Today, American students are burdened with standardized tests, which are an attempt by the education system to evaluate each student’s knowledge of “key” subjects such as mathematics and reading, and were first introduced at the close of the first World War. However, with the enactment of the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001, students fall prey to extreme stress and anxiety, as well as a narrowing of the curriculum with a sole focus on standardized test subjects. Standardized testing also inflates the achievement gap between middle to upper class students and low income, minority students, causing tension within the school system and furthering the increase of failure from lower income and minority students. Looking at how standardized tests
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Immense feelings of anxiety and stress in addition to loss of motivation for students and increased job stress and lowered job satisfaction for teachers result from these tests. In trying to prepare for tests, students become anxious, leading to unneeded stress. One researcher concluded that American students are tested to an unprecedented and unparalleled degree that is damaging. The level and frequency of testing, starting as early as third grade and ending with the SAT and ACT, exceeds any other country. The emotional health of students in American schools is being damaged with the seemingly constant tests on their level of knowledge. No Child Left Behind and high-stakes testing cause greater test anxiety for elementary school students than typical classroom tests. These young students undergo levels of stress that they should never experience. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 dramatically increased the prevalence and stakes of standardized testing for public school students in elementary, middle, and high school by requiring annual testing of statewide academic achievement assessments in the areas of mathematics and reading from grade 3 through high school graduation. However, students are not the only people negatively affected by standardized …show more content…
However, minorities and students from low income families have a smaller chance of performing well on standardized tests, a growing issue they do not control. Unfortunately for minorities and low income students, standardized testing in American education has reflected, reproduced, and transformed social inequalities. For students and schools, the current policy is to measure success via standardized testing. Yet the indisputable factors of socioeconomic status, and race have consistently been implicated in fostering an achievement gap. Poor and minority children attending low-resource schools have had a more narrow and limited learning experience, with their teachers spending additional time on test preparation, math and reading compared to children attending more affluent schools. Socioeconomic status and race exercise a primary influence on test-based academic performance indicators, to the point where changes in other school level predictive factors would not result in the significant closing of the achievement gap. High-stakes and standardized testing exaggerate the gap in achievement of minorities and low income students compared to high income students. They have no control over their education, are taught mainly test material and left uneducated in many other subjects, which inhibits their chance to prosper as well as
Immense feelings of anxiety and stress in addition to loss of motivation for students and increased job stress and lowered job satisfaction for teachers result from these tests. In trying to prepare for tests, students become anxious, leading to unneeded stress. One researcher concluded that American students are tested to an unprecedented and unparalleled degree that is damaging. The level and frequency of testing, starting as early as third grade and ending with the SAT and ACT, exceeds any other country. The emotional health of students in American schools is being damaged with the seemingly constant tests on their level of knowledge. No Child Left Behind and high-stakes testing cause greater test anxiety for elementary school students than typical classroom tests. These young students undergo levels of stress that they should never experience. The No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 dramatically increased the prevalence and stakes of standardized testing for public school students in elementary, middle, and high school by requiring annual testing of statewide academic achievement assessments in the areas of mathematics and reading from grade 3 through high school graduation. However, students are not the only people negatively affected by standardized …show more content…
However, minorities and students from low income families have a smaller chance of performing well on standardized tests, a growing issue they do not control. Unfortunately for minorities and low income students, standardized testing in American education has reflected, reproduced, and transformed social inequalities. For students and schools, the current policy is to measure success via standardized testing. Yet the indisputable factors of socioeconomic status, and race have consistently been implicated in fostering an achievement gap. Poor and minority children attending low-resource schools have had a more narrow and limited learning experience, with their teachers spending additional time on test preparation, math and reading compared to children attending more affluent schools. Socioeconomic status and race exercise a primary influence on test-based academic performance indicators, to the point where changes in other school level predictive factors would not result in the significant closing of the achievement gap. High-stakes and standardized testing exaggerate the gap in achievement of minorities and low income students compared to high income students. They have no control over their education, are taught mainly test material and left uneducated in many other subjects, which inhibits their chance to prosper as well as