Standardized Testing: Do We Make A Difference?

Do you think we should keep the standardized tests we take in school, or change them? Some people think the testing system we use now is fine, others think we should change it. I think we should keep the system because it works. The tests show growth, teachers and students know how to take it and give it, and they show teachers what to teach.

What is standardized testing? Standardized testing is a test which is given to students to evaluate the knowledge which they know. Testing can be in all subjects and topics in education. In Minnesota there is the MCA ( Minnesota Common Assessment). The MCA can be taken from elementary to high school, and the students are tested on subjects they have learned from the past. In Minnesota the MCA is a test which the government requires students to take. On a national level there is the ACT and SAT. These are usually taken as entrance exams to colleges and universities. ACT and SAT are two different types of test they have differ in grading systems and some colleges take both or one of the two. Why are standardized test given? The test are given so people in charge can evaluate the performance of the student and school; also gage the knowledge of the student. But standardized test like the ACT can not be an effective way to improve instruction and performance because it is a competency focused test. The reason why standardized test are competence: They test students on how well they can eliminate the incorrect answers to find the correct one. This is an inefficient way because what if the test taker crosses out the wrong answer, this forces the taker to choose between two wrong answers. There's needs to be tested efficiently and accurately gage their knowledge.

Research shows that the use of standardized testing has spanned centuries, some of the earlier studies include data from the early 1900’s. According to Frazier (2009), “there is a significant difference in scores on standardized tests when students have completed a technology education program”. This study shows a correlation between the use of technology within the school system and achievement on standardized tests. Students that are exposed to technology education are more likely to do well on standardized tests.

Did you know that kids take 20-25 hours on standardized tests. Sides of this argument are how they should change the test, while the other is keep the same tests. I think that we should change because there’s too much time spent on it, because government money can be spent to limit tests, and we don't need to many tests.

This essay will explain that Standardized Tests needs to be changed. Students take 112 tests from preK to 12th. My hook is trying to say that students take to much tests from the start of our school years to the end of our school years. Standardized tests needs to be changed because. This essay explained that standardized tests needs to be changed because it is to 1.stressful, 2.standardized tests need to be modified, and tests are 3.low quality.

Standardized tests. Like them or not, they are everywhere. And everybody has their opinion about it, whether they are useful or not. Many say that they are harmful as they put kids under pressure and stress. Others say they help kids learn and scale kids with other school systems and nations. Lots of evidence shows that they are indeed useful, but I believe there are also several weaknesses, and improvements that can be made to fix them; the biggest being a pre and post test. Standardized tests can also have more focused lessons that lead to more undemanding goals, which can let teachers use their own teaching methods to eventually meet with the same goal.

The stress settled in once the word ‘testing’ echoed through the classroom. The students knew what it brought, and they knew how dreadful it would be; sitting in one room, hour after hour and day after day, silent and still, with only the sound of the clock resonating through their heads. Standardized tests are assessments that local and national governments may require their students to take. However, these tests do not properly evaluate their intellect, and only lead to tension and mental strain on a student’s attentiveness. Although many schools believe that these assessments are productive, it is proven that they are not beneficial to students because standardized testing leads to stress and anxiety, it is wasting valuable classroom time,

Standardized testing has been around since the mid 1800’s. Numbers went up when President George W. Bush enforced the No Child Left Behind Act and stated that testing will be annually in all 50 states. That is when education became more about being able to pass the test then actually trying to learn the subject and truly understand. Ever since students have always dealt with trying to get a certain score on test so they can know what schools are willing to accept them. That score just does not apply to the student it also involves the educators and the school as well. If schools do not achieve a certain goal they have budget cuts and cut teachers. Are test scores the determining factor of how much money a school will receive for that year? Is that fair to the students who want to get a great education and want to thrive to try to go law school or medical school?

The use of standardized testing is on the rise, with the intent of comparing the knowledge levels of large amounts of students. But is it a true and fair indicator of students overall knowledge?some may argue that it is the least expensive and most convenient way to compare mass amounts of students b having everyone test on the same data at the same time and under the same circumstances. Many believe that students learn and even test take at varying levels and performance is not consistent on any given day. Meaning ,students may have the exact same knowledge base, but some students simply are better at test taking, whereas others do not perform well under pressure and this may potentially affect the test results.

Teachers used to teach to students and for students, now they teach for test; today, “45 percent of National Education Association teacher members surveyed considered leaving the profession of teaching due to the adverse effects of standardized testing.” Testing has evolved over time from basic reading, writing, and arithmetic to curriculum based on standardized testing such as the ACT, SAT, and TCAP. Many years ago, students did not have to take as many tests, and there were not as many opportunities for different types of classes. Schools have evolved as standardized test evolved, and this has forced teachers to evolve as well. As time progressed, the frequency of these standardized test increased and the student scores were used more

I t is well known that Standardized testing is not popular with students, but many teachers also do not agree with the method as well. Teachers see the testing as a burden and an end to creative and fun curriculum. Teachers teach all year for what will be on the test. Students are forced to learn by memorization quickly with so much knowledge being imposed on them at one time. Teachers have to teach so many core factors that they do not have hours to spend the wanted and needed lot of time on certain content. The article “It’s déjà vu all over again!” includes comments from educators on testing “The tests tend to measure factual memorization of names and dates, rather than important conceptual understandings and interpretations” (pg.199). Children can profess when and where The Battle of Gettysburg was, but could not express what the speech was about and the lasting impositions of the speech. They memorize a topic to pass a test. That is standardized testing. That is not learning.

Every year high school sophomores around the nation wake up early one day in October to take the standardized test most commonly known as the PSAT. There are many other standardized tests; the most known being the PSAT, SAT and ACT. The reason students take these standardized tests is because of the No Child Left Behind Act implemented in 2002 by President George W. Bush. Under the No Child Left Behind Act, it is required that, “states develop and implement challenging academic standards in reading and math, set annual statewide progress objectives to ensure that all groups of students reach proficiency… and then test children annually… to measure their progress.” (“The New Rules”). Although there has been speculations about standardized testing being detrimental to the student and anyone who uses the test scores, it is clear that these tests are beneficial rather than harmful.

Exams are like your girlfriend. They ask way too many questions, they are difficult to understand, there is always more explanation needed, and of course the result is you always fail. I like to think this accurately describes how most people feel about standardized tests, but then again, I don't really think people ever feel fondly about a standardized tests. Now we have taken standardized test since elementary school so why do we all still suck at them? Let’s face it America has a pretty bad average on test taking skills. Maybe it's because of the fact that up until you’re a junior in high school none of those other standardized test matter. Those tests are basically just an excuse for you not to have to go through your normal boring school

Getting an education is the main goal for everyone, although it is easy to obtain there are some obstacles to it. One of the main obstacles students face at the beginning of their education is standardized tests. Schools have started to adopt this type of tests as their main way to evaluate students’ intelligence and teachers’ effectiveness to educate the students. The way students used to learn has changed, in order to get them ready for the tests they have to spend much of the school time preparing for it instead of learning something they can use in their future life. According to Bruce Jacobs in No Child Left Behind's Emphasis on 'Teaching to the Test' Undermines Quality Teaching, a 2007 study by the University of Maryland teachers were put in much pressure and had thoughts to teach the test […]. This shows that teachers have also been affected by standardized tests in a way they have more pressure to make students pass. Having teachers ‘teach the test’ means their way to educate has been corrupted. In most cases when teachers’ ability to educate has been changed leads them to practice methods not convenient for scholars. One of these methods is memorization, in Relying on High-Stakes Standardized Tests to Evaluate Schools and Teachers: A Bad Idea by Hani Morgan describes how students start to adapt to an “inferior type of learning, based on memorization and recall students gain when teachers

Standardized tests take away the creativity from the teachers forcing them to "teach to the test" this means memorizing