Society has made it acceptable to define a person by a number. Numbers play a key factor in determining how beautiful, skillful, or intelligent a person may be. Today, public schools highlight the importance of standardized testing, so much so, that students are experiencing high levels of stress at a young age. Currently, there is an emphasis on the use of standardized tests results to evaluate school districts, schools, and teachers. By doing so, teachers will only be concerned with teaching the material that will be presented on the test, which in turn, would be a disservice to the students. Teaching to a test does not prepare students for independent living. Public schools should place more emphasis on character development, values, and
…show more content…
In 2001, a study was published by the Brookings Institution, that discovered that 50-80% of year-over-year test score improvements were temporary (“Standardized”). These results had nothing to do with long-term changes in the students’ learning; however, it was caused by the student's current surroundings and emotional state during the time of the test (“Standardized”). Standardized tests record the student’s performance on one specific day and do not take into consideration other external factors. As for the monotonous test preparation, some schools allot more than a quarter of the year’s instruction to test preparation (“Standardized”). Imposing such a schedule leaves no time for teaching other material that students may need to become successful: this leaves students uneducated on certain subjects. Lastly, standardized testing places unnecessary stress on students at a young age. According to Gregory J. Cizek, an education researcher, testing produces extremely high levels of anxiety in most students (“Standardized”). Children should be able to enjoy school and not feel pressured to perform to a certain …show more content…
A nine-year study, completed by the National Research Council in 2011, discovered that placing a strong emphasis on testing had little to no effect on the students’ learning process but caused substantial harm (“How”). Students are unable to receive the proper education due to teachers teaching to the test. Not receiving the proper education can cause students to become less interested in school and maybe cause some to drop out before completing high school (“How”). As for the use of tests results to evaluate teacher quality, student tests are not reliable and cannot fairly judge an educator. Researchers have examed common value-added methods of teacher evaluations and found it with multiple errors and lacking in reliability (“How”). These inaccurate ratings will cause some good, hardworking, and experienced educators to stray away from the profession. Standardized tests provide no form of
In 2001, a study was published by the Brookings Institution, that discovered that 50-80% of year-over-year test score improvements were temporary (“Standardized”). These results had nothing to do with long-term changes in the students’ learning; however, it was caused by the student's current surroundings and emotional state during the time of the test (“Standardized”). Standardized tests record the student’s performance on one specific day and do not take into consideration other external factors. As for the monotonous test preparation, some schools allot more than a quarter of the year’s instruction to test preparation (“Standardized”). Imposing such a schedule leaves no time for teaching other material that students may need to become successful: this leaves students uneducated on certain subjects. Lastly, standardized testing places unnecessary stress on students at a young age. According to Gregory J. Cizek, an education researcher, testing produces extremely high levels of anxiety in most students (“Standardized”). Children should be able to enjoy school and not feel pressured to perform to a certain …show more content…
A nine-year study, completed by the National Research Council in 2011, discovered that placing a strong emphasis on testing had little to no effect on the students’ learning process but caused substantial harm (“How”). Students are unable to receive the proper education due to teachers teaching to the test. Not receiving the proper education can cause students to become less interested in school and maybe cause some to drop out before completing high school (“How”). As for the use of tests results to evaluate teacher quality, student tests are not reliable and cannot fairly judge an educator. Researchers have examed common value-added methods of teacher evaluations and found it with multiple errors and lacking in reliability (“How”). These inaccurate ratings will cause some good, hardworking, and experienced educators to stray away from the profession. Standardized tests provide no form of