't get a scholarship and not go to college and you probably won't have a good life as you planned. “Standardized testing allows

You know what? A great amount of students think they should take fewer standardized tests! Standardized tests take up too much time! Yes, these tests DO make it easier to see if students are doing their work, but they also make the students’ teachers confused on what their students need help on.

The current period of learning is being determined by standardized testing, and has become the main focus of many arguments within the education system. Students all over the United States are being subjected to standardized tests often throughout their years in school due to legislation that has been set by Government over the past several years. While there are many upsides to the reasons for these assessments, there are also negative effects of this. Students are expected to make a certain score on tests to get to where they want to go. It is an unfair advantage for people who can pay their way through their education. From Star

Over the years, many have debated over the fairness and reliability of standardized tests. This dispute not only impacts students, but also teachers and administrators, many of whose jobs are placed on the line when test scores come back. Some say that these tests should be done away with while others argue that they are necessary for determining knowledge gained in the classroom. Another argument for tests is that they place students that may not have the same opportunities on a level playing field. The ACT, SAT, and other similar tests are the best way to test not only content knowledge, but also students’ ability to perform under pressure, a necessary ability needed to succeed in college and the workforce.

According to a Dallas TV station investigation, “the cost to develop and administer these tests has been about $60 million-$90 million a year”. Furthermore, according to Victoria Advocate, Texas, alone, has spent $1.5 billion in the past two decades on the testing machine. This brings up the question, why is so much spent on testing? If so much money is being spent on it, why are students and teachers not seeing the supposed benefits?

“The tests may not reveal everything about how much a student has learned” (Garland 1). People who are for standardized testing believe children learn more because of them. But this is not true, it just means they know how to take tests. Standardized tests were specifically made to judge what the students are learning in the classroom. Teachers tend to just teach what’s on the test and children do not get a chance to learn about other topics. The guidelines the tests have were made by professionals to improve the curriculum while raising student achievement (ProCon 2). This is why the tests were made but I don’t believe this is

As a teacher, I believe standardized testing in the classroom is good for the students, parents, and teachers. Standardized testing allows the students to use the skills they have been taught, recall information, use higher order thinking (based upon the setup of the test), and allows them to see areas they may be weak at. For the parents, standardized test, (when results are sent home) allows them to see how their child is doing with the content that they are being taught and an idea of how their grades will be. For the teacher, standardized test gives feedback on the teacher’s instructions and activities for the content area. It helps the teacher identify students to group together. It also helps provide data for students’ performance in

I agree standardized test are not a great assessment tool to measure success of school and teachers. I feel most students get anxiety, over prepare or just don't take it as serious. The best way to hold teachers accountable while testing students maybe a monthly exam to cover what's been taught so far in the class.

Is the use of standardized testing improving education? Standardized testing is a controversial topic that has invited a great amount of debate in the United States. Many parents, students, and teachers oppose the need and reason for standardized test, while others such as myself find standardized test to be effective as it enhances student learning, monitors progress and eliminates cultural bias.