Standardized Testing Informative Essay

One hundred and thirteen, that’s the number of standardized tests the average student takes from prekindergarten to twelfth grade according to preliminary research conducted by the Council of the Great City Schools (Helfing para.9). If that seems a little extreme to you, you are not alone. Standardized testing has become an increasingly common way to measure anything from student knowledge to the effectiveness of the school, especially after the initiation of policies such as No Child Left Behind (NCLB) and Race To The Top (RTTT). But at what costs? Standardized testing has become a million dollar industry, yet it does not consistently measure student or the quality of education. However, the stress placed on the scores of these test negatively affect students and schools across America. A standardized test is a defined as an exam that requires students to answer the same questions, or questions from the same bank of questions, in the same way. A standardized test is also scored in a consistent manner, such as those grading the test using the same rubric for questions
In 1983 a professor of education at Harvard University, Dr. Howard Gardner, developed the theory of multiple intelligences. This theory states that there are eight different ways in which a person is intelligent. These different forms of intelligence are as follows: linguistic, or word smart; logical-mathematic, or reasoning/numbers smart; spatial, or picture smart; bodily-kinesthetic, or body smart; musical, or music smart; intrapersonal, or self-smart; and naturalist, or nature smart (“Multiple Intelligences” para. 1-2). It is not difficult to pinpoint which of these intelligences standardized testing primarily measures. For students who are not linguistically or mathematically gifted, the tests do not accurately show the students’