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Standardized testing was first introduced in 1845 but did not become widely used in schools until the 1960s. Recently, large groups of people have begun protesting standardized testing. Standardized tests put overwhelming stress on students and affect their mental and physical health. They also take up a significant amount of classroom time and cost states hundreds of millions of dollars per year. The test results do not provide useful feedback to help students improve and are not returned to teachers and students for months. Additionally, standardized test scores are easily manipulated, as evidenced by cheating scandals. Standardized testing should be stopped as it is an unnecessary burden that takes away learning time and resources.

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62 views3 pages

Journal Newsletter

Standardized testing was first introduced in 1845 but did not become widely used in schools until the 1960s. Recently, large groups of people have begun protesting standardized testing. Standardized tests put overwhelming stress on students and affect their mental and physical health. They also take up a significant amount of classroom time and cost states hundreds of millions of dollars per year. The test results do not provide useful feedback to help students improve and are not returned to teachers and students for months. Additionally, standardized test scores are easily manipulated, as evidenced by cheating scandals. Standardized testing should be stopped as it is an unnecessary burden that takes away learning time and resources.

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March 4, 2019

Standardized Testing
Megan Marks
Standardized testing got invented in 1845, got pushed even more
into schooling in the 1960s, yet just recently in the early 2000s,
large groups of people started protesting standardized testing. A
standardized test is any form of test that requires all test takers to
answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from
common bank of questions, in the same way, and is scored in a
consistent manner, which makes it possible to compare the
performance of individual, or groups of students. The main types
of standardized tests are achievement tests, aptitude tests, college
admission tests, international-comparison tests, and psychological
tests. Debate has started about if there should be standardized
testing anymore or not. Most people that work with the schooling
system believe that standardized testing is a great way of
measuring a students progress in academics, and finding a good
college fit for them. A lot of parents and students believe that it is
very unnecessary and puts a lot of weight on the student’s
shoulders. Standardized testing has a lot of bad things that come
along with it. While the schools are stubborn in keeping their
standardized testing, at some point the protests may become too
much. Standardized testing should be stopped.
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March 4, 2019

Standardized testing creates overwhelming amounts of stress in


people of all ages. Nicky Hayes, editor for Foundations of
Psychology, spoke about how stressing over tests affect the brain:
“Common responses to exam stress include disturbed sleep
patterns, tiredness, worry, irregular eating habits, increased
infections, and inability to concentrate.” This information shows
how much of a burden these tests put on students. The U.S
Department of Education in the Testing Action Plan claimed,
“They provide necessary information for educators, families, the
public, and students themselves to measure progress and improve
outcomes for all learners.” How could this be true when students
are going through all of the things that Hayes was talking about?
Could they really be giving their best effort and showing their
greatest potential? Standardized testing can potentially make these
students suffer every day in the weeks leading up to these
standardized tests.

Standardized testing is unnecessary. Thomas Armstrong is the


Executive Director of the American Institute for Learning and
Human Development, and an award-winning author and speaker.
Thomas views standardized tests as worthless. He goes on to say,
“Standardized tests don’t provide any feedback on how to perform
better.” Standardized test results aren’t given back to teachers or
students up to months later. After they do get these results, there
are no instructions on how to improve the scores in the future.
Most students don’t remember the questions, or what they put as
the answers. How are they supposed to grow from these tests,
when they don’t know what they did wrong in the first place?
Washington Post article, “Confirmed: Standardized testing has
taken over our schools. But who’s to blame?” By Valerie Strauss
reads, “The average amount of testing time devoted to mandated
tests among eighth-grade students in the 2014-15 school year was
approximately 4.22 days or 2.34 percent of school time.” The
amount of learning that can get done in 4 days is immense. The
fact that standardized testing has no learning benefits, shows that
4 days of it is a waste of time that could be spent growing student’s
minds. Standardized testing is not needed.

Standardized testing is too expensive. Data showed a combined


$669 million in annual spending on assessments in 45 states. This is
so much money that could be used in many different areas for the
states and the schooling. If the money for standardized
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March 4, 2019

assessments was instead put toward teacher raises, it is estimated


that each teacher in the country would receive, on average, a raise
of $550, based on data about teacher salaries and other factors
from the 2012 Digest of Education Statistics. Teachers all over the
country are struggling financially. Without these tests, their
financial problems could be relieved enormously. These tests cost
too much, without them, this money could go towards more
important things.

Using test scores to reward and punish teachers and schools


encourages them to cheat the system for their own gain. A 2011
USA Today investigation of six states and Washington DC found
1,610 suspicious peculiarity in year-over-year test score gains. Those
are only the ones that they found! The system is not reliable. 178
Atlanta public school teachers and administrators from 44 schools
were found to be cheating on standardized tests according to a July
2011 state report. At one school, teachers attended "weekend pizza
parties" to correct students' answers, according to ABC News. It is
too easy for these tests to be manipulated. It truly can’t be trusted.
These standardized tests show how well a school or teacher is
doing, which can push them to change and cheat answers.

Standardized testing should be stopped. It creates an


overwhelming amount of stress in students, it’s unnecessary, too
expensive, and easily manipulated by teachers and administrators.
Many situations would be resolved and people’s lives would change
for the better if the testing would end.

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