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Standardized Testing

In: Social Issues

Submitted By jkennedy1
Words 1198
Pages 5
The debate of standardized testing has been going on for some time now. A standardized test is any form of test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from common bank of questions, in the same way, and that is scored in a “standard” or consistent manner, which makes it possible to compare the relative performance of individual students or groups of students. While different types of tests and assessments may be “standardized” in this way, the term is primarily associated with large-scale tests administered to sizeable populations of students. Standardized tests comprise a very important role in student’s education. Many children will take at least one standardized test every year, which means many teachers will spend significant class time on test preparation. The results can reflection the teachers' efforts as well as that of the students. In some states, standardized tests are the yardstick for determining whether a child gets to progress to the next grade level. Many parents want to know the purpose of standardized tests. The answer is that these tests help evaluate the performance of students, teachers, even whole school districts. The results provide information on a child's ability to learn new material, as well as his grasp of the material he's already supposed to understand. With that information, teachers can identify areas where specific students need more attention, while officials can identify the strengths and weaknesses in the approach of a given teacher, school or school district.
Of course no test is perfect and some students have difficulty with testing in general, no matter how familiar they are with the material. Many factors can affect a child's performance. Perhaps the coursework she has studied is not represented in the testing material. Maybe she hasn't had a good breakfast or a good night's sleep.
The debate about standardized testing has been going on for quite sometime now and people are not shy about voicing their opinions, especially parents, teachers and students. Standardized tests have been a part of American education since the 1800s. Their use rapidly increased after 2002's No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandated annual testing in all 50 states. US students slipped from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st place in 2009, with a similar decline in science and no change in reading. Failures in the education system have been blamed on rising poverty levels, teacher quality, tenure policies, and increasingly on the universal use of standardized tests. When people talk about the debate with standardized testing I believe they are mostly referring to the SAT and ACT. These tests to me seem to be the most controversial parts of the subject of standardized testing because I believe it is the most important standardized test a student will take in high school.
Many people that stand in the middle of this topic believe that there are equal amounts of pros and cons. Some pros of standardized testing are standardized testing holds teachers and schools accountable. Probably the greatest benefit of standardized testing is that teachers and students are responsible for teaching students what they are required to know for these standardized tests. This is primarily because these scores become public record and teachers and schools who may not perform up to par can come under intense examination. This type of analysis can lead to the loss of job and in some cases a school can be closed or taken over by the state. Also standardized testing allows students located in various schools, districts, and even states to be compared. Without standardized testing this comparison would not be possible.
Another pro of standardized testing is that standardized tests are objective in nature. Classroom grades given by a teacher are at the very least minimally subjective in nature. These tests are often scored by computers or at the very least scored by people who do not directly know the student. These tests are developed by experts and each question undergoes a process to remove bias. Standardized testing gives teachers and administration and idea of what to teach and when they should teach it. This allows teachers to not waste as much time of the things that the students may know.
Now it is time to hear a few of the cons of standardized testing. Standardized testing evaluates a student’s performance on one particular day and does not take into account external factors. There are many people who simply do not perform well on tests. Many of these students are smart and understand the material, but it doesn’t show on the test. Many students also develop test anxiety, which may get in the way of the performance on the test. Finally, there are so many external and internal factors that play into test performance. If a student has an argument with their parents the morning of the test, chances are their focus isn’t going to be where it should be. Also if the testing area is too hot or cold, this could also get in the way.
Another con is standardized testing causes many teachers to only “teach to the tests”. This practice can hinder a student’s overall learning potential. With the stakes getting higher and higher for teachers because they are punishing teachers if their students do not perform well on these tests, this practice will only continue to increase. The reality is that makes an atmosphere that is boring and lacks creativeness, which students don’t like anyways. Teachers have such pressure to get their students ready for these exams that they neglect to teach students skills that go beyond the tests. Even some teachers could say they wish they could teach things that kids may actually use in their lives, such as how to do taxes. Instead of teaching things will use they teach us a2+b2=c2, because they know this will be on standardized tests.
Standardized testing can create a lot of stress on both educators and students. Excellent teachers quit their jobs everyday because of how much stress is on them to prepare students to perform on standardized tests and how much pressure is put on them for the students to do well on it. Students especially feel the stress when there is something meaningful tied to them. For example in Oklahoma, high school students must pass four standardized tests in various areas or they do not earn a diploma, even if their GPA was outstanding. The stress this can cause on a teenager is not healthy in any way. The students also know that when they take the SAT or ACT, that their scores on that is a huge factor on whether they get into the college they like or not.
As I said above they hire experts to get rid of bias, it may be impossible to rid tests of it altogether. There is just no way to know for certain that every child being tested has a fair amount of knowledge going into the test. So this is more of a mix of a pro and a con but all in all there is no way to remove every type of bias.

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