...Standardized Testing: An Ineffective Way to Measure Students’ Intelligence High-stakes testing turns many classrooms and schools into prep centers rather than offering rich, engaging, well-rounded instruction. Rote and narrow instruction bores and alienates students, making them tune out and feel they are little more than their scores (FairTest, 2004). High schools exit exams (FairTest, 2008) push many thousands of students out of school. As a result of these factors, urban graduation rates have decreased. Some students see no realistic option other than dropping out; some are deliberately pushed out or fail the tests. Either way, these young people are much more likely to end up in trouble or in prison. ("How Testing Feeds the School-to-Prison Pipeline") According to Peter D. Hart, a research associate for the Association of American Colleges and Universities, standardized tests unfairly measure students’ intelligence and academic performance. Therefore, the tests must be changed drastically or abandoned completely. Educators and parents have vocalized their view on the rising number of standardized tests the government has implemented in efforts to improve education in American schools. In light of the No Child Left Behind legislation under President George W. Bush, the government administers more and more tests to children, predominantly in lower grade levels ("Standardized Testing"). Along with No Child Left Behind, opponents have shown their disapproval of these...
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...Standardized testing was drastically changed in The United States in 2002 when congress passed the No Child Left Behind Act. Standardized testing has now become a normal and crucial part of a child’s academic agenda in the United States. The big debate is whether or not standardized testing really increases educational achievement. One way to simply answer this is just by looking at the correlation of high achieving educational countries and the amount of standardized testing incorporated into their educational systems. Asian and European countries are among some of the highest academically successful countries in the world. What is one thing in common among these Asian and European countries-- their high use of standardized testing. Although the use of standardized testing can increase the chances of academic achievement it can also come with some negative attributes. With standardized testing you lose creativity and critical thought processing. Students are being trained to answer what they believe the creator of the test believes is the right answer not what the student actually believes to be the right answer. Students are also taught to believe that there is only one right answer and that answer is either A,B,C, or D. According to Ron Maggiano “The overemphasis on testing has...
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...Lorna personally does not like standardized testing because it is really stressful for her. Standardized testing is damaging! Standardized testing has lots of benefits as well people may argue. For example they show the school districts lots of data and lets teachers know has to be cover again. Although people may think differently there is a lot that cause more damage than more beneficial. For instant they cause stress on students, they’re are too many tests and they are very expensive. We should not have standardized testing because of the bad things that could occur! One reason why we should not do standardized testing is because it causes stress. Stress if one thing that might occur when testing is coming or is present. Going home...
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...Abstract Standardized testing does not define ones intelligence or ability. There has always been a quarrel about the tests: students may be very intelligent but are really bad test takers. The No child left behind act was an educational preference forced upon educators that will help them gain an equal opportunity at academic success. The law would promote this through standardized tests. Standardized testing may help students gain wonderful academic success however there are also things that can hinder scholars as well. Standardized testing has its advantages and disadvantages. Over the years standardized testing has been a trending topic, some people are in favor for the test while others are not. How can one test determine an individual’s ability or intelligence when students are people with needs and concerns beyond standardized testing! What is standardized testing? Standardized tests are tests where students answer multiple choice questions where each question only has one correct answer and are usually designed from experience and not theory (How standardized testing damages education ). The tests are based on educational aspects such as reading, math, and science skills (depending upon the type of standardized test being provided). Standardized testing is a law required aspect that is supposed to help scholars academic success and schools expand (with the use of federal funding). Various types of popular standardized test in the United States include Scholastic...
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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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...Good in Standardized Testing." Boston Review 39.5 (2014): 6-9. OmniFile Full Text Select (H.W. Wilson). Web. 24 Sept. 2014. The title of this article is “The Good in Standardized Testing”, but this article is not simply praising standardized testing. The author chose to narrow in on the effectiveness of standardized test as it relates to reading comprehension. Almagor claims that standardized test are good for letting schools and families know where their children stand compared to other children nationally. He also addresses the negative aspects of standardized test in saying “good reading” can’t be measured properly through multiple choice questions. It is clear that the author does recognize that standardized test can...
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...Abolishing Standardized Tests Standardized tests should be abolished from schools. Standardized tests, like SOLs, are hurting students more so than they are helping them. These tests put a lot of stress on teachers and students. Test scores are used to show school improvement and how well the school is academically. Schools try to raise their test scores to make the school look better. In order to raise the scores teachers are being forced to teach to test. Teachers are only teaching students what they need to know to pass the test. These tests are forcing a curriculum and that is unfair for both teachers and students. There are many students who want to learn more and there are also teachers who want to teach more and go more in depth in a subject but they are unable to because they are required to just teach them how to pass a test. In class we hear our teacher say all the time, “...but you don’t need to know that it, it won’t on the test.” Many would think that standardized test is helpful to students because the main goal is to pass, and move up a level in school, but in reality students do not benefit from this at all because their sole purpose in learning these specific subjects are only by temporary memory. Standardized tests are so important in a students success in school. Whether or not the pass the tests determines if they pass the class. A student could do really well in class and then fail their test at the end of the year then in turn, fail the class. Not...
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...Practicality-This is probably by far, the biggest argument in 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) ...
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...Standardized Testing: Good or Bad? Education is the act or process of imparting or acquiring general knowledge. We all crave knowledge, we all learn new things every day, and we all make decisions based on our knowledge. It comes to no surprise that a major part of our lives is education, from pre-k to graduate school. Being successful in our education consists of hard work, a little luck, and now, more importantly than ever, being able to pass exams. Tests are one of the only ways to see how well we understand a subject and in many instances, can either make you or break you. Testing, however, should be based on the individual, where differences in the way students learn should be taken into account. As of several years ago, however, our education system has moved away from this individual approach, and has adopted a broad and general way to measure success: standardized testing. We have all taken standardized tests at point in our lives, be it the FCAT or the SAT which had a huge influence on which colleges we were accepted to. There is no argument that standardized testing does have its advantages, such as allowing schools and states to compare their education systems to one another, however, standardized testing being implemented as a major factor in our education has overall had a negative impact on education. The use of standardized testing in deciding whether a student passes or fails is simply wrong. Standardized testing should not be implemented into our school systems...
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...Standardized Testing The world is getting less intelligent, in regards to grammar and speech. The invention of spell check and grammar check has diminished the importance to properly learning grammar and punctuation. Students aren’t as worried about sentence structure or grammar because Word programs have built in features to correct them. Their papers are spelled properly, sentences properly structured without even realizing there was a mistake to begin with. It has defeated the purpose of a rough draft, if the first version of the paper is “perfect.” And annual Standardized testing was mandated in 2002 after the No Child Left Behind Act, when US students fell in math and science in world rankings. These program features and tests contribute to the students’ decline in a number of ways. By offering “multiple choice”, students’ understanding or ability to properly structure a paragraph or an entire essay isn’t being tested, their ability to recall information is. While being able to memorize things is helpful, it’s of no help long term. English and composition classes in higher education institutions will expect students to be able to demonstrate their understanding. “State assessments in mathematics and English often fail to capture the full spectrum of what students know and can do…. Students, parents, and educators know there is much more to a sound education than picking the right answer on a multiple-choice question” (Problems with Standardized Testing). Students are being...
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...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...
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...Special Education Kids and Standardized Testing Special education children have trouble keeping up in regular classrooms which is the reason they have their own classes, but they are often still forced to take the same tests as regular students. The tests can benefit some students but not all. When it comes to the standardized tests for kids with special needs there are accommodations in place like extra time and having an aid read the questions. These only help kids with simple special needs, not those with severe conditions; some teachers use different testing just for kids with severe cognitive dysfunctions, but many still use regular testing. “Two-thirds of students with disabilities are performing well below grade level in reading and...
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...Standardized Testing: Its Impact on American Education and Society: Schools all over the U.S are composed of many different types of students with diverse backgrounds. The goal of state officials is to improve education for students, regardless of their socioeconomic backgrounds, through the use of standardized testing. Its primary purpose for electing service officials in ancient china has led to its adoption in the U.S as a method for seeking improvements in the education system through testing students. However, holding schools and teachers responsible for annually increasing the average scores has shifted the curricula to teaching to the test, in addition to, putting the well being of both teachers and students at risk. Although standardized testing in the U.S. has been in place for over a century, its initial use is associated back to ancient China where the public was selected for jobs through testing. The purpose for standardized tests has always been to measure the knowledge and ability that one acquires. According to Osman Ozturgut, this purpose for testing was originally illustrated in 605 B.C, during the Sui Dynasty. Government jobs were administered to those with fairly high knowledge of Confucian philosophy. However, this would not guarantee a job. In addition to being tested on Confucian philosophy, they were also tested on “military strategy, civil law, revenue and taxation, agriculture, geography…” (3). Standardized tests were used as a method to give applicants...
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...High-stakes standardized testing can be a blessing and a curse, but the issue we are prompted with is should it be required in every class at Monett High School. Both pro and con side of the argument propose evidence as to why their side is considered correct and should be put into action. In the case of Monett High School I find that standardized testing would cause grades to drop while the assignments given would be completed with soaring averages. With information pointing to the failure of these tests not fully assessing whether or not the student learned the topic at hand, the topic of whether the test is reliable based on student’s mental condition, and improving the faster knowledge of comprehension ability or other things alike. We can find that there are two different sides to standardized testing, but would it really benefit Monett High School? Primarily, what should be the main focus of students attending Monett High School is their progression of...
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...Effectiveness of Standardized Testing Ashley Norris Com 220 September 16, 2012 Katie Boswell Effectiveness of Standardized Testing Hayden, a second grader, always has had trouble taking tests. From the very first test that he took in kindergarten until now, Hayden has collapsed under the pressure of the test and has never performed at a standard that was acceptable to himself or his educators. Situations such as this one are far too common in our schools today. Many of the children, such as Hayden, have fallen through the cracks in our classrooms. This has caused many people to ask themselves what is going on and how can things be changed. For years, educators have relied on standardized testing to provide them with information on a student’s progress throughout the year. However, much has changed since standardized testing was introduced. Standardized testing no longer accurately depicts a student’s progress in school; therefore, other forms of testing must be implemented to give all students a fair chance. Throughout history educators have used standardized testing as the main tool to predict how our educational system is working. These tests have been used as a way to assess what a student has learned throughout the school year and to inform teachers and school officials about how the curriculum is working. In many cases, the tests are administered closer to the end of the school year. By doing this, it allows the teachers and school officials to assess...
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