Standardized Testing Should NOT Improve Education

Nationally, standardized testing is used to measure how well students are educated, and more importantly, to determine how well a school is at teaching its students. These tests should be high quality and informative to students of all ages. This assumption, however, is not the case. It is instead just a big waste of time for everyone involved. Standardized testing should not be used to determine educational quality in schools. Schools put a ton of resources into standardized testing which costs a lot of money. States and districts are resorting to budget cuts, laying off teachers, and losing valuable programs for standardized testing. Schools are doing this because “they are spending an ever-increasing portion of their resources on tests” (“Why More Standardized Tests Won’t Improve Education” 3). Money should not continue to be wasted for these tests. The tests should not be able to rip schools down the bare bone because they can not afford them. Funds for testing is a major issue for certain schools with testing, but some would argue against this. Some people would say testing should be used because it helps students master the material for learning in class. Students learn reading and mathematics that are tailored for each individual to improve on. General skills for tests provide “quick, objective feedback thats
This is, of course, teachers keeping a student portfolio of all the students works. It could easily determine how well an educator is teaching and “provide a far richer portrait of teaching and accomplishment than is possible with standardized testing”(“Why More Standardized Tests Won’t Improve Education” 4). Not only could students learn on how to improve but also teachers could learn on how to improve by looking at how their students are doing. Standardized testing could easily be gotten rid of with this new system in place of the old