Standardized Testing
Education can defined as a system that enables people to learn and acquire the skills they need to lead successful lives. In America, this definition appears to be changing rapidly as time goes by. Today’s students are given constant standardized tests, which is very different from students in the past. The tests are having a negative impact on the education of students in America because critical thinking skills and real life skills are not being taught, teachers are being restricted to teaching to the test, and certain minority students are being discriminated against.
Many aspects of the past generations have quickly evolved in today’s education system. Today's students are not being taught to think critically and …show more content…
The tests are being used in place of other crucial information about each individual student and leads to inadequate depictions of their capabilities (Bryfonski). The students’ results should not entirely represent their academic abilities since they may lead to false conclusions. An opportunity may be passed based on the inaccurate results on a test. At one time, people believed that increasing the amount of testing was actually beneficial. In 2002, there was an act created to increase the amount of academic growth in the country and it is known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The act was not very popular among the education community because it was said to have not offered "flexibility in solving low-performing schools, providing, instead, a one size fits all solution (Thomas)." The act was proven unsuccessful and schools were not progressing like anticipated. The act created more discrimination by widening the space between low and high income students' scores(Thomas). This increased amount of testing proved to have no positive impact on the students or staff. Teaching the children a variety of academic skills, rather than teaching to a test, will open up more doors in their future …show more content…
Certain schools allot over a quarter of the entire year for test preparation. The scores of New York City's reading and math sections had reached a low in 2010 and the schools were forced to increase to longer amounts of test prep time, in order to avoid being shut down. A school located in Texas was not even able to discuss an anniversary of terrorist attacks because they needed to get in their test preparation time (Is the Use). The more standardized tests which are given, the more time that is going to be taken out of the teachers' regular class instruction. This leads to children being deprived of important lessons that will carry them further in life than any test prep skills. New York State's education system, in the recent years, has heavily relied on standardized testing. The curriculum has become much narrower, and therefore students are lacking many skills. Schools are turning into "test prep factories” instead of focusing on the students’ futures (Phillips). Preparing for standardized testing may be key to succeeding in high school, but when these students are looking for careers it is not paying off. Many students are finding that they are lacking some essential skills that they need in order to flourish in their careers. They are struggling to get the jobs they want due to their lack of critical skills. This shows why schools need to be allotted more time for teaching
Education can defined as a system that enables people to learn and acquire the skills they need to lead successful lives. In America, this definition appears to be changing rapidly as time goes by. Today’s students are given constant standardized tests, which is very different from students in the past. The tests are having a negative impact on the education of students in America because critical thinking skills and real life skills are not being taught, teachers are being restricted to teaching to the test, and certain minority students are being discriminated against.
Many aspects of the past generations have quickly evolved in today’s education system. Today's students are not being taught to think critically and …show more content…
The tests are being used in place of other crucial information about each individual student and leads to inadequate depictions of their capabilities (Bryfonski). The students’ results should not entirely represent their academic abilities since they may lead to false conclusions. An opportunity may be passed based on the inaccurate results on a test. At one time, people believed that increasing the amount of testing was actually beneficial. In 2002, there was an act created to increase the amount of academic growth in the country and it is known as the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). The act was not very popular among the education community because it was said to have not offered "flexibility in solving low-performing schools, providing, instead, a one size fits all solution (Thomas)." The act was proven unsuccessful and schools were not progressing like anticipated. The act created more discrimination by widening the space between low and high income students' scores(Thomas). This increased amount of testing proved to have no positive impact on the students or staff. Teaching the children a variety of academic skills, rather than teaching to a test, will open up more doors in their future …show more content…
Certain schools allot over a quarter of the entire year for test preparation. The scores of New York City's reading and math sections had reached a low in 2010 and the schools were forced to increase to longer amounts of test prep time, in order to avoid being shut down. A school located in Texas was not even able to discuss an anniversary of terrorist attacks because they needed to get in their test preparation time (Is the Use). The more standardized tests which are given, the more time that is going to be taken out of the teachers' regular class instruction. This leads to children being deprived of important lessons that will carry them further in life than any test prep skills. New York State's education system, in the recent years, has heavily relied on standardized testing. The curriculum has become much narrower, and therefore students are lacking many skills. Schools are turning into "test prep factories” instead of focusing on the students’ futures (Phillips). Preparing for standardized testing may be key to succeeding in high school, but when these students are looking for careers it is not paying off. Many students are finding that they are lacking some essential skills that they need in order to flourish in their careers. They are struggling to get the jobs they want due to their lack of critical skills. This shows why schools need to be allotted more time for teaching