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Arguments Against Standardized Testing

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Is standardized testing an accurate way to measure student success in the classroom? This seems to be the biggest question when it comes to understanding the issue behind standardized testing today. Some people, like Dr. Gail Goss, believe that “such testing gives the teacher important diagnostic information about what each child is learning in relation to what he has been taught”, while comparing that student to others all over the country. However, some leaders in education, like President of Hampshire College Jonathan Lash, believe that standardized testing in no way shows the true success of a student because it simply “reduce[s] education to the outcomes of a test, [and makes] the only incentive for schools and students to innovate in …show more content…
These students know that a high score on the ACT or SAT can change their life in major ways by allowing them to get into a very academically competitive school, receive more scholarships, and/or receiving recognition like becoming a National Merit Scholar, which leads to even more scholarships. An interview that I conducted with my best friend and roommate Kelsey Hackerott gave me a lot of information about what standardized testing is like for many students all over the country, and allowed me to see another side of standardized testing because students are not often the ones to write about the details of standardized tests. When asked about her experience with the ACT, Kelsey said that standardized tests “can help or hinder you in extreme ways, depending on how good you are at taking tests”, and I believe this is what many students believe in our education system today. Kelsey also talked about how she “struggled with anxiety during [her] testing experiences because [she] was aware of how crucial it was for [her] to do well on the ACT”. If a student has had preparation and has been taught the skills needed, like time management and handling stress, to take a test like the ACT or SAT successfully, both Kelsey and myself believe that they have a much better chance …show more content…
This act was made as a reauthorization of the Elementary and Secondary Education Act and the people, like former president George W. Bush, who helped to make it happen, are very large stakeholders in the matter of standardized testing. These people helped to create this act in the United States education system, and they play a vital role in the way that standardized testing has become the primary method of analyzing student success in America today. This act, the laws surrounding it, and the people upholding it help to ensure that students can get the preparation and skills they need to be successful in the classroom. When a school, or group of students seems to be doing poorly on the ACT or SAT, the Board of Education and other administrators who are in charge of keeping schools accountable, must step in to make it possible for those children to have a quality education compared to other students all over the nation. These agencies include the ACT and SAT companies

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