In life today society is surrounded by numbers, in particular schools districts depends on data from tests to evaluate how they perform in comparison to other districts. Students who attend public or private schools are subjected to take certain standardized tests to measure their academic achievements throughout their school life. Studies show, that these test do not always help student’s academic growth, in fact some researchers show that standardized test may hurt students in the long run. Due to the fact that retention is a possibility for students who perform low on standardized test, these students may develop test anxiety and disengagement from their academic career. An example in 2015 is that, the overall performance of student failing …show more content…
For example, I will illustrate with my personal experience with the STARR and EOC to further explain the impact on a student’s academic life. I was administered the English 1 test 8 times during my freshman, sophomore and junior year, while I had already mastered English 2 test. Per this information, a red flag is brought up, how a student could pass a sophomore test, EOC English 2, but not past the freshman level test? If the purpose of standardized test is to show academic growth, how was I not able to move on from EOC English 1since I mastered concepts from EOC English 2? One way to address this problem is by making “standardized test [to] be one part of a comprehensive assessments system” (How Standardized Testing Damages Education (Updated July 2012) 1). By using this method we could minimize and maybe even eliminate consequences of the STARR and EOC tests. By an organization called Fair Test, “Students with disabilities, are more likely to be denied diplomas, retained in grade, [and be] placed in a lower track” due to poor performance on standardize’ testing. Since these tests are one of the most important indicators of school performances, students and teachers feel the pressure to do well on them, and they become stigmatized if they fail the most important indicator of success to the Texas Education Agency (How Standardized Testing Damages Education (Updated July 2012) 1). Although STAAR and EOC test were created to measure students’ academic growth, the emotional impact of failing these tests can be devastating to students. Especially because these standardized tests do not always provide the needed support that all students require to display their full knowledge of Texas
Standardized testing has been ruling over the lives of students, making or breaking them in their education without fair judgement. Tests like the SAT and the ACT count for way too much when applying to colleges, which in turn limits the student 's capabilities to thrive in an environment that would benefit them. There are many problems within a standardized test that deems them to be unreliable as a true test of knowledge. Although designed to test groups of students on intelligence, standardized testing neglects to fairly acknowledge the abilities of each unique student which reflect their true capabilities.
Many opponents believe that standardized testing helps educators determine what classes students should be placed in for school. Instead, academic placements should be based on the recommendations of the teachers because tests are often not a proper reflection of learning. Teachers have the opportunity to work with and get to know a student for at least a school year, so it makes sense that they would know best what a student is capable of and their abilities. How can schools base a placement off of a test when instead they can use the opinion of the teacher who has gotten to truly know their student’s potential? When asked if she thinks that a teacher’s opinion should be valued more than a standardized test, Mrs. Ann Wing, an 8th grade social
The definition of success and routes to success may be different, but it is undeniable that all people want to succeed in their lives. According to Malcolm Gladwell, success is seen as an achievement coming from hidden opportunities, effort, diverse backgrounds, or cultural legacy, in life. However, I believe education is one of the factors that contribute the achievement of individuals. There are flaws or inequalities in the United States’ education system, and one of these is the use of standardized test which is the issue that comes in between the individual and their successes. In order to increase the chance of success for an individual, standardized testing should be revoked from education because it does not measure the creativity and knowledge of students which play important roles for one to succeed.
Today is test day, an obstacle that in time will falsely decide a student’s future academically and morally. He has one chance to portray his academic performance in such limited time, having to forcefully disregard whether or not he is in fact emotionally prepped on the given day. There is an unnecessary surplus of students who share such experiences, who too have had their dreams and talents ripped by automated grading. This tale is nothing new, such senseless obstacles have troubled generations. Standardized tests are not a valid measurement of academic success and should be discontinued due to their one-size fits all curriculum, inaccurate performance judgment on a given day, and inefficient test taking times.
Many students throughout the American education system struggle due to the fact that they have to take a standardized test. But, this struggle differs for each student, some are too lazy to take them while others are having difficulty performing well on these tests. As a student who learned English as a second language, I could relate with the people who are having trouble performing well on standardized tests. When I was in high school there was nothing more frightening than Standardized tests. There was a lot of emphasize on these tests and they had the power to determine my future in the means of deciding which colleges I could attend. But, I wasn’t alone in this matter, not all students perform to their potential on Standardized tests. No matter how hard I tried to study for these tests, I was just not doing as well as my class mates. It made me feel like I was beneath all my other class mates and I thought they were intellectually superior. But, I met other like me who were not good at taking test and didn’t perform well on these
Students are overwhelmed with school, work, extra-curricular activities, family, etc. Perhaps standardized tests are a major contributor to students’ stress. A standardized test is any test scored in a consistent manner and requires test-takers to answer identical questions. Among the most common include the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT). According to the article “Standardized Testing Has Negatively Impacted Public Schools” from Opposing Viewpoints in Context, the beginnings of standardized tests occurred during World War I when the American Psychological Association developed a “ground-administered test” to eliminate inefficient recruits (Solley 3). Today, standardized tests are necessary for college admission. Just last month, in March of 2016, College Board, the non-profit organization responsible for administering the SAT, altered the format of the test. It is now formatted more similar to the ACT and includes an optional essay reducing the score from 2400 to 1600. Many advocates argue standardized tests accurately measure academic intelligence and hold teachers and schools accountable. In today’s society, standardized tests have become the norm, and unfortunately, people overlook their negative effects despite research substantiating arguments about their disadvantages. Standardized tests are disadvantageous because they hinder education and contain bias.
Because instructors are teaching directly for the test, the data collected may not be an accurate representation of the student’s true abilities. As standardized test grow in popularity among the school system, the pressure to achieve high scores rapidly builds. The importance of high scores goes beyond individual students’ performances, and teacher evaluations. Serious repercussions could result from poor scores, or performances. For example, “schools that continue to fail to improve may be closed, and districts that continue to fail may be subject to state takeover” (Posner). With the weight of the success of the school on their shoulders,
There are too many external factors that could influence a child’s test score, yet, we’ve allowed standardized testing to determine a child’s future. “For example, test anxiety has grown into a subfield of educational psychology, and its prevalence means that the tests producing this reaction are not giving us a good picture of what many students really know and can do.” (Kohn, 2000) The high amount of value American society places on standardized testing can cause a high amount of anxiety, which can be associated with a fear of failure. “While the pressure to perform well can act as a motivator, it can also be devastating to individuals who tie their self worth to the outcome of a test.” (Test Anxiety) Test anxiety can manifest itself in the form of an anxiety attack, which can cause symptoms such as difficulty concentrating and brain fog, among a multitude of other uncomfortable manifestations. Anxiety, along with many other factors, can alter a student’s ability to display their full potential. (Test
While a few standardized tests over a student’s school career can be helpful to make sure students are on track and teachers are educating their students, the United States education system has far too many standardized tests. The U.S should reduce the number of tests given to students each year. The current amount of testing stresses students and forces teachers to “teach to the test”. Standardized testing has not and will not improve the American school
Standardized testing has for so long been the determinant of success and progress in many school systems around the world. Students get exposure to standardized tests at one point or the other, and the result from these tests are used to determine if a student can advance to a higher level or not (Moore, 2014). The school system in the United States has in place standardized tests for students who wish to join college and this need to be taken and passed for one to be sure of a college education. Even at lower levels of learning standardized tests remain to be the primary determinants of one’s performances, and in many instances, failure of standardized tests may be the reason why one is retained in the same class for a second consecutive
SAT and ACT are just two of the standardized testing implemented in our educational system today. The score obtained from standardized testing serves is valid predictors of the success of the students as they pursue higher level of education. As with other standardized testing, data are generated that will hold teachers and school accountable. If the score is low, it’s because there is a need to modify the curriculum or the teacher is not doing their job as educators. But what if
Standardized testing in my opinion has taken away too much focus on the real academic needs of students. Standardized testing has become the primary focus for schools on how they measure students’ academic growth, but I feel it should be just one of the tools teachers use to assets their students.
As a society, we strive for normal and anything that differs is cause for further scrutiny. In kindergarten, my standardized test scores fell into the "below normal" range, so I was flagged for more in-depth testing. This started the long process of educational evaluations and scoring. But ultimately, what would these scores mean for my academic future?
A very current and ongoing important issue happening within the education system is standardized testing. A standardized test is any examination that's administered and scored in a calculated, standard manner. There are two major kinds of standardized tests: aptitude tests and achievement tests. Standardized aptitude tests predict how well students might perform in some subsequent educational setting. The most common examples are the SAT’s and the ACT’s. The SAT and the ACT attempt to estimate how well high school students will perform in college. But standardized test scores are what citizens and school board members rely on when they evaluate a school's effectiveness. Nationally, five such tests are in use: California Achievement Tests,
To begin with standardized testing creates several critical problems for students and for the education industry. These tests are created to test over particular things. In the end these types of tests are only limited in the amount of knowledge that can be tested toward students. For example, “Standardized exams offer few opportunities to display the attributes of high-order thinking, such as analysis, synthesis, evaluation, and creativity.” (“Standardized Testing Has Serious Limitations”). Even though these tests are able to attack certain subjects at the core, they still leave out very valuable and critical information that all students should know. In