Standardized Testing is becoming mandatory in schools throughout the United States. Standardize test is any test in which the same test is given in the same manner to all test takers. Almost every teacher, parent and student have an opinion on the subject. Herbert J. Walberg “Standardized Testing is a Good Way to Measure Student Learning,” and Don W. Hooper “Standardized Testing and Assessment improves Education,” agree that standardized testing is effective and will improve the performance in schools, in teachers, and in students. While Walberg relies more on logical appeals and Hooper on emotional ones, they both have very little reliable sources to provide to their arguments.…
Like many who would agree with standardized testing remaining part of the admissions criteria, Garcia argues that these exams measure more than an a student’s general knowledge. Based on the excerpt, “They test a student’s reading ability and how well they manage time, think critically and organize” (Garcia 6). He implies that they are factors that are needed and students will face in college. Elsewhere,…
Standards of Learning Testing, or SOL Testing, is used in the state of Virginia to measure whether or not a student meets the minimum requirement for what they should know in core subjects in school like Math, Science, History, and English. These tests are not accurate because it does not measure the amount of knowledge that a student has on a particular subject but the amount of the material the students can apply on test day. Students begin taking SOL’s in the third grade and over the course of their school career they may take approximately 34 different tests that are required for a student to pass by meeting the minimum passing score. Children start taking SOLs in the third grade and review four years worth of core subject material and…
Annually, numerous educators express despair and frustration when attempting to prepare students to take standardized scholastic examinations. Educators are constantly pressured by school administrators to ensure their students excel when these tests are administered; however, in the African-American community, the stress, frustration and pressure felt by educators is heightened three-fold. Many educators strongly believe these standardized tests are racially biased against minority and lower income students (i.e. African-American, Hispanic).These educators are correct; numerous studies indicate that, although minorities tend to produce lower scores during standardized testing, the results of these standardized tests do not accurately depict…
According to the ABC 13 Eyewitness news, recently in Houston, hundreds of parents let their children to opt out of taking the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness or STAAR exams (In Protest, Parents Keep Student’s Home during STAAR Test Days) For Texas, the STAAR test measures a student’s ability to move on to the next grade starting in 3rd grade (In Protest, Parents Keep Student’s Home during STAAR Test Days). Within this past year, about 500 parents in Texas choose for their children to stay home from taking the STAAR tests (Webmaster). Do parents have the right intentions? They believe that schools are not concerned about their children from actually learning.…
I stand before you today to discuss the overuse of standardized testing. Children of these upcoming generations have it engrained in their minds that it is imperative that they prepare themselves for a schooling system with multitudes of tests. Children in these schooling systems are required by law to take standardized tests to represent their currents school. While this is seems beneficial to be funding; parents are not able to perceive how the school and teachers are attempting to construct this into the children’s schedules. Teachers are not only piling on the word for the kids preparing for these tests, but are also forcing all of this knowledge that in a short period of time onto these students.…
Standardized “... tests have tended to lean heavily on easily scorable multiple-choice questions that stress memory rather than understanding” (Jehlen, 1). So, when a child or teen takes these tests it does not matter if they understand what they’re doing, just as long as they got the right answer. This is completely unacceptable, they need to be tested over their understanding of a…
Schools in the United States use standardized tests to evaluate the students' in elementary, middle and high school. These tests are also used for entrance into college or even to find out if a student needs to take a particular class over in college. To enter into college, a student usually will take the SAT or the ACT Exams and usually there is a fee for taking these exams. In Indiana, the students' take the ISTEP + Exam.…
These tests are unreliable and are narrowing student curriculum. Standardized tests are an unreliable way to measure student competency. For example in “2001 a study found that test score improvements were caused by temporary fluxuations and were not permanent” (ProCon). One test a year does not measure the full range of learning…
Could you imagine a world without tests? I know I would love one! Having a world without tests is something I think the majority of students would like to have, but sadly it is not possible. In school we learn a vast amount of material for each class, and there has to be a way for teachers to determine if you know a material or not. If you ask me, I do not like tests, but I do feel it is necessary for schools to have them.…
Teaching to the test- the act of teaching in which the main focus is getting students to pass a specific test. Teachers are no longer focused on students actually learning. Their focus is on ensuring that their students pass a given test. Since the No Child Left Behind law passed in 2001 standardized testing, and teaching to a test have become the new normal. The two are quickly robbing students of a true education.…
Which shows that the common core is using standarized tests to make sure that the students soak up the information and then regergertate it when it comes to test, and then forget that…
In The Washington Post, author and teacher Marion Brady issued an unexpected and judicious message: “Schools need a complete transformation in what and how students learn.” Not soon after, Brady speaks discusses the flawed exercise of standardized testing and claims, “Using the scores on standardized tests to shape the life chances of kids, determine the pay and reputations of teachers, gauge the quality of school administrators, establish the worth of neighborhood schools, or as an excuse to hand public schools over to private, profit-taking corporations is, at the very least irresponsible… it’s unethical.” Appalled, Brady exposes numerous overlooked errors while challenging a transformation to the State. With over one and a half million students taking standardized tests this issue is not easily dismissed (Fletcher). Marion Brady started his teaching career in 1952 teaching in a smaller rural community (“Reality Based Learning…”).…
Proponents argue that standardized tests have been deteriorating education in America, but extensive longitudinal studies and national surveys over the past year says otherwise. Standardized testing has been around since 1905 starting with the Stanford-Binet Intelligence Test. Fast forward fifteen years, the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) was created. In the 1960s, the federal government started pushing new achievement tests designed to evaluate instructional methods and schools. Standardized testing ever since couple years of it’s introduction has stirred up controversy on the basis of racial bias, reliability, and discrimination.…
The Internet has made it very easy look up whatever we need. The Internet has become the latest source of transactive memory. In a study conducted at Columbia University, scientists have found that “the internet is changing the nature of what we remember, making us more likely to recall where the facts are rather than the facts themselves” (Sparrow, Liu, and Wegner). All of the data on the World Wide Web is not “overwhelming,” but what is overwhelming is our inability to store and use it properly. We do not try to memorize information as much anymore because we can easily look up the information that we need.…