The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing For Students

Texas takes the STAAR, Alabama the ARMT, and Hawaii the HSA. Each state in the U.S. has a standardized test required of every student. From the ACT and SAT to the STAAR tests, standardized testing has become common practice for almost every student. The earliest records of standardized testing are when in China, anyone wanting to get a job in government had to fill out their knowledge of Confucian philosophy and poetry in examination. As more and more kids began to go to school during the Industrial Revolution, standardized testing spread as a way to quickly and easily test a large number of students. But not everyone agrees with the tests, stating that they are unreliable, and that the stakes are too high. Standardized tests cause immense amount of stress for not only students, but teachers as well. And the tests might not even be effective, causing more anxiety than it's worth.

When people think of the education system, most can say that there are some problems, though they might not be able to pinpoint what needs to change first. If you ask most teachers, they will say that the first thing that needs to be changed in the schooling system to help the students more is the standardized testing. They will say that while it can be helpful it has a lot of faults and needs to be updated or changed to help its students. Standardized testing has often been a topic for discussion, between parents and people in the schooling system. It seems that a lot of people either hate standardized testing for not giving every child a chance to succeed, or love it for being a fair way to test whether a child knows what they need to know at their age. There have been many articles, books, and documentary’s debating on whether or not standardized testing is doing more harm then good. There was a comic made that shows the brutality and bluntness of what standardized testing is really like. Standardized Testing causes too much stress by putting unfair expectations on teens and doesn’t give every single student the chance to succeed.

Each year high school students from around the country take the SAT or ACT. The ACT and SAT are both standardized test used by colleges to determine the knowledge of a student and predict what their performance will be in their first year of college. An immense amount of pressure is put on student to receive certain scores in order to obtain scholarships and admission into college. Even just one point on a student’s score can determine if they will be accepted into their dream college. However, the results from standardized tests, such as the ACT and SAT, are often inaccurate. Because of this one’s knowledge and academic ability are misrepresented, and they are denied certain opportunities. Standardized tests such as the ACT and the SAT

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind law in 2002, standardized testing has been at the center of attention in the educational system. Several schools and teachers have been forced to drill children on the information they will be tested on. Teachers are forced to demonstrate other important topics in order to teach test material. Similar to majority of tests provided in the school system, standardized test have both pros and cons. Generally speaking, standardized testing is a great way to determine a baseline for a child. As Miller (2016) indicated, tests have a multitude of benefits, which include student enthusiasm, peer learning, self-improvement and retention, transfer of learning, student self-assessment, and teacher instructional guidance. Teachers are able to use the data from the standardized tests to build an entire academic plan around the results. Additionally, students and parents are able to understand the strengths and weaknesses of each child in order to determine the next steps needed to help bridge any gaps within their academic studies.

Today, it can be observed that society has shifted education drastically from the time schools were constituted, to now. Throughout history, schools have gone from private, where only the elite can attend, to public schools where virtually anyone can attend. One of the factors that goes along with education is standardized testing. Frederick J. Kelly, father of the standardized test, once said, “These tests are too crude to be used, and should be abandoned.” Not only has this shift occurred within education itself, but it has occurred within the testing concepts found within standardized testing so much so that the founder of these tests has chosen to give up on it.

Jouriles, Greg. “Here’s why we don’t need standardized testing.” Education Week 33.36(2014). 36,40. Web. 22 February 2015.

1.7 billion dollars are spent on standardized tests each year, according to Pearson, by Steve Ferrara, a Ph.D. Research Scientist. All students in grades 3-8 are required to take state standardized tests. It does not even affect students’ grade, it just measures students’ intelligence, unreliably. One test taken in 10 hours determines how smart a student is as well as influence in getting into college. Standardized tests should not be taken anymore because these test are too expensive, too time-consuming, and cause unnecessary stress for students.

Many students have experienced the joy of test-taking. For some people, tests do not bother them. However, many experience test anxiety especially for these more high-stake tests. There are many different standardized tests such as: SOLs, SATs, ACTs, and college entrance exams. These standardized tests are not efficient tools for determining the knowledge of students. People respond differently on tests depending on the testing environment and how their day has been. However, others argue that standardized tests show grades each individual student has truly earned. Standardized tests are stressful, they do not represent a student’s understanding of material well, and they interfere with the way teachers want to teach.

Growing up in Chesapeake every student is forced to take a standardized test at the end of every class they take. Standardized testing has been a part of the educational system for so long that everyone is just accustomed to taking these tests or giving them out. Standardized testing does not just effect the students but it also effects the teachers. Chesapeake School Board should get rid of standardized testing in all grade levels because of different learning style, it limits the teachers to what they can teach and poor test scores.

Standardize tests can be used to evaluate a student's understanding and knowledge in subject area. For example, The Georgia Milestones Assessment System (Georgia Milestones) is a comprehensive summative assessment, which measures how well students have learned the knowledge and skills outlined in the state-adopted content standards in English Language Arts, mathematics, science, and social studies. Standardize test have a positive effect on instructional decision making in the classroom. Standardize testing can help teachers diagnose student issues, evaluate student academic performance, form small groups, and develop instructional plans.

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

It has already been shown that standardized tests are fairly biased, across both race and socioeconomic status. Because such tests play a large role in most college admissions decisions, many students are kept from attending colleges solely because of their test scores. Shifting the focus away from test scores helps disadvantaged and minority students gain recognition, especially when their intelligence is in areas that aren’t measured by standardized tests. As Geiser argues, standardized test scores correlate strongly with income level, whereas GPAs do not; thus, GPA is actually a more standardized approach toward measuring success, at least in the areas in which standardized tests are most heavily biased. Furthermore, both Hiss and the Tufts study found that students in the test-optional or unconventional admissions approaches were more likely to be underrepresented minority students, proving that such college programs are providing opportunities to students who otherwise likely would not have been

Standardized testing- in any dictionary or any website, it can be described as "a test that is administered and scored in a consistent, or "standard", manner". Though, if you go to any school and ask a student's definition of testing, it would probably sound something along the lines of, "the WORST kind of punishment a teacher can give a student." What the students don’t know is testing is helping them create their lifestyle, paving their life, and preparing them for their future. Standardized testing has been debated nationally; people who believe in standardized testing has a positive effect on students claim that, standardized testing provides descriptive information for thoughtful use by well trained teachers. Some reasons for this is: standardized testing has been around since the 1930s when students in public schools first started testing; testing has only progressed since then. Also, we are able to get more information from our students than just regular tests in classrooms. Last, but certainly not least, testing aids as a system to help for future development for any of our students.

Quite a few opportunities are offered by different groups interested in finding the United State’s brightest children, but is selecting them by IQ tests and school grades still appropriate? IQ tests have long been outdated, originally devised to test those below average intelligence, not those who are far above. School grades are often also not an indication of someone who is an exceptionally bright student, preventing students that are maybe not the brightest in school for various reasons but may be bright in their own particular talent, including art, music, or a variety others.

Standardized testing is becoming increasingly evident in classrooms throughout all of the United States. While standardized testing seems to be a fine idea at first glance; it is creating turmoil in classrooms across the country. Standardized testing was implemented because it is supposed to give teachers guidance as a way to help them determine what to teach students and when to teach it. The result of this could be less wasted instructional time and simplified timeline management. Standardized testing also allows students’ progress to be tracked over the years. When the same test is taken yearly, it is easy to see if a student is academically improving, staying the same, or losing ground. The main reason I believe standardized tests have been becoming more apparent is that it holds the educators accountable. Since these standardized tests are unbiased, their objectivity and ability to measure student learning are tools used for holding teachers, schools, and even districts accountable for a student’s success or failure. But at what cost? These high-stake standardized tests are transforming standard curriculum into full-on test prep, and eliminating any creativity or imagination in the classroom by doing so. We are witnessing how high-stakes testing and the penalties for poor performance create a nation of cheaters not learners. We also know that high-stakes testing actually generates anxiety that undermines student performance and learning.