Should Standardized Testing Be Required Essay

"Believing we can improve schooling with more tests is like believing you can make yourself grow taller by measuring your height" (Students Against Testing). All students that attend a public school in the United States are required to take standardized tests starting in third grade. Then those students have to take at least two a year until they enter high school, and once in high school students have to continue taking the same type of tests along with other standardized tests such as AP tests, the SAT, and the ACT. Standardized tests should not be required because it is not an accurate form of measurement of a students ' progress, causes unnecessary stress, and causes teachers to neglect the skills that go beyond the test. A standardized test is any examination that is administered and scored in a predetermined and standard manner (Popham). Young children all over the United States are now required to take standardized tests according to the No Child Left Behind Act …show more content…
Standardized tests cause unnecessary stress for both the teachers and the students because of the amount of pressure weighing on the results of the standardized tests. 78% of all schools consider standardized tests to be considerably important ("Are Test Scores Still Important College Admissions Requirements?"). During the weeks before, the day of, or in the weeks after students may experience tears, hyperventilation, vomiting, lack of sleep, and feel anxious from the stress that the students are under. These standardized tests do not consider the external factors that may be affecting each individual student. The debilitating stress caused from standardized tests may cause students to do poorly on the test, regardless of whether they know the material or not. This amount of stress is not healthy for anyone, especially growing children, and the time and emphasis that is placed on these tests does not