Frasher 1

Lexi Frasher

Miss Cook

Composition

31 October 2017

The Uselessness of Standardized Testing

Standardized testing: two words that send a wave of stress throughout teenagers bodies.

When they think of testing, they think of the teachers panicking the week before the test and

shoving tons of information down their throats at one time. Standardized testing is poisoning

todays youth. Standardized testing is a negative assessment to put children and teenagers

through because standardized tests are discriminatory and not inclusive, teachers end up teaching

the tests instead of valuable information the students might actually need or want to learn, the

tests are not accurate measurements of a students intelligence, and most parents despise

standardized testing because of all of the previously listed reasons and opt their kids out of it.

To begin with, ProCon.org claims that, standardized tests are inclusive and non-

discriminatory because the ensure content is equivalent for all students. This is false for various

reasons. Meredith Broussard, a professor at New York University and a journalist for the

Atlantic, states,

When a problem exists in Philadelphia schools, it generally exists in other large urban

schools across the nation. One of those problemsshared by districts in New York, D.C.,

Chicago, Los Angeles, and other major citiesis that many schools dont have enough

money to buy books.

This shows that standardized testing is discriminatory because Broussard also explains in her

article that all the answers to the standardized test are actually found in textbooks, most of it is
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not common sense; to learn information to prepare for a national test, students need access to

books which not all schools can afford. This means the majority of students from a poor district

will not be able to pass their test; this is just one reason why standardized tests are not accurate

and why they should be taken away.

Secondly, the next topic that will be touched is teachers teaching to the tests. ProCon.org

argues, Teaching to the test can be a good thing because it focuses on essential content and

skills, eliminates time-wasting activities that don't produce learning gains, and motivates students

to excel. What they do not mention, Craig Jerald does,

The latter kind of teaching to the test is unethical. For one reason, it misrepresents how

much students really have learned about a topic. in the example, students who learned

only the 10 words on the vocabulary portion of the reading test will score well even

though they have not developed a broad vocabulary, which is supposed to be the goal. In

mathematics, students who have been drilled only on test-like questions do not have the

opportunity to master a particular skill or concept and often cannot correctly answer

questions that assess the same skill or concept in a different way. For example, one study

found that in a district that relied heavily on item drilling, 83 percent of students selected

the correct answer to a multiple choice item written as "87 - 24 =." However, only 66

percent could provide the correct answer to the open ended item "Subtract 24 from 87.

This quote from Jerald explains why test teaching is not a good practice, and in the grander

scheme of things, why standardized testing is not a good practice either. If a teacher is teaching

just so the student can memorize how to solve or explain one particular type of problem, just to

pass a test, how will that help students in the long run? It wont help students in the long run

because they will not get vast knowledge on various subjects and they will just be learning and
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burning for tests.

Furthermore, the next thing being debunked is the quote from ProCon.org that explains,

most parents approve of standardized tests. This is false because in an article by Jonathan

Schweig, he claims that parents have been resisting their childrens participation in standardized

testing by opting out. Schweig also explains that in 2015, over half a million children did not

participate in standardized testing and in New York state alone, one out of every five students

opted out. To continue this point, Diane Ravitch, an author and professor at New York

University, explains more about why parents being for standardized testing is a false statement.

Ravitchs article discusses parental views on standardized testing and explains why so many

parents are opting their children out of the tests; she also explains how a parent would opt a child

out of a test and why she is for opting out of the tests. Ravitch claims,

Want to end the obsession with standardized testing? Opt your children out of the state

tests. Ignore the threats from state and federal officials. The tests today have taken over

too much of the school year. Teachers should prepare and give tests that cover what they

taught. What if all students opted out of testing? Thats democracy in action. The elected

officials who mandate these tests would take notice. They might even discover that no

high-performing nation in the world tests every child every year.

This quote shows more reasons why standardized testing is not good. If parents would rather get

harassed and taunted by state and federal officials than have their children take a few tests, there

is a problem with the testing. This quote also relates back to the point about teaching the tests;

state testing and teaching the tests go hand in hand and no parents or children want either. This

furthermore proves the point that standardized testing should be dumped.

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Next, ProCon.org states, Standardized tests are reliable and objective measures of

student achievement. This is an untrue statement; Claire Klodell shows this by explaining:

Standardized tests are an unreliable measure of student performance. The Brookings

Institution conducted a study in 2001 which found that 50-80 percent of year-over-year

test score improvements were temporary and caused by fluctuations that had nothing to

do with long-term changes in learning. In high school, some standardized tests that we

take have no effect on our grade whatsoever. Because of this, students dont take the tests

seriously which ultimately result in inaccurate test scores.

This shows the unreliability of standardized testing because the improvements were temporary

and because the scores on the tests have no effect on grades, some students do not even try on the

tests. Claire Klodell also explains,

Most standardized tests can fail to give every test taker an equal opportunity. Sometimes

a student is distracted during a test by a personal situation. Whether it be relationship

issues, a family emergency or maybe theyre just flat out having a rough day. Their

performance during that limited time period will reflect a years hard work. On the other

hand, some students can easily take advantage of any standardized test by paying for

expensive study materials and classes unaffordable to other test-takers: Barrons sells AP

U.S. History flashcards for $17.09, while the average SAT course costs $1,100. In both of

these situations, standardized tests discriminate against students dealing with issues

outside of their control. Standardized tests measure a students ability to memorize

information. Students are required to bubble in an answer that best fits the question, all

under a strict time limit.

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This quote also explains how unfair and inaccurate standardized testing is because situations in a

student's life could cause them to not perform to the best of their abilities on a test. No

standardized test will ever be fair or accurate which is exactly why the tests should be done away

with.

In conclusion, standardized testing is a negative assessment to put children and teenagers

through because standardized tests are discriminatory, teachers end up teaching the tests instead

of valuable information the students might actually need to learn, the tests are not accurate

measurements of a students intelligence, and most parents despise standardized testing and opt

their kids out of it. Standardized testing is a mistake that has been made and something that the

world needs rid of. A world without standardized testing would be a much better place because

children and parents would not be worried about test scores determining their worth and their

ability to get into college and students might actually learn material they need to prepare

themselves for the world. Hopefully, this is the world future generations will grow up in and

thrive in.

Works Cited
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Broussard, Meredith. Why Poor Schools Cant Win at Standardized Testing.

theatlantic.com, July 15, 2014,

https://www.theatlantic.com/education/archive/2014/07/why-poor-schools-cant-win-at-

standardized-testing/374287/.

Is The Use of Standardized Testing Improving Education in America? ProCon.org,

June 6, 2016, https://standardizedtests.procon.org/.

Jerald, Craig. Teach to the Test? Just Say No. Reading Rockets, July 2006,

http://www.readingrockets.org/article/teach-test-just-say-no.

Klodell, Claire. Standardized Tests: Whats the Point? Huffpost, August 5, 2014,

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/claire-klodell/standardized-tests_b_5448020.html.

Ravitch, Diane. Why Every Child Should Opt Out of the Standardized Tests. Huff

Posts, April 12, 2017, https://www.huffingtonpost.com/diane-ravitch/why-every-child-

should-opt-out_b_9659546.html.

Schweig, Jonathan. The Opt-Out Reckoning. US News, May 9, 2016,

https://www.usnews.com/opinion/articles/2016-05-09/who-does-the-movement-to-opt-

out-of-standardized-testing-help.

Rubric rating submitted on: 11/13/2017, 9:41:56 PM by danielle.cook@redstreaks.org

4 3 2 1 0

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attention. reader's reader's

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paragraph. paragraph.

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L. 2: (Fully and (Demonstrated (Attempted to (Attempted to (No attempt

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selectively to flow of ideas, into the essay into the essay maintain the
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Comments:
Total: 99/100 A

Excellent essay! You created a solid argument here. Each point was well supported with plenty
of evidence. Your argument was very logical and sound.