...roots to success is the route of Education” What effect does standardized testing have on student performance? Since the 1800’s standardized testing has been a part of the American education system, and today it’s a way of life for students. Studies have been performed to determine the effects of standardized testing on students, as well as teachers, yielding both positive and negative effects. Regardless of the effects, one thing is certain, standardized testing has been awhile for years and is not going anywhere. Cons on testing are pretty much obvious, with the first being stress, from the child as well as the teacher. As a student who has taken many standardized test, I know how stressful this experience can be. Studying all night for the test, worrying about it all day, second guessing answers I know are correct and then the wait for the results, to see how you scored against EVERY other kid in the tristate area. Tests like ACT and SAT are the most stressful, because they determine your life. What college you get and even possibly your career are on the line at the results of a test you take one day in your life. Let’s not forget these results are public record, any school and or prospective job could view them, any one could view them. Imagine not getting a job because of test scores you get when you’re a teenager in highschool. Everyday more and more stress are added to the teachers to prepare these students for this test. Many a teacher and school have come...
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...Standardized Testing Standardized testing is probably one of the most bittersweet aspects of American education. On one hand, It helps us set a baseline of where students are academically and what needs to be approved on in average. On the other, it adds a tremendous amount of stress to some students, and encourages the system to lean to a curriculum that “teaches to test”. In this essay, I will discuss the pros and cons of standardized testing and provide my personal opinions on it in the end. Standardized testing does a pretty good job of establishing a baseline of where students land and what needs to be improved on. “Standardized testing gives parents a good idea of how their children are doing as compared to students across the country and locally.”(Columbia University School and Child Care Search Service 1). This also gives us areas that need to be improved on. Another good thing about standardized testing is that it helps teachers know what material needs to be taught during the year. “Probably the greatest benefit of standardized testing is that teachers and schools are responsible for teaching students what they are required to know for these standardized tests.” (Columbia University School and Child Care Search Service 1). Standardized testing improves international rankings as...
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...Standardized Testing: Harmful to Learning Standardized Testing: Harmful to Learning Currently impressionable youth are receiving test results that may seem of little consequence to most but to them it says they are not good enough, or smart enough. Many students have received these results and felt the disappointment it can bring not only to their academic life but also how it melts into their self-esteem and self-worth. Even a teacher feeling they have failed there students, being unable to achieve certain marks knowing students will suffer not only academically but also loose funding for programs that they so desperately need or want. These negative connotations along with incidents of impropriety have come to light in the process of standardized testing in our schools across the nations. Standardized testing has created a test driven education, altering teaching strategies with a higher stress environment for not only teachers but students as well, and has great consequences for all involved if they fail to meet mandated scores. History of Testing Testing isn’t new to education yet it has changed dramatically from where it started many years ago. The history of testing dates back for many centuries for many different reasons including our military, but most are centered on education and its effectiveness as a whole. When the military introduced aptitude tests they where to help find suitable candidates for positions such as officers, and other special...
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...Annotated Bibliography for Standardized Tests Sammy North DeVry University Annotated Bibliography for Standardized Tests Everyone is affected by the strength or weakness of our educational system, from the students and their ability to succeed in college and in the workplace, to the employers who hire them—and everyone in between. Every taxpayer is a stakeholder in education, because these tests are paid for by tax dollars, and the return on investment in education is not where it should be. Standardized tests should be abolished and replaced with end-of-year subject tests because they will save time and money, lead to increased mastery of core subjects, and diminish dropout rates. Clemmitt, M. (2007, July 13). Students under stress. CQ Researcher, 17, 577–600. Retrieved from http://library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/ This article discusses the pressure that students face in public schools today. Homework has increased, as has stress caused by high-stakes standardized testing. This type of pressure results in less time for children to play, sleep, and interact with their parents. The solution is to limit the time children spend on homework, but given that American students lag behind their international peers in tests of basic subjects, decreasing schoolwork seems not to be the answer. Although Clemmitt is a journalist and not an expert on the subject, she cites many experts and authoritative sources to lend credibility to the article, including books and surveys from...
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...Standardized Testing Defining an individual’s ability and a school’s worth because of standardized testing is nonsensical and erroneous. However, this is what goes on every year nation wide since the No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law in 2001. The data has come in and it can be clearly read that standardized tests do not work. These tests are holding some children back and have let the United States slip behind in education compared to the rest of the world. The biggest counter argument being that standardized testing takes objectivity out of student results. Standardized tests are an antiquated idea that has hurt more than helped. The No Child Left Behind Act was signed into law 2001 by then President George W. Bush. The Act...
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...Standardized Testing Should Not Take Place in Kindergarten Kourtney C. Robles-Stewart Rasmussen College English Composition G124/ENC1101 Section 04 Teresa Kelly March 4, 2016 Abstract Standardized testing in kindergarten has become a very controversial topic across the nation. While there may be advantages of implementing standardized tests in schools, the disadvantages seem to be never-ending. The following paper will analyze the effects standardized testing can have on children of all ages with an emphasis on kindergarteners. It will look into the factors that impact test scores and how the tests compare to normal classroom activities and behaviors. A brief look into the role the United States government has played in standardized testing across the nation will also be covered. Standardized Testing Should Not Take Place in Kindergarten It’s a normal Monday morning when a mother is getting her, normally, very eager five-year-old ready for school. Her daughter has never missed a day and has always been overly-excited to get back to class after the weekend off, however, today is not the same. The little girl who once loved going to school to see her teacher and friends, now wants nothing to do with it, she simply doesn’t want to go. Her reasoning, “it’s not fun”. Unfortunately, this scenario is becoming more common across the nation as curriculum modifications are being made by educators to prepare young students for standardized tests. Since "No Child Left Behind"...
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...Standardized Testing and Its Effects: An Annotated Bibliography The first standardized test was administered by Horace Mann in the nineteenth century as as a result of the concern with the educational reform in America (Gallagher, 2003). Although the students’ results were disappointing, this lead to the movement of using standardized tests throughout curriculum. In spite of the controversy, the popularity of this form of testing has increased greatly over time. The debate on standardized tests has been an ongoing issue throughout history. While some believe that these tests are an unjust, incorrect way to measure intelligence, others suggest that standardized testing is a vital part of the educational process. In order to gather an unbiased...
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...Results of Standardized Tests The main purposes of standardized tests are to maintain an equal education level across the country and have that level increase to better compete against other nations across the globe. In order to compete with global averages, it was believed that standardized tests were the most effective way in increasing the United States average. Therefore, a country heavily adopted in testing students with these standardized tests should have a steady increase in educational levels throughout the years, yet results show a different story. As a matter of fact standardized tests have not shown a beneficial increase in test scores but rather a slow but steady decrease in scores for some students. With these results in mind,...
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...Testing in schools has always been common; teachers need a way to arbitrate if students are understanding and obtaining the knowledge being taught. However, a different type of test is becoming prominent in school systems. Standardized testing, examinations administered and scored in a standard manner (7), are taking over the school systems. Standardized tests administered to students are either aptitude tests or achievement tests. Aptitude tests predict student’s performance, like the common ACT and SAT that colleges frequently use; achievement tests evaluate teacher and school effectiveness (7). Although standardized tests are becoming significant in school curriculum, the results do not accurately represent student or teacher abilities....
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...favor of standardized tests. Aspects include: o Standardized tests are less time-consuming than more complicated assessments that need personal time with every student. o Standardized tests are easier to administer. There are explicit directions given and each student is given the same directions in the same way. o They are easier to grade, machines do it for us. o Very easy to use a computer to track progress and levels of achievement for different groups of students in different subjects. (Holloway) • Objectivity-It is very easy for a test to be objective, it doesn't have emotion or moods or biases. When giving more personal assessments, it is very possible that the teacher or person assessing the student can let their emotions or biases affect how they score that student. • Instigator of change-Standardized tests can be a powerful tool to change classroom and school practices (Gardner). We can use testing to tell us whether we have a problem (Gerstner). When we identify a problem in a classroom, school, or district we can then take active steps in correcting that problem. In addition, achievement data from tests provide teachers with valuable information to improve classroom and student learning (Gardner) • Accountability-Setting high expectations for students and holding them accountable for the same standards, leads to achievement gains. High-stakes testing forces students to take education seriously. (Nathan) • Standardization-Holding all students accountable...
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...Annotated Bibliography for Standardized Testing Perry Barr Devry University Annotated Bibliography for Standardized Testing : I was always told that one bad apple will spoil the whole bunch; which is true. Standardized Testing should be used to find the child with a learning disability and work with that child. Not to grade the whole school and that school gets a poor grade. That’s like taking a bunch of apples and throwing them out just because a couple of them were spoiled. A person needs to work with the good parts of the apple and make apple pie. Improve the child by adding things that will take that child higher and increase their ability to learn. Gregory J. Cizek, "Unintended Consequences of High Stakes Testing - P-12,” Educational Measurement: Issues and Practice, Sep. 2001 Susan Ohanian, "Collateral Vomitage,” www.susanohanian.org, Mar. 14, 2002 Standardized testing causes severe stress in younger students. According to education researcher Gregory J. Cizek, anecdotes abound “illustrating how testing... produces gripping anxiety in even the brightest students, and makes young children vomit or cry, or both.” On Mar. 14, 2002, the Sacramento Bee reported that “test-related jitters, especially among young students, are so common that the Stanford-9 exam comes with instructions on what to do with a test booklet in case a student vomits on it.” Cizek is an education researcher and I believe his studies are in depth to the topic I am documenting. Assessment:...
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...causes stress. The most frequently cited reason for this stress is school related and often out of the teenager’s control. Teachers assign them “absurd quantities of mostly pointless homework that force students to work a second shift after having spent all day in school” (Kohn “Reconsider Attitudes”). A study done by Mediamark Research Inc. found that 60.2% of teens surveyed are stressed all the time or sometimes, and that 72.4% of the teens surveyed are stressed because they had a lot of school work ("Teens Want to Enjoy" 2-3). American teenagers are not the only ones with school related stress. In a survey done in Hong Kong, students were asked about what stressed them out, and school and standardized testing were the top two answers, with 25 of 40 and 27 of 40 students agreeing that those things stressed them out (“Are Teenagers Too Stressed?” 8). However, fretting about standardized testing isn’t just limited to teenagers in Hong Kong. It stresses American students out so much that it is not uncommon for a student to vomit during testing (Kalish). While these experts and studies have suggested that schoolwork and standardized tests are the specific problems that teens face, some teens might not agree, and it is necessary to find out; for this reason, my survey asks what is stressing teens out. While vomiting during a test is certainly a side effect of stress, there are many others as well. Teens experience both long term and short term problems from their stress. Some of...
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...Standardized tests measure the knowledge and/or skills of a students. In the test there are many multiple choice and some short answer questions in math and science. In today's society, standardized testing has been a highly debated and well-argued subject among people. While some believe that standardized testing is necessary for cultural advancement, others believe that there is too much emphasis on the standardized test scores. Standardized testing has not improved student achievement, Studies show that standardized tests are an unreliable measure of student performance and they measure only a small portion of what makes education meaningful. In classrooms all over the nation, students take this standardized test, and teachers expect a positive result, but this is not one of those situations. Standardized testing has not been proven to improve student achievement in classrooms. An example for this is, the National Research Council report found no evidence that are test-based incentive programs are...
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...Should public schools continue standardized testing? The United States government implemented the 2001 No Child Left Behind Act (NCLBA), signed into law on January 8, 2002 by President George W. Bush (US Government Printing Office, 2002). This Act requires states to develop assessments in basic skills. In order to receive federal school funding, states must give these assessments to all students at select grade levels. The Act does not assert a national achievement standard. Each state develops its own standards (US Government Printing Office, 2002). Since the creation of this act, various debates challenge the practical use of the standardized tests. The debate presented for this paper is an argument, “Should public schools continue standardized testing?” The favorable arguments are that the standardized tests are fair, backed by parents, improves the quality of the curriculum, and the usage of standardized tests outside of the public education system. The arguments against standardized testing are stereotyping poor performing students, testing anxiety, low morale with teachers, and basing teacher evaluations on student performance. Additionally, ethical, moral and legal issues are identified in relation to standardized testing and their effects on high-stakes testing. The purpose of this paper is to analyze the given arguments, both for and against standardized testing from different sources and to conclude with a consensus of the arguments with the authors of this...
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...formally or informally. An example of an informal test would be a reading test administered by a parent to a child. An example of a formal test would be a final examination administered by a teacher in a classroom or an I.Q. test administered by a psychologist in a clinic. Formal testing often results in a grade or a test score.[1] A test score may be interpreted with regards to a norm or criterion, or occasionally both. The norm may be established independently, or by statisticalanalysis of a large number of participants. A standardized test is any test that is administered and scored in a consistent manner to ensure legal defensibility.[2]Standardized tests are often used in education, professional certification, psychology (e.g., MMPI), the military, and many other fields. A non-standardized test is usually flexible in scope and format, variable in difficulty and significance. Since these tests are usually developed by individual instructors, the format and difficulty of these tests may not be widely adopted or used by other instructors or institutions. A non-standardized test may be used to determine the proficiency level of students, to motivate students to study, and to provide feedback to students. In some...
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