Standardized Test Scores

Standardized testing in the United States started in the mid- 1800’s (Standardized Tests - ProCon.org). This kind of testing was originally created to measure students’ performance and progress in school (Standardized Tests - ProCon.org). In recent years, the public school system has relied heavily on the information this test provides, in doing so creating controversy. Other than being a student myself, and participating in multiple standardized exams such as, CSAP, ACT, and SAT, I do not have much background knowledge on this debate. The debate over standardized testing has raised this inquiry question: What are the effects of standardized testing on the United States public education system?

Imagine a test capable of making or breaking a student's chances of getting into his or her dream college. Imagine a test score that can be easily influenced, but only through thousands of dollars worth of coaching. Now imagine that same test but biased towards certain crowds of students while also being incapable of accurately predicting their futures. Is this the test you want for colleges to use in order to distinguish students? This is the SAT—famous for the unnecessary pressure it presents to students as well as the unfair disadvantages it presents to many others. Since these SAT scores are extremely artificial, SAT tests are not an accurate predictor for future success.

Alarming is an understatement when it comes to the anxiety and stress standardized testing brings. Students are told how vital these tests can be to college acceptance, class placement, and school ranking, so it is no surprise that they lead students to become stressed out and anxious about taking the assessments. According to education researcher Gregory J. Cizek, "illustrating how testing... produces gripping anxiety in even the brightest students, and makes young children vomit or cry, or both" (2). The affect standardized testing has on students is unacceptable, no students should be anxious and uneasy about going to school due to a test. To continue, the Sacramento Bee reported that "test-related jitters, especially among young students,

The purpose of this proposal is to examine current and future Iowa State University admissions decisions processes. At the present time most colleges, including Iowa State use a combination of standardized test scores, high school class rank, high school grade point average, and essays to make decisions on admissions. All of the above are good determinants of a student’s possible success in college, except standardized test scores. Standardized tests discriminate against minorities and are not a good overall indicator of a student’s potential. For these reasons and others, Iowa State should not use standardized test scores when making admissions

Thoughts about the ACT or SAT give most students sleepless nights. Well, it is an important test but getting overwhelmed by it is not going to help. These few fun facts about the ACT/SAT are just what you need when you are looking for a short, refreshing distraction from the intense studying. The ACT/SAT should be the main factor in college acceptance because it gives minorities an equal chance of admission, it provides a standard for all students of all high school backgrounds to achieve, and test you on the basic skills you need to know after leaving high school anyway.

Standardized testing is used to tell students level in certain areas of academics; however, it is actually a waste of time and money.

It's 8 A.M. on a Saturday, and masses of students around the United States wake up and head to their testing sites in order to take the SAT. This is a common occurrence that happens multiple times a year, but it raises the question as to how seriously should society take these tests and other standardized testing, such as the Regents examinations in New York State. The answer to this is obvious, clearly these exams, and all standardized tests, must be taken seriously, due to the fact they provide vital information for colleges such as which students are the best, they provide ample data for high schools and state governments to prove that the academic standards are being upheld, and they also provide useful information to various institutions

M., & Barton, K. (2003). Assessing Students With Disabilities: Issues and Evidence. Los Angeles: The Regents of the University of California. Retrieved from http://cse.ucla.edu/products/reports/TR587.pdf

Living in the United States the emphasis on testing is extremely high. Testing has been around for years , however has increased to an all-time high since 2002 when the Bush administration brought about the No Child Left Behind Act and mandated standardized testing in all 50 states. Since initiation of these annual tests, the degree of student success the US has shown compared to other countries has declined. With the No Child Left Behind Act all students, as in 100% of students, were supposed to be at or above grade level in testing as of 2014. However, the US is two years out and its students are nowhere close to that 100% goal.

These tests have held back too many students based on their performance on them. Numbers have shown that nearly one-third of all fourth and eighth-grade students in another state may be held back this following year. These numbers that the students get for taking these high-stakes shouldn’t determine if a student passes a grade. It shouldn’t have the power to do that because teachers across the country have voiced their opinion saying, “These standardized tests take away from meaningful learning time for the students.” The time that is spent on the students taking these test has taken crucial learning opportunities away from them.

Kevin Kumashiro points out in his article for The Progressive that “ The 2015 ‘Nation’s Report Card’ shows a declines in students test scores in reading and mathematics” since 1990. Over the years, school mostly focus on getting the right answer on high-stake tests. Herbert J. Walberg, wrote in his article standardized testing is the best to measure students “educational goals” (Walberg, 1) Apparently, getting the right answer on a test makes a student ready for the real world. “The scores don’t provide very much useful information for evaluation a student's achievement” (Harris, 1) Most individuals disagree with the states passing new laws since NCLB to make the opposing side happy. No matter how much the government tries to add laws to fix about measuring students ability it will backfire. Phillip Harris argues standardized test does a “poor job” with measuring students achievement. How the high-stake test fail in measuring “important attributes as creativity and critical thinking.” (Harris,1) Studies show standardized tests “reward superficial thinking.” (Harris,1) and discourage analytical thinking. Richard Rothstein, an educational economist stated ‘Measurement of students achievement is complex-too complex for social science presently available.’ (Harris, 1) These methods include standardized testing. Rothstein statement was made in 1998. More than a decade

Standardized testing scores help us grow as students. That’s why they shouldn’t be taken away because they provide teachers information on what we need to work on and push us to work harder to get a better grade. Standardized tests also help us with college.

Imagine a sunny day where students should be playing outside but yet they are stuck in a boring classroom filling in bubble after bubble. Do you think students should have to take standardized tests? Students should not have to take standardized tests. They take up too much class time, it stresses kids out, and it costs the government too much money. This should be recognized by somebody.

In conclusion the school counselor plays many roles in testing and assessment of students. They can administer the test, share the results of the test etc. Standardized testing are now of a norm in today's schools. Children start testing as young as four years of age. The NCLB act was put in place so that the school could be accountable for a student passing or failing. Standardized testing is a way for the school to see where the students academic levels are. There are benefits and repercussion for the school depending on how well the students did on the test. School counselors do not like to make a major decision about a student's education based off of one test. The like to look at the students projects, work assignments, and class performance

Standardized tests are annoying little things that students in schools all across the nation have to take every year. Though, if all the facts are taken into consideration, they do not really seem worth it, do they? Many people speculate whether or not they are actually measuring a student’s intelligence or anything like that. It seems that students do not necessarily have to learn the material, only memorize it for a short period of time. The question has to be raised, though-- what exactly qualifies a test to be a standardized test? Well, as described by The Glossary of Education Reform, there are two main things that make a test standardized. The first being that the test “...requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or