Standardized Testing For Students In Public Or Private Schools

Superior Essays
Vincent Gardiner
Mrs. Foltz
ENC 1101
1 December 2015
Standardized Test
All students in public or private schools know about the stress of taking standardized test. The average student in high school dreads the three letter word SAT or ACT. If you have ever taken a standardized test you will know the struggle of answering mass amounts of problems accurately and in a crunch for time. All classes that kids take in grade school are in one way or another geared toward the final resultant of giving students the right tools to pass high stakes standardized test. Standardized test are used for nearly all subjects all around the nation. These tests are used by the state to gage where students are at in their curriculums and whether or not they are on track. Nearly all standardized test are mandatory and teachers have no real control over them, although the SAT and ACT are not required to be taken, their scores are required for college applications. The standardized testing in our schools needs to be decrease to the bare minimum. Standardized testing takes time away from the already relatively small teaching windows teachers have. Teachers are forced to give students standardized tests during class time that would otherwise be used to teach. “Most teachers acknowledge the importance of standardized tests and don not feel their teaching has been compromised” (Procon). Although teachers understand the reasoning behind standardized tests, they also know how much time is wasted due to them. In the short run testing does not seem too detrimental but in the grand scheme of things missed class time due to standardized test means less material covered and that can lead to missed questions on final exams, which have huge effects on student’s grades and potentially can lead a student to be held back. Teachers are lacking time and as a result it is causing them to teach to the test; which omits a lot of information to touch on key points before test time. “A five-year University of Maryland study completed in 2007 found the pressure teachers were feeling to teach to the test was leading to declines in teaching higher-order thinking” (Procon). Since students are receiving less in-depth teaching they are less likely to grasp full concepts, and less likely to retain information. “Some schools allocate more than a quarter of the year’s instruction to test prep” (Procon). The test retest attitude in the class room is discouraging to many students because of the constant pressure those quizzes put on their grade. The constant threat of failing due to one test is causing students to perform poorly and have negative outlooks on education. With the ever growing abundance
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The more test that students are exposed to will cause increasing anxiety and stress. The authors of Procon.org standardized tests section say that “Stricter standards and increased testing are better preparing school students for college”. Although more testing may in fact better prepare students for college, it will also cause a significant amount more of stress and pressure on students. Testing causes more than just the test taker stress; it also causes the teachers to feel pressured to keep their students grades up. According a NEA survey, “a majority of teachers reported feeling considerable pressure to improve test scores and 72% felt moderate or extreme pressure from both school and district administration” (Neatoday). If teachers are showing signs of stress you can only imagine how the students stress levels must be. Many of the standardized tests given today are presented to the students before they have even finished the entire course. Students are not only bombarded with test after test but they are also expected to know a whole course worth of material before they are even done taking the course. “Parents are worried about the pressure on their children because suddenly they are feeling like failures” (UFT). Pressure in school can cause some students to give up and begin performing poorly, which can even lead to more serious issues with one’s health. The stress caused by standardize testing is for the most part effecting both student and teacher. With all the standardize tests students are required to take some scores are not even

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