educatiom

Ineffectiveness of Standardized Testing Students have been attending public schools since the 17th century. As education progressed, standardized tests began to develop. Students are given these tests to see what they know before school starts, or what they have learned throughout the school year. School board members use them to determine the effectiveness of the school. These tests affect the funding of school, its students, and its staff. Standardized testing is an important controversy that should be established. Some say that the tests have a positive effect on students because they show major improvement on what they learned. On the other hand, others argue that it has a negative effect because it is a waste of time. Standardized testing is ineffective because it is unfair to students who need help, pointless to take, and worsens the economy.
Standardized tests are unfair to lower class student, to special needs students, and to students who do not understand English. The tests are ironic because they were created to “close the wide gaps in investment between poor and rich” (“Downside” 12). The income of a student’s parent may help the student do well, or prevent them. Students with higher income families can get extra help from outside of school. There are many tutors, after school programs, or weekend schools that help improve the student’s ability. Higher income families may take their child to a private school, rather than public. Private schools give them more opportunities to improve their scores. Those without a lot of money have less chances to score high. They have to improve their testing skills by themselves. It is also proven that students with parents that have lower income
Tam 2 have not gone to school as long as those with higher income. Therefore, they already have an advantage over those with low incomes. Also, the results of those with special needs who take the tests have “grossly underestimate their potential, and their capacity to learn under optimal conditions” (Green 7). The designers of the test created it so that everyone will be able to take it, known as “one size fits all.” This makes it difficult for students who need more help than others. It is not far that they have to take the same test and that is graded the same as everyone else’s. In addition, students who do not speak or read English well, struggle with the “material […] because they don’t understand the questions” (Messerli 49). When their first language is not English, it puts them at a disadvantage. They still have to take the tests, and it is scored the same way as anyone else’s. Their low scores affect if and how the school will continue. School board members use these scores to decide whether that school is helping students, or preventing them from learning more. The scores of the tests are not always correct. They are unable to prove how smart they are because they need more help than others.
Another reason is that the results of the tests are not accurate to what the student knows. The scores are not correct because the tests “cannot capture the full range of a student’s abilities” (Crone 64). Teachers have a limited time to teach the requirements needed in order to take the test. Within a certain amount of time, they are rushed to teach a student new information that they may not be ready to learn. Sometimes, categories of a subject are left out, which is unfair to the students. By then, they will have learned it without being tested on it. It lowers the student’s score when they are unable to prove that they understood it because they aren’t tested on it. In addition, the tests are not taken “seriously because they do not affect their grades” (Popham 37). Students mess around, knowing that the test is a waste of time. They do not prepare
Tam 3 for the test throughout the year. With the multiple-choice part, it lets them fill in the bubbles by creating a picture. Thus, the test will be a pointless to take, and a waste of money to make.
Lastly, standardized testing uses up plenty of money. The time and money to help prepare students are a waste, because “Schools across the country are cutting back or even eliminating programs” (Kohn 51). Getting ready to take the test requires a lot of energy, time, and money. The money used for the tests, discontinues the schools’ programs and electives. This keeps the student from improving themselves mentally and socially. Additionally, schools with low test scores “will be punished with less funding, making the problem worse” (Messerli 60). Having a low funded school affects how the students learn. The poor environment around a student makes the student unable to learn as much. Poorly funded schools generally have crowded classrooms. This causes the teacher to have to slowly teach each lesson, which prevents students from learning more. The teachers also have less opportunity to have one on one time to help a student. Standardized tests play a major role in the funding of schools.
Preparing for these tests help students focus on basics skills. Teachers target to teach the material that “motivates students to really learn […] rather than just memorize for tests” (Messerli 20). Nowadays, students stay up all night to trying to memorize what they know will be on the test. They do not take their time to understand what they were taught. With standardized tests, students will know that they will be tested on what they accumulated. They will be prepared with learning new study techniques. These tests help students get ready for what they will be tested on, but also narrows what they learn.
Students are limited to the curriculum teachers teach. They want students to pass by feeling “compelled to ‘teach the test,’ resulting less flexibility to tailor lesson plans” (Munoz 55).
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This prevents the student from learning more than what they are capable of knowing. They are limited to teaching those certain standards just so their students can pass the test. The teachers want what is good for the students and will do anything they can to help them pass. It has also been discovered that there is “clear evidence of narrowing to the tested subjects” (“Narrows Curriculum” 5). Teachers have been teaching students mainly English and math to prepare them for the test. This reduces the focus of other school subjects and activities that students can be taking to improve in different skills. Standardized tests do not help students because they are biased, unnecessary, and waste billions of dollars. These tests are designed to favor wealthier families and students who need less help. The tests are not taken seriously because the results of it do not affect the pupils’ grade. They make the economy worse by using an insane amount of money. As a result of this, it is important to find a new systematic technique in order to better measure a student’s educational process.