Standardized testing in America has not improved student achievement. Studies show that after No Child Left Behind (NCLB) passed in 2002, the U.S. slipped from 18th in the world in math on the Progamme for the International Student Assessment to the 31st place in 2009 and the same happened for reading. I think that this is trying to tell us is that as the years go by and as we keep up the standardized testing, the lower the U.S. is placed on the ratings. The U.S. should doesn’t consider the passing of students in this country when taking these kinds of tests. Standardized testing should be abolished because students are failing these standardized tests because of the teachers who are bad at test-based teachings.
This testing causes severe stress among younger students. There are many studies showing that there are many effects that are caused by these stress levels. According to education researcher Gregory Cizek researched, anecdotes abound “illustration how testing… produces gripping anxiety in even the most brightest students, and makes young children vomit or cry, or both.” It got to the point where they made a book on what when a student vomits in their testing booklet. Standardized testing really shouldn’t be causing this much stress on young children in order to get rates up.
Another reason some students are failing is because schools are relying on only the test scores and not on how well the students know the material. Schools feeling the pressure of NCLB’s 100% proficiency requirement are “gaming the system” to raise test scores. According to an Arizona State University report in the June 22, 2009, edition of the peer-reviewed International Journal of Education Policy & Leadership. Low-performing students are “encouraged to stay home” on test days or “counseled to quit or be suspended” before tests are administered. State education boards are “lowering the bar” by manipulating exam content or scoring so that tests are easier for students to pass. Schools are so selfish that they would put their students through this kind of stress just to help them get where they need to be on the radar.
On the flip side, standardized tests can be really helpful for student’s success in the long run. These tests are reliable and objective measures of student achievement. Without them, policy makers would have to rely on tests scored by individual schools and teachers who have a vested interest in producing favorable results. Multiple-choice tests, in particular, are graded by machine and therefore are not subject to human subjectivity or bias. With that in mind, standardized testing can be good for students to help them when they face harder tests in life.
In conclusion, I feel that standardized testing causes a lot of tension towards younger students and tries to help schools achieve a very selfish goal. I really think that standardized testing should be abolished because of the fact that it can be harmful for students when they get out of school and into the real world. There are ways to let the different schools be aware of the fact that some student may drop out of school because of the consistent stress. There are others that may feel that if they fail the standardized tests that will be a failure in life. Ultimately, we need to step up as a country to fight the liberty to stress out the students in this country.
