Standardized Testing Persuasive Essay
English Comp. and Lang. AP
Standardized Testing When you think of education, what comes to mind? Homework? Books? Essays? What about tests? Nowadays, that’s the only thing that seems to matter. As absurd as it is, no one truly cares about anything besides test scores; it’s all about how high students can score, and how good they can make the school look, rather than how much they can retain and actually apply when it really counts. Despite what some people may think, standardized testing is one of the worst things introduced into the country’s education system. Why should a measly test determine the course of someone’s future? How, in any way, is that fair? While standardized tests, like the SAT, have been around since the early twentieth …show more content…
What happens when they’re taking the same test as everybody else, expected to perform just as well, without any guidance? After months of guided learning, they are left on their own, stranded, with nothing but a pencil, a test and mangled thoughts, not knowing where, or let alone how, to begin. Left to fend for themselves, they are thrown into the deep end, without a life vest, and without knowing how to swim. No one mentally prepares them for the reality of the situation; they’re up against kids that have been taking tests and writing essays on their own for years. It’s sad that no one realizes how unjust and unfair that actually is. While thinking of the big picture, the creators of these tests forget about the few kids that truly struggle (“When Tests Tell Teachers Nothing: Special Needs Not Met by Standardized Tests”). As many tests as students have to take, there are some people that are simply just poor test-takers. They may be extremely brilliant in the classroom, interacting and applying the material, but when it comes to tests, they don’t perform well. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but what happens when an incredible student fails a future-determining test, and is forced to attend a community college, rather than attending Harvard, for example, and isn’t able to expand their horizons, and apply their knowledge where they deserve to be? How’s it possible that one test can make or break a
Standardized Testing When you think of education, what comes to mind? Homework? Books? Essays? What about tests? Nowadays, that’s the only thing that seems to matter. As absurd as it is, no one truly cares about anything besides test scores; it’s all about how high students can score, and how good they can make the school look, rather than how much they can retain and actually apply when it really counts. Despite what some people may think, standardized testing is one of the worst things introduced into the country’s education system. Why should a measly test determine the course of someone’s future? How, in any way, is that fair? While standardized tests, like the SAT, have been around since the early twentieth …show more content…
What happens when they’re taking the same test as everybody else, expected to perform just as well, without any guidance? After months of guided learning, they are left on their own, stranded, with nothing but a pencil, a test and mangled thoughts, not knowing where, or let alone how, to begin. Left to fend for themselves, they are thrown into the deep end, without a life vest, and without knowing how to swim. No one mentally prepares them for the reality of the situation; they’re up against kids that have been taking tests and writing essays on their own for years. It’s sad that no one realizes how unjust and unfair that actually is. While thinking of the big picture, the creators of these tests forget about the few kids that truly struggle (“When Tests Tell Teachers Nothing: Special Needs Not Met by Standardized Tests”). As many tests as students have to take, there are some people that are simply just poor test-takers. They may be extremely brilliant in the classroom, interacting and applying the material, but when it comes to tests, they don’t perform well. And there’s absolutely nothing wrong with that, but what happens when an incredible student fails a future-determining test, and is forced to attend a community college, rather than attending Harvard, for example, and isn’t able to expand their horizons, and apply their knowledge where they deserve to be? How’s it possible that one test can make or break a