Standardized Testing, Good or Bad?
By Adam South
Standardized testing… for the benefit of our students or the pockets of testing companies? Standardized testing is simply one test measuring the core standards set by the state, but why do they exist? Proponents say standardized tests are a fair and objective measure of student achievement, which they ensure teachers and schools are accountable to taxpayers, and that the most relevant constituents – parents and students – approve of testing.
On the flipside however opponents say the tests are neither fair nor objective, that their use promotes a narrow curriculum and drill-like "teaching to the test," and that excessive testing undermines America's ability to produce innovators and critical thinkers. The most controversial point about these tests is that low scores can prevent a student from progressing to the next grade level or lead to teacher firings and school closures. This is ridiculous considering that a child who just doesn’t want to take a test could result in teachers being misevaluated. In my opinion going and observing a teacher teach is a much better way to evaluate a teacher’s effectiveness. High scores ensure continued federal and local funding and are used to reward teachers and administrators with bonus payments. With high stakes and pressures like this upon the teachers we send our kids to everyday, it shifts the direction of truly comprehending a subject and being able to innovate and think clearly about it not just jamming test questions down the throats of our kids.
I personally believe the standardized testing is ruining my school experience. With math and English teachers being stressed to hurry through all the common core standards this then creates pseudo-learning of just spitting out answers and definitions, not creating the true process of comprehension of a subject. Albert Einstein once said, “Education is not the learning of the facts, it is the training of the mind to think.” So is this testing system truly educational?
By Adam South
Standardized testing… for the benefit of our students or the pockets of testing companies? Standardized testing is simply one test measuring the core standards set by the state, but why do they exist? Proponents say standardized tests are a fair and objective measure of student achievement, which they ensure teachers and schools are accountable to taxpayers, and that the most relevant constituents – parents and students – approve of testing.
On the flipside however opponents say the tests are neither fair nor objective, that their use promotes a narrow curriculum and drill-like "teaching to the test," and that excessive testing undermines America's ability to produce innovators and critical thinkers. The most controversial point about these tests is that low scores can prevent a student from progressing to the next grade level or lead to teacher firings and school closures. This is ridiculous considering that a child who just doesn’t want to take a test could result in teachers being misevaluated. In my opinion going and observing a teacher teach is a much better way to evaluate a teacher’s effectiveness. High scores ensure continued federal and local funding and are used to reward teachers and administrators with bonus payments. With high stakes and pressures like this upon the teachers we send our kids to everyday, it shifts the direction of truly comprehending a subject and being able to innovate and think clearly about it not just jamming test questions down the throats of our kids.
I personally believe the standardized testing is ruining my school experience. With math and English teachers being stressed to hurry through all the common core standards this then creates pseudo-learning of just spitting out answers and definitions, not creating the true process of comprehension of a subject. Albert Einstein once said, “Education is not the learning of the facts, it is the training of the mind to think.” So is this testing system truly educational?