Synthesis Essay On Standardized Testing

Standardized testing is a pivotal part in our education as a way of measuring a child's academic knowledge and growth has been present in the United States education system for nearly a century now and doesn't plan on leaving our education system anytime soon. In fact, in the past decade the amount of state issued exams has actually increased. While assessments can be a beneficial way in evaluating some forms of a student's performance in school tests despite, its history and significance, the effectiveness and requirements of these exams have been a constant source of controversy for both of the parties involved. Not only does it affect the teaching and learning that occurs in the classroom. Standardized testing can also have a negative impact
The constant drilling and repetitiveness in class can often cause kids to grow bored and gain a disinterest in school related matters. In Source A it says " student engagement is potentially stifled in the current education model that emphasizes high-stakes testing and accountability systems in urban schools" (Cavendish). "As decreased student engagement is related to a decreased likelihood of graduation and consequently severely limited postsecondary education and employment opportunities" (National Research Council, 2004). It is important for children to maintain an interest in their education. Not only does the current curriculum cause a boredom amongst students in school's according to Sir Ken Robinson, in Slon's (2013) article, "by the time they get to be adults most kids have lost the capacity" to be creative due to the fact that experimentation and creation are not a fundamental part of the standardized testing mechanisms. Instead children are now being taken away from time where they could be learning about the world around them to a structured implementation of standardized tests as the main focus. In a study done by Caneige-Knight Task Force they found that "the intensive time required to "teach to the test"--to prepare students for mandatory in the nation's public schools – is stealing time away from
Since many colleges and universities have become dependent on the results they received from standardized tests rather than looking into other talents or the grade point averages students were able to maintain throughout the school year many students feel the pressure to place high on their tests in order to attend their dream college. In Source C its mentioned that "it is important to acknowledge that for some children, testing exacts an emotional toll in the form of anxiety and stress" (Lazarín).Students only feel more pressure upon themselves to score above and beyond on their placement exams. But not every student is able to excel in tests despite how well they may preform inside the classroom and when students fail an exam the natural response for many kids is to lose complete in interest in pursuing studying and high grades. Again, in Source C it says "there is a culture of testing and test preparation that does not put students first" (Lazarín) This refers to the high demand for standardized and placement exams students are often forced to take by their own district due to the fact that many districts are administring benchmarks before Standardized Tests in order to gather an idea on how schools are preforming. In Source C its mentioned that "despite the perception that federally mandated state testing is the root of the issue, districts require more tests than states and, students are tested as