Preview

Standardized Testing Essay

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
963 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Standardized Testing Essay
Sixty-six percent of parents in America are opposed to standardized testing because test scores are being used to evaluate teachers’ teaching ability. Also, sixty seven percent of parents in the United States think there is too much emphasis on standardized tests (Walker). The tests are unfair to non-English speakers and kids with special needs because they still have to take the same exact tests (Ravitch). Tests creators should ask themselves is it really necessary to put kids that are in kindergarten up to third or fourth grade under that much stress? Standardized testing has a negative impact on schools. Parents are opting their kids out of standardized tests because of many reasons like they believe the tests do not help their kids, they …show more content…
When parents opt their kids out of these tests, they are receiving threats by school officials. Parents don’t have to listen to these threats and can just ignore them. School officials cannot make decisions for kids; that is for the parents to do. Officials claim that these tests help students with learning and help the students in doing better in school, when in reality the tests just take away from teachers teaching time. Teachers have to review what is going to be on the tests, instead of being able to teach something new. According to the article “Why Every Child Should Opt Out of the Standardized Tests,” they quoted “if everyone did this then that would be a democracy in action because then no one would be taking the test.” This would be the case because in a democracy people can do something if they want a change, and by not taking the tests, it will show that there are too many tests. Even parents who have their kids take the tests think there are too much. Many parents can agree that the tests do not help their kids improve. Many other parents think that tests cause too much stress on their kids. In the article “Parents Support Testing but Think There is Too Much,” there was a survey done on the views that parents have on standardized testing. Forty-nine percent of parents think that their kids have to take too many tests. These are just a few of the reasons why parents are against standardized

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    Standardized testing has become the focus of modern school reform since the implementation of the No Child Left Behind law in 2002 (Evans 1). The act was designed to hold all public schools to a high standard of education, measured by the results of students’ test scores on statewide standardized tests. Not all students are good test takers, and not all careers require the ability to take traditional tests in order to be successful on the job. A significant number of students nowadays would care much about standardized tests. This is because students feel like they must worry about a test which directly affects their grades and ability to learn. Standardized tests place a heavy weight on students that can lead to stress, take up instruction timing, and students won’t be able to learn anything from them.…

    • 407 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Standardized testing has been a heavily debated topic for many years because it is not evident if testing is more beneficial or detrimental for children or schools. There are many pros and cons associated with the use of standardized testing. Most educators agree that there needs to be a method of accountability for schools and school districts. However, the question remains, are students tested too much? Additionally, to what extent can a standardize test assess students achievement? Some states use alternative methods of assessment. President Obama pledged to reduce the amount of standardized testing in our schools mainly because it is clear that standardized testing has not improved student achievement in the United States. Standardized…

    • 272 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    When going to school students are supposed to learn based off a curriculum, but instead they are learning based off a test. These test are meant to help students, but instead they are hurting them. Standardized test requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from common bank of questions, in the same way. Also they are scored in a “standard” or consistent manner, which makes it possible to compare the relative performance of individual students or groups of students. Each state has a different name for their standardized test, for Virginia they call theirs the Standards Of Learning, SOL’s. These test are neither fair nor objective, puts pressure on the students, and it cuts off time in the school year.…

    • 1488 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    Does all society know standardized testing robs their children from their childhoods? State governments use a horrible and unfair resources to measure different student’s achievements. Other than stressing out the students, the tests only measure a small portion of essential education. State governments should allow school districts to replace standardized testing with authentic tests for each student to ensure individual success. Standardized testing is an undependable and an unfair resource to be used for measuring student performance, and it does not show improvement in student achievement. Not all students have the same abilities to take the same standardized test. In conclusion, state governments should replace standardized…

    • 1246 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Standardized tests have existed in America since 1800s. The tests are ubiquitous attempt to measure students’ performance based on his or her ability to come up with a singular answer to multiple choice questions. A major problem with this is that all students learn differently and their ability to take the standardized test is not a valid representation. The “No Child Left Behind Act” caused a surge in the amount of standardized tests required throughout the nation. The results of these standardized testing showed that America was in the 31st position in the world in the level of education. This is reflected in our school system, which is most likely caused by the misunderstanding of the standardized testing. Standardized testing limits…

    • 220 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    A huge drawback to standardized testing is the stress it causes among students. For example, according to Dawn Neely-Randall, who has been teaching for over 24 years in Ohio schools, states that implemented tests have required 5th graders to undergo almost 8 hours of testing in just one week. One of Neely-Randalls students couldn’t handle the stress and broke down in the middle of one of the tests. Many students, including Neely-Randalls 5th graders, consider standardized tests unnecessarily…

    • 582 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Standardized testing has been embedded in children from the time they first enter kindergarten all the way through grade school and high school years and finally ending in college and graduate school. It has become so frequent that it is no longer questioned why these tests are necessary, and by the time a person is finally through with school, they have taken an average of twenty to twenty-two tests. Although countless generations of Americans have had to sit through these tests, never have they played such a prominent role in schooling. Usually these exams were used to administer a child’s performance in the classroom and what he or she has learned so far, along with where…

    • 1728 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    No matter how far a child is within their education, one cannot possibly go through education without coming across a few standardized tests. It is a test that remains to be unpopular among students and takes a lot of patience, time, and effort. But what many students fail to understand is that standardized tests benefit them in ways that help shape them for their future. After looking at students and how they affect students and benefit their learning, many articles have been written in an attempt to communicate to students standardized tests are an essential factor within their education. These sources help support the concept of standardized testing because they not only include ways standardized tests help students learn basic skills for…

    • 157 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Standardized testing has been around since the mid-1800s. The purpose of this system is to measure a student’s achievements through high school. This can help a student and schools realize what they are failing in. Also it can show what they are exceeding in as well. There are many reason to consider standardized exams for high school. Key reason include a explanation of why the test is given and beats any other system of grading, the ability to compare between school, and what schools need to focus on. Is providing this test benefited schools districts nationwide?…

    • 488 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    An American educator who was examining the British educational system once asked a headmaster why so little standardized testing took place in British schools. "My dear fellow," came the reply, "In Britain we are of the belief that, when a child is hungry, he should be fed, not weighed" (Bowers 1). Even though this quote can be construed as being comical and light-hearted, the anecdote suggests the obvious question: "Why do we do so much standardized testing in the United States?" Standardized testing places incredible amounts of stress on teachers and school administrators, as well as the students taking the tests who are afraid that if they don't pass this exam, they might not be able to graduate. Standardized testing does not take in to…

    • 1374 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    Standardized testing in our education system is oftentimes frowned upon. Though some disagree with standardized testing, others see it as an advantage to education in the future. I recently reviewed two articles with opposing opinions on this controversial topic. I noticed that one article worried more about how they felt emotionally, and less focused on the academic advantages or disadvantages. This is an issue in America, I believe when it comes to education we should worry about educational outcomes and not emotional distress due to the criteria in which you are required to abide by.…

    • 484 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Imagine our little brothers, sisters, or even our children having hard times learning at school. Now imagine them not being able to proceed to the next level of their education because they scored low on one of their tests. Standardized testing has been around for centuries; since the 1800’s to be exact, and every year since then the average success rate in the US for students K-12 has decreased. It doesn’t take doing research on success rates to know that the world we live in today is not at the educational level it once was. School should be something people look forward to not something they dread. We should eliminate standardized testing in the US because not everyone learns the same way.…

    • 1284 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Good Essays

    Standardized Testing

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages

    Sitting in a classroom for forty-five minutes feels long and stressful. During the standardized tests students have to sit in a classroom for hours at a time, knowing that their future dreams of being a doctor, teacher, or lawyer could come to an end if they mess up one exam. Standardized tests should not be required for students to graduate high school. They cause students a lot of stress, they are limiting the curriculum for a school to teach more valuable subjects, and they are judging students intelligence by one test, which is not enough to know if a student would be able to graduate. Standardized testing should not be required to graduate high school because they are costly, stressful, and are setting students up to fail. Statistics show that students perform worse off on standardized tests, than they perform in the classroom.…

    • 753 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Standardized testing

    • 1747 Words
    • 7 Pages

    Standardized testing is something you're bound to come across in public schools as soon as first grade. I remember taking test after test as a public school student, and I can't really say I ever got anything out of it. These tests are putting so much pressure on teachers and students a like. A bunch of old men sitting around a table who've never even stepped foot in my school can make a test and say that it evaluates what students have learned as a whole. The problem with standardized testing, its just that, its standardized. Humans strive by working with their peers, giving them the chance to directly feed off of what others are thinking. However this is being pushed aside by the hustle and bustle of teaching a multiple choice test. Standardized testing is being over used and abused. How we are testing, who we are testing, why we are testing. We need to evaluate if its really worth all the money and trouble in the end. According to the teachers on the receiving end these tests seem to be doing more harm than help. Teachers feel they are just teaching a multiple choice test now to assure that their students do well. Testing also takes money, resulting in many districts cutting programs such as arts. Standardized testing is also a money making business, someone out there needs to sell these tests to your school district so they can take a pay check home. Most teachers have a negative attitude about testing because it bring more heartache than help. This needs to be evaluated to assure that we are getting some positive useful information out of our tests.…

    • 1747 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    1. With TAKS scores dropping I believe that it is because of the way the tests are made than how the teacher taught it to their student.…

    • 2009 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Powerful Essays