Standardized
Testing in Schools
- By
Audrey L. Swanson
Stress
levels at an all time high, pressure and expectations rising and students only
learning the minimum amount of information required for the test. All of these
things are due to standardized testing in the United States. Most children in
the United States attend a public school and therefore are forced to take a
standardized test. It has been said that the United States is falling behind in
education and what could be the cause of this? Some suggest this is due to
standardized testing.
A
standardized test is a test that is scored in a consistent manner and was
brought into the school systems in an attempt to reform schools in the United
States. This is a wide spread issue because in reality it affects most people
in the United States, whether it’s a student, parent, sibling, teacher, etc. We
are often already in the habit of taking these standardized tests that we
seldom stop and think about the consequences that they actually bring along
with them. Some of these consequences include: not receiving a complete
education, only learning what is on the test, extreme amounts of pressure,
cheating and much more. I myself had to take the standardized tests, TAKS at
the time, and I still remember feeling extremely pressured because I knew that
in order to graduate I had to pass these standardized tests. I also remember
that after the test was taken, nothing was taught in the classrooms anymore,
everyday after the test became a movie day, early release day or some other
easy day. I do not think this is right, because it takes so much out of
learning for students. There are so many more things that students would be
able to learn if there was no standardized test and therefore this semester I
decided to write about standardized testing and once I was able to state my
point of view, I decided that I would advocate against standardized testing.
I read blogs and articles about standardized
testing all semester to see how others felt about it and according to The 6th
Floor Blog, 47% of readers argue that standardized testing should be eliminated
or minimized, because it negatively impacts students’ self esteem and learning.
I do agree with this, because as mentioned above, the only thing that is taught
or focused on in classrooms is what is on the test and nothing more. Often, due
to these standardized tests students are unprepared for what college holds and
are not ready for the workload. I believe that we in the United States should
adapt to what some other countries do, that teachers are the ones to develop a
test at the end of the semester. I believe that this should be adapted because
the teachers know you best and are aware of what they taught you and how they
taught you these things. I personally lived and attended school in Germany and
there was no such thing as a standardized test, my teachers were the ones who
developed and administered the test. I enjoyed that much more, because teachers
were able to teach so much more and teach things that they found important for
life. From my perspective, students would feel much more comfortable if the
test was written by their teacher, rather than someone who has never entered
their classroom.
Therefore,
I believe that this would be a much needed policy change. By making this policy
change, teachers would be able to focus on things they would like to teach and
what they believe is important for the students’ future life. Teachers would
also be able to teach in a different way and students’ would be able to take much
more from this type of teaching. I truly do believe that this would be a great
change for the public schools in the United States. Teachers would be able to
teach more, teach better, stress levels would be minimized and learning
maximized.
References:
The STAFF
(February 22, 2013). Are Standardized Tests Worth the
Stress? Retrieved from
Hursh, D.
(2005). The growth of high-stakes testing in the
USA: accountability, markets and the decline
in educational
Equality. Retrieved from
Projects
of Zack booth Simpson: Why I hate Standardized Tests [image].
(2010).
Retrieved from:
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