W. James Popham, “former president of the American Educational Research Association” (ProCon.org), defines standardized tests as “any test that's administered, scored, and interpreted in a standard, predetermined manner” (qtd. in ProCon.org). “Standardized tests have been a part of American education since the mid-1800s. Their use skyrocketed after 2002's No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) mandated annual testing in all 50 states” (ProCon.org). Standardized testing should be discarded. Alfie Kohn, author on human behavior, education, and parenting, cites a study:
...actively engaged if they went back over things they didn't understand, asked questions of themselves as they read, and tried to connect what they were doing to what they had already learned; and as ‘superficially’ engaged if they just copied down answers, guessed a lot, and skipped the hard parts. …show more content…
“Kids fill out more worksheets, answer more questions at the end of textbook chapters, and participate in more drills. Critical thinking is increasingly confined to pre-planned publisher-supplied exercises that closely resemble problems on tests” (Peha). Grading for effort or completion can be grading for lead, causing the purpose to be taken advantage of. Showing your work is enforced in math because steps are either right or wrong, but ignored (intentionally or unintentionally) in other subjects, even though the potential and imperativeness is similar, if not greater. It’s not unfeasible to supply homework with correct answers (the “what” ship has sailed for humans, now anchored by technology) and direct for analysis (the “how” and “why” relevant and crucial in the twenty-first century). Behind-the-scenes debates involving verbal analysis are not accounted for, while pew-warmer like assignments are represented as letter grades and GPA. “...late education researcher Gerald W. Bracey, PhD” lists “qualities that standardized tests cannot measure”
...actively engaged if they went back over things they didn't understand, asked questions of themselves as they read, and tried to connect what they were doing to what they had already learned; and as ‘superficially’ engaged if they just copied down answers, guessed a lot, and skipped the hard parts. …show more content…
“Kids fill out more worksheets, answer more questions at the end of textbook chapters, and participate in more drills. Critical thinking is increasingly confined to pre-planned publisher-supplied exercises that closely resemble problems on tests” (Peha). Grading for effort or completion can be grading for lead, causing the purpose to be taken advantage of. Showing your work is enforced in math because steps are either right or wrong, but ignored (intentionally or unintentionally) in other subjects, even though the potential and imperativeness is similar, if not greater. It’s not unfeasible to supply homework with correct answers (the “what” ship has sailed for humans, now anchored by technology) and direct for analysis (the “how” and “why” relevant and crucial in the twenty-first century). Behind-the-scenes debates involving verbal analysis are not accounted for, while pew-warmer like assignments are represented as letter grades and GPA. “...late education researcher Gerald W. Bracey, PhD” lists “qualities that standardized tests cannot measure”