For countless years, students have had the experience of taking at least one standardized test. Standardized tests have been in use a long time to measure a student’s progress in core subjects. Standardized testing has changed the purpose of school. Going to school each day only to be educated the test. Not only does the students miss out on what they should learn to prepare for themselves for when they become adults, but also the teachers. The teachers do not have the time to teach their students what they wish to teach. The curriculum has been altered to only cover the subjects that will be tested. Standardized tests should be cast out of the school system seeing that it does not value the students’ creativity or diversity, standardized testing
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In elementary through high school, standardized testing has conditioned the students into two different groups. There are the “smart children” they do exceedingly well in class and are different classes than the rest such as the AIG or the Academically/ intellectually gifted program. Then there are the “dull children” this group is intertwined with students who need special assistance since they may have a learning disability. (Love) The students become labeled and continue to be in the same position throughout their school career until improvement is shown in their test scores. Students realize how much of an impact these tests have towards their future. However, improvement for some students may not be so easily achievable. Students who are put in the lower classes may not be necessarily capable of being the better classes, they may not be the best test takers. After the students complete the test; results are not given to teachers and students until several months later. Once they receive their results the test does not provide any feedback or comments on how to perform better. “Classroom surveys show most teachers do not find scores from standardized tests scores very useful. The tests do not help a teacher understand what to do next in working with a student because they do not indicate how the student learns or thinks. Nor do they measure much of what students should learn. Good …show more content…
“Nearly 90 percent of school psychologists who responded to the survey believed that teachers’ expectations contributed at least somewhat to test anxiety. Eighty-eight percent said that parents’ expectations also contributed to students’ stress.” (Spector) Teachers are stressed about teaching every student all the curriculum and ensure they understand the concept before the test date. Students understand how important the test is to their future ahead. (Spector) In acknowledgment of the importance of the test, students are encouraged to acquire performance-enhanced drugs such as Modafinil and Ritalin or students will result to cheating. “Paris, along with Richard J. Stiggins, president of the Assessment Training Institute in Portland, Oregon, believes that more educators are now realizing how standardized tests provoke considerable anxiety—anxiety that increases with each year that students move through school. Furthermore, students do not necessarily become “test wise” as is commonly believed. Instead, older students report not checking their answers, filling in bubbles mindlessly, carelessly skimming passages for answers, and occasionally cheating. This “test pollution” encourages destructive habits that undermine genuine learning.”
In elementary through high school, standardized testing has conditioned the students into two different groups. There are the “smart children” they do exceedingly well in class and are different classes than the rest such as the AIG or the Academically/ intellectually gifted program. Then there are the “dull children” this group is intertwined with students who need special assistance since they may have a learning disability. (Love) The students become labeled and continue to be in the same position throughout their school career until improvement is shown in their test scores. Students realize how much of an impact these tests have towards their future. However, improvement for some students may not be so easily achievable. Students who are put in the lower classes may not be necessarily capable of being the better classes, they may not be the best test takers. After the students complete the test; results are not given to teachers and students until several months later. Once they receive their results the test does not provide any feedback or comments on how to perform better. “Classroom surveys show most teachers do not find scores from standardized tests scores very useful. The tests do not help a teacher understand what to do next in working with a student because they do not indicate how the student learns or thinks. Nor do they measure much of what students should learn. Good …show more content…
“Nearly 90 percent of school psychologists who responded to the survey believed that teachers’ expectations contributed at least somewhat to test anxiety. Eighty-eight percent said that parents’ expectations also contributed to students’ stress.” (Spector) Teachers are stressed about teaching every student all the curriculum and ensure they understand the concept before the test date. Students understand how important the test is to their future ahead. (Spector) In acknowledgment of the importance of the test, students are encouraged to acquire performance-enhanced drugs such as Modafinil and Ritalin or students will result to cheating. “Paris, along with Richard J. Stiggins, president of the Assessment Training Institute in Portland, Oregon, believes that more educators are now realizing how standardized tests provoke considerable anxiety—anxiety that increases with each year that students move through school. Furthermore, students do not necessarily become “test wise” as is commonly believed. Instead, older students report not checking their answers, filling in bubbles mindlessly, carelessly skimming passages for answers, and occasionally cheating. This “test pollution” encourages destructive habits that undermine genuine learning.”