Students everywhere dread the sheer monotony of bubbling in answer after answer. Terms, AIMS, Finals- they all mean the same thing- standardized testing. Standardized tests undermine education quality, consume valuable time and funds, and discourage higher level thinking and creativity. The bottom line? Standardized tests are doing our students more harm than good.
The amount of emphasis put on standardized tests compromises the quality of a student’s education. The purpose of tests is not only to evaluate student performance, but also to assess teacher effectiveness. Because of this, teachers spend too much time ‘teaching to the test’. This results in less time spent on engaging class activities and more time spent teaching students according to a set of standards that are supposed to determine their proficiency. A University of Maryland study found "the pressure teachers were feeling to 'teach to the test'" since NCLB (No Child Left Behind) was leading to "declines in teaching higher-order thinking, in the …show more content…
With Arizona Governor Doug Ducey approving a state budget in March that cuts nearly $100 million worth of funding from public universities and keeps K-12 funding at a minimum, Arizona cannot afford any unnecessary costs. National studies estimate that the price per student per year of standardized testing is anywhere from seven hundred to one thousand dollars in testing alone (including instructional time spent on test prep). With Arizona ranking 47th in the nation for public education quality, funds would be better spent on improving the quality of education, not on a mediocre assessment of students’ abilities. Standardized testing not only wastes money, but it wastes time, too. According to the American Federation of Teachers, more than one hundred and sixty hours are spent preparing for and taking standardized tests. That is equal to about twenty school days per year, or one-ninth of all school
The amount of emphasis put on standardized tests compromises the quality of a student’s education. The purpose of tests is not only to evaluate student performance, but also to assess teacher effectiveness. Because of this, teachers spend too much time ‘teaching to the test’. This results in less time spent on engaging class activities and more time spent teaching students according to a set of standards that are supposed to determine their proficiency. A University of Maryland study found "the pressure teachers were feeling to 'teach to the test'" since NCLB (No Child Left Behind) was leading to "declines in teaching higher-order thinking, in the …show more content…
With Arizona Governor Doug Ducey approving a state budget in March that cuts nearly $100 million worth of funding from public universities and keeps K-12 funding at a minimum, Arizona cannot afford any unnecessary costs. National studies estimate that the price per student per year of standardized testing is anywhere from seven hundred to one thousand dollars in testing alone (including instructional time spent on test prep). With Arizona ranking 47th in the nation for public education quality, funds would be better spent on improving the quality of education, not on a mediocre assessment of students’ abilities. Standardized testing not only wastes money, but it wastes time, too. According to the American Federation of Teachers, more than one hundred and sixty hours are spent preparing for and taking standardized tests. That is equal to about twenty school days per year, or one-ninth of all school