Arguments Against Standardized Testing Essay

Over time, the SAT’s format has changed to better measure a student’s ability and potential. Excessive stress is put on students to do well on the SAT’s, and causes them unnecessary strain. As college admissions become more and more competitive, the need for higher test scores has increased, despite fatal flaws in the SAT test itself. Although the SAT is used by thousands of colleges and taken by millions of students, many students' scores do not reflect their true abilities, and therefore the SAT test is useless.

Many students work hard to obtain the best test scores and achieve “Straight A’s” in order to have a better chance of attending their dream college. Schools and parents often encourage children from a young age to perform their best and challenge themselves. Often the students who strive for excellence live their dream of

Students leave school stressed and full of anxiety and its actually making a negative effect on their everyday life. Students get so overwhelmed that harming themselves is in the picture. The state needs to realize that students aren’t giving their 100% and they will never know their actual academic skills. So why give standardized test? Teachers need to focus on the future and teaching them skills they need in their everyday life.

A students ACT and SAT score is just one portion of many college applications. Colleges and Universities look at GPA, an essay, and letter of recommendations to determine a student’s admission. Many people believe that the importance of the ACT or SAT score depends on the college and what other things the student has to offer (Drinkworth, 2015). The ACT and SAT tests can be an important factor in college admissions because they tests are on all subject areas, math, reading, writing, and science. Since each area is graded separately and the score is later averaged out it shows how the students does overall in the general

Considering these pros into action, there are cons to it. Higher salary based on standardized tests will have negative effects. More manipulation of test results will occur within this. If school board officials are seeing that students are achieving higher test scores, they will take action and give teachers the bonuses, but what the school board does not know is that the teachers are the ones manipulating the tests for their own benefits in this case for money. “Cheating teachers are on the rise as figures show the number illicitly helping children pass GCSE and A-level exams has trebled in the past two years” (Turner).

Going Against the Standard According to Tim Walker, “Only 14% of parents say standardized testing is important in measuring school effectiveness” (Walker). A standardized test is a test that is given in a consistent or “standard” manner. Standardized tests are designed to have consistent questions, administration procedures, and scoring procedures. When a standardized test is administered, it is done so according to certain rules and specifications so that testing conditions are the same for all test takers. They often provide some type of “standard score” which can help interpret how far a child score ranges from the average student (Johnson).

Standardized testing has become one of the most popular types of testing in U.S. public schools to date. Students take numerous standardized tests throughout their childhood schooling. (Studies show that a typical student takes an average of 112 mandated standardized tests between Pre-K and 12th grade.) While standardized testing is one of the main procedures that Universities use to judge incoming students, it is not proven to be the most effective way to convey a student’s actual intelligence level. The U.S. should not focus so heavily on standardized testing because it is not a complete accurate measurement of a student’s intelligence.

Introduction Standardized tests may be used for a wide variety of educational purposes. For example, they may be used to determine a young child’s readiness for kindergarten, identify students who need special-education services or specialized academic support, place students in different academic programs or course levels, or award diplomas and other educational certificates. Thesis Statement Standardized tests should not be eliminated completely, but should rather be evaluated in addition to other factors such as grades, extracurricular activities, and volunteer hours. This would take pressure off of students during standardized tests, allow colleges to see how well-rounded the students are, and give students who are better in other areas

FW #5 A better alternative to standardized testing would be to use student portfolios in order to assess learning and growth. “A student portfolio is a systematic collection of student work and related material that depicts a student's activities, accomplishments, and achievements in one or more school subjects”(Scherba de Valenzuela). Using this system wouldn’t require kids to miss classes to take standardized tests, it’s a better representation of a student's learning during the year, and It increases self-motivation to learn and grow. It doesn’t take them out of class to take the test.

My first reason why standardized testing should remain is to show the student's progress. For example, “According to a comprehensive study conducted by the Council of the Great City Schools, students took an average of 112 mandatory standardized tests between pre-K and 12th grade. This results in plenty of individualized data to map each

SATS and ACTS have been used for numerous years as a way to gauge a student’s academic success while in college. Students have the choice which test they would prefer to take and most colleges do not prefer one test over the other. There are a few key differences between the SAT and ACT, which may make one test more suitable than the other for those taking the tests. Many studies have proven that the SAT and ACT are not the best judge of future success, and that colleges should focus their applications more on past grades and accomplishments to decide which students should be accepted to their university. SATs and ACTs are not an effective measure of college readiness and future academic success.

Student should not have to take standardized tests because it is not worth it. First standardized test take up 2.3% of class during class time. Student can get more class work done instead of taking a test. Taking the test doesn 't accomplish anything. Obama said “learning is more than just filling in a little bubble”.

This opposing argument claims that going through standardized testing can showcase students who excel academically. The ProCon article, ““Do Standardized Tests Improve Education in America?” also introduces the contrasting idea that, “Standardized tests can offer evidence of and promote academic rigor, which is invaluable in college as well as in students’ careers. Matthew Pietrafetta, PhD, Founder of Academic Approach, argues that the “tests create gravitational pull toward higher achievement. ””(Britannica, Pro 4).

Have you ever wondered how grades actually do help students throughout their career in school? Yes, many do believe grades do not help, can cause stress to students overall making them perform at a lesser level and sometimes some believe that school isn’t even needed at all in a child’s life. Grades can affect a student’s learning and constant low grades can bring them down and their mindset of just being a below average student. However, grades do help students by showing the student’s progress in school whether they are doing good or bad and grades give a goal to get a better grade by trying harder to get that grade a student wants. First, grades show progress to everyone besides just the student.

The reason why I am academically successful in high school comes down to my work ethic. I personally believe that as long as a student works hard in high school, they can get good grades. I have friends who do not work as hard as they could and it reflects in their grades. Not to say that they have bad grades because they do not, but, if they put more effort into school they could have significantly higher GPA 's. However, work ethic, while important, is not they only necessary trait to be successful in college.