Teaching to the Test
The current testing methods utilized by American students, will not allow the United States to remain as one of the leading, educationally advanced countries in the world. Standardized testing, although made to be “one size fits all”, should not be administered solely for the fact that all students learn in different fashions. Not only do the tests encourage narrow-mindedness and decreased creativity, but they force teachers to “teach to the test” rather than teaching their curriculum. When a teacher earns their teaching credential, they get to decide how and what they consider vital for students in the future. Usually, the curriculum is developed to help students truly master the material by examining it from numerous …show more content…
However, standardized tests measure one small facet in the world of education. In fact, a five-year University of Maryland study found that, "the pressure teachers were feeling to 'teach to the test' since NCLB was leading to "declines in teaching higher-order thinking, in the amount of time spent on complex assignments, and in the actual amount of high cognitive content in the curriculum." This, in the long run, will be detrimental to the youth joining the workforce with no experience in terms of problem-solving and creativity. The future of American innovation depends on these two unique skills. Unfortunately, the University of Maryland study was not an anomaly. In 2012, an article was published in the Huffington Post that polled people from around the country about the law and discovered that, “Of those who say they are "very familiar" with the law, 28 percent say it has made education better and 48 percent worse.” Obviously, with nearly 50 percent of people with knowledge about the law, opposed to it, something needs to …show more content…
Do we want our kids entering society completely unprepared to contribute and improve the future? Regurgitating facts instead of understanding concepts and different ways of critical thinking, will eventually lead to a society that knows a lot of useless facts, but has no creativity that so exemplified America, and its American Dream, from the rest of the modern world. Action must be taken to put this once great educational powerhouse back on top, so that all know that the future will be left in capable
The current testing methods utilized by American students, will not allow the United States to remain as one of the leading, educationally advanced countries in the world. Standardized testing, although made to be “one size fits all”, should not be administered solely for the fact that all students learn in different fashions. Not only do the tests encourage narrow-mindedness and decreased creativity, but they force teachers to “teach to the test” rather than teaching their curriculum. When a teacher earns their teaching credential, they get to decide how and what they consider vital for students in the future. Usually, the curriculum is developed to help students truly master the material by examining it from numerous …show more content…
However, standardized tests measure one small facet in the world of education. In fact, a five-year University of Maryland study found that, "the pressure teachers were feeling to 'teach to the test' since NCLB was leading to "declines in teaching higher-order thinking, in the amount of time spent on complex assignments, and in the actual amount of high cognitive content in the curriculum." This, in the long run, will be detrimental to the youth joining the workforce with no experience in terms of problem-solving and creativity. The future of American innovation depends on these two unique skills. Unfortunately, the University of Maryland study was not an anomaly. In 2012, an article was published in the Huffington Post that polled people from around the country about the law and discovered that, “Of those who say they are "very familiar" with the law, 28 percent say it has made education better and 48 percent worse.” Obviously, with nearly 50 percent of people with knowledge about the law, opposed to it, something needs to …show more content…
Do we want our kids entering society completely unprepared to contribute and improve the future? Regurgitating facts instead of understanding concepts and different ways of critical thinking, will eventually lead to a society that knows a lot of useless facts, but has no creativity that so exemplified America, and its American Dream, from the rest of the modern world. Action must be taken to put this once great educational powerhouse back on top, so that all know that the future will be left in capable