Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing

Improved Essays
Do Standardized Tests Improve or Hinder Education throughout the World? Standardized tests have a very long history back to around 206 BC. It is known by China’s imperial examination. Nowadays, they are widely used in education around the world. They are one of the most frequent methods to check the knowledge of students. However, some people claim that using standardized tests in education system may have a negative effect on students. Nevertheless, standardized tests also have several positive effects on education as following. As its name suggests, standardized tests create a reliable standard to every student. In general, the purpose of using standardized tests is to measure an academic performance in the subjects that students have learnt. …show more content…
According to Public Agenda survey of 1,342 public schools in United Stated, about 79% of students in the sample group believe in the fairness of the questions in standardized tests. In term of attitude over standardized tests, US Department of Education stated that US students tend to have a positive view on them. They feel that testing is just a normal and predictable matter that does not cause too much stress. In addition, most of the parents (about 97%) still consider standardized test as a rightful device that can identify the academic points that their child need an improvement too. (ProCon.org, 2015) Moreover, the trust over standardized tests is not only presented in United Stated. For example, the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) standardized test score is widely accepted around the world, and some countries such as France also take this test result in their consideration in order to reform their education system. (Baird, …show more content…
Nowadays, the number of student around the world already reaches one hundred million, and it is predicted to be doubled by 2025 too. (Maslen, 2012) So, many governments may have to spend more money on the department of education in their countries in the future. Using standardized tests for the measurement of the teaching’s quality can be a good, time saving, and cheap way compares to the other evaluation methods. Standardized tests require only several hours of exam time per subject, and the grading process can be done in a short time by computers. In US, the cost that department of education spend on standardized tests is about $5.81 per student in each year, which is considered as even less than 0.1% of the total budget on education. (ProCon.org, 2015) When the less budget is spent, the more money that government can use to facilitate the other aspects of the education in their countries

Related Documents

  • Improved Essays

    The test allows teachers to look back on the past students’ scores and instructs teachers to improve their teaching within areas. Teachers are basing their teaching only on the questions that are tested within the Standardized test. Obama said. "Tests shouldn 't occupy too much classroom time or crowd out teaching and learning. Tests should enhance teaching and learning.…

    • 887 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Standardization testing has been around since the 1960s to prove the knowledge each student has. Tests such as the SAT and the ACT which will determine your college education, career, and future. As well as the state testings, under the ruling of the No Child Left Behind act, that decides how much funding a school get based on how the students are taught and how much they learned. However, these types of tests have huge negative impacts on students lives and futures. Many teachers, students, and parents have tried to address these issues regarding testing to society.…

    • 803 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    “Standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid-1800s. The (NCLB) No Child Left Behind Act mandated annual testing in all 50 states in 2002 by President Bush.” (ProCon.org) Standardized tests are designed to measure students’ knowledge of various academics, and standardized tests are supposed to measure the ability of educators to instruct student in various academic subjects.…

    • 991 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Education today has sparked many controversial discussions about Standardized testing. Parents, educators, law makers, and even children are stressing the effects that Standardized testing is having on children, teachers, and sometimes even parents in today’s schools. Standardized testing measures the students’ knowledge of what they have learned in school. Some people wonder why schools take Standardized testing, while other schools think it has helped them in a lot of ways. I think that Standardized testing is not as important as some people think.…

    • 647 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Standardized tests are only able to measure a few of the many important aspects of what is a meaningful and worthwhile education. In the article "The Myths of Standardized Testing,”by Valerie Strauss,the book The Myths of Standardized Tests: Why They Don’t Tell You What You Think They Do is summerized into a short consensus that standerized testing is not good enough to meat the stander set by the no child left behind laws. "Creativity, critical thinking, resilience, motivation, persistence, curiosity, endurance, reliability, enthusiasm, empathy, self-awareness, self-discipline, leadership, civic-mindedness, courage, compassion, resourcefulness, sense of beauty, sense of wonder, honesty, integrity,"(Strauss) are only some of the things that a standardized test fail to examine. If these tests are only testing one part of the education system then why are they being used to see the progress of a student? Maybe instead of coming up with more and more tests that all measure the same thing, maybe test makers should find a different way to measure other parts that are important to…

    • 844 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    What is the purpose of taking standardized tests? Or if the test are harmful to some students of other race, or ones that have learning disabilities? Many parents and teachers have objected to the idea of making their children and students take a standardized test, although 75% of parents say that it is a good step for their child. Being a student that has had to take the standardized tests, it is a very waring task. The stress about wanting to know if secondary students will pass or fail, and if young adults fail then we are not good enough for the careers we would like to pursue in our futures.…

    • 1179 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Kids often dread the day in the school year when they have to take a big test. Some don’t like the pressure that is put on themselves because they want to perform good. While others don’t like tests at all. The real truth is that standardized testing should be used, not abused. Standardized testing has many benefits for teachers, schools, the state and of course for the students.…

    • 531 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    The emphasis that educational systems places on standardized test performance is ridiculous. There are many reason why standardized testing should be eliminated. Sure, it tests each…

    • 1029 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Superior Essays

    “The average student in America’s big-city public schools takes some 112 mandatory standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and the end of 12th grade — an average of about eight a year, the study says” (Rochon). Standardized testing has been around since the mid 1800’s. It was around 1920 when the SAT was introduced, and the ACT was soon after (Layton). According to The Washington Post, these tests have become more pressure-packed and ubiquitous than ever before. Many parents and teachers believe standardized tests are useless and don’t measure anything important, but there are some people who believe that standardized tests measure how well students can retain information and recall it in an organized fashion and put it in words that others…

    • 1850 Words
    • 8 Pages
    Superior Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Imagine being stuck in a bare, silent and chilly room for several hours, nothing but a #2 pencil and a testing booklet to keep you company. This was the reality for many children as, a few days ago, high school students in America sat down to take the PSAT, just one of the many standardized test they will take and have taken throughout their academic careers. A standardized test is a type of test where students are given the same range of questions in similar testing environments in order to judge and compare their scores. Standardized tests are being administered more and more as of late, due to increased funding and acts such as the 2001 No Child Left Behind act which encouraged the use of standardized tests in school. However, there has been much controversy around whether forcing students to take more standardized tests is a good thing, as there is evidence that they are biased, inaccurate, and do the education system more harm than good.…

    • 1081 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Standardized Testing Does Not Accurately Represent Educational Quality Standardized tests are tests that are administered by the state and are graded in a consistent or “standard” manner. They are administered in hopes to measure a student's aptitude by assessing how well a student understands a collection of curriculum that the government deems is necessary for all high school students to understand. These tests are administered all across America. Tests such as the ACT and SAT are highly considered by colleges and universities in hopes to increase competition and ensure that only people who are “qualified” are allowed admittance to the school. Standardized tests are, in theory, necessary and beneficial to teachers and students…

    • 1513 Words
    • 7 Pages
    Great Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Standardized Testing in Schools Standardized testing has been an inevitable part of life for countless Americans, making them question the validity of their life choices since the third grade. When taking standardized tests, one encounters some obvious drawbacks. Any student who has been forced to take one of the hundreds that exist can recount the tales of stress and feelings of inadequacy that linger after every test taken. Standardized testing does not benefit students because it objectifies certain race/ethnic groups, it doesn’t measure the test taker’s mental capacity or progress, and it is not worth the unnecessary problems for students.…

    • 871 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Standardized test also don’t measure the important skills you actually need in the “real world”. They also aren’t reliable in terms of measuring how smart a student is. While some might say that these tests give a good look of where the school is at in relativity to the country, the score of the tests are most of the time not truly saying what the student…

    • 744 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Improved Essays

    Most students, if not all, notably dislike the need for standardized testing in school, and it's a perfectly reasonable opinion. Many researchers and experts say that standardized tests are a massive waste of time and effort, and they do not help students’ education at all. Both teachers and students agree that it is stressful and unnecessary. Some schools spend days, if not weeks, to test when they could be using the time to teach. Standardized tests also create unfair judgments to students and have their future based on a number.…

    • 813 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Improved Essays
  • Great Essays

    Personally I don’t think they are benefiting anyone; however they are a good tool to determine how much information a student is retaining. Before I dive into the argument of standardized test, here is a little history of how the test came about. Standardized tests have…

    • 2008 Words
    • 9 Pages
    Great Essays