Standardized testing is believed to be the best way to evaluate how much a child has learned, however most students only score average on the tests. George W. Bush strived to create a school environment for all children; “The No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law in 2001, was designed to close the achievement gap that exists between different economic, racial and ethnic groups, and ensure that all children in the United States receive a good education” …show more content…
Elementary students had begun taking standardized tests, the tests ranked teachers in grades 3-5 accordingly. Any person is able to see the “value-added performance” (Kuehn, Larry). Anxiety led to devastating occurrences; “One teacher, distressed by being singled out, committed suicide days after the individual teacher results were released” (Kuehn, Larry). The government did not take this incident seriously, even though they attempted to think about the issues, the final answer was “test better” (Kuehn, Larry). The tests are not accurate, voluminous students do not take the test completely and honestly; those students tend to lower the teacher’s ranking. A teacher can never actually make students try their hardest on the standardized tests; the students must put forth the effort in order for all scores and teacher’s rankings to be a reflection of their …show more content…
“Every year I do good in school, but I get low test scores on the FCAP and it feels like a punch in the stomach. This is unfair and I don’t want to lose my opportunity to take my advanced classes, or get a better education because of this one test” (Locker, Melissa). This student is an example of extreme anxiety over the standardized test. Anxiety may also lead to throwing up or headaches. The teachers stress to the children how important the test is and cram with students a few weeks before the test. Children are not stable enough to handle the pressure put on them and might end up sick. Standardized tests are known to cause students to throw up; before every test a part of the booklet is read which explains the actions to take if a child gets sick. This point makes it obvious, these tests cause children to get