Should Standardized Tests be Eliminated?

 

Standardized tests have been around since the mid 1800s, but do they actually give us an accurate view on students progress? Many people say no. Standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT are normally taken during your sophomore and junior years of high school, and they are used on college applications and scholarship applications. Many students believe that both of these tests only show which students are good at taking tests, not what they actually know. The ACT and SAT tests take about 3 hours to complete, and many teenagers can’t stay focused for this long with few breaks. During both of these tests, the students get 3 five minute breaks, which many students say is not near enough time to give their minds a break.

 

Another standardized test that many people believe should be banned is the ISASP. This test takes a lot of learning time away from students, and there are many other ways to gauge if a child is improving in the classroom. If many students score badly on the ISASP test, it can lead to that school district receiving less money. The schools are then forced to lay off students, which means that those students aren’t getting the help they might need in the classroom. There are many instances of schools letting kids cheat on these tests so they don’t get less money in the coming year.

 

All in all, there are many arguments against standardized testing as a whole. Many school districts have pushed to get rid of standardized testing, but since the government regulates this testing, they have no choice. Each state is required to administer testing for reading, language arts, and math for grades 3-8 and at least one time in high school. They are also required to give out the science test once in elementary school, once in middle school, and once in high school. Personally, I don’t think the ACT, SAT, and ISASP tests have much of a benefit on students. If anything, it causes more stress on the students, because if they don’t score well it can keep them from getting scholarships or getting into college. I also think that making 3rd graders take standardized tests is not beneficial at all, and it takes away from their time in the classroom.

 

Do you think that standardized tests should be eliminated?

 

Do you think that 3rd grade is too young to be giving standardized tests?

 

https://www.civilbeat.org/2016/05/why-standardized-testing-needs-to-be-abolished/ 

https://www.scillsspartners.org/federal-requirements-for-state-assessments/#:~:text=Under%20the%20Every%20Student%20Succeeds,9%2C%20and%2010%2D12.

You need to be a member of History 360 to add comments!

Join History 360

Replies are closed for this discussion.

Replies

  • I don't think that I can give a clear answer. If a student gets all of the answers correct, then they should get 100%. They should not have to do another project to recieve that grade. However, I do like how it is hard for students to completely bomb a test. 

  • yes they should be all it is a precentage and letter grade what students need is real world experiance.

    • I agree that a lot of colleges just look at students grades, and not what they have accomplished in their life.

  • Most times while taking any test, you are just rewriting material you have memorized, instead of learning the material. It's almost a guarantee you won't remember much that you learned from school, especially if you're uninterested in the topic. Not to mention the amount of stress standardized tests give students, it isn't worth it and I believe they should be eliminated. Teachers should learn to engage students in their material rather than forcing them to memorize hundreds of topics

    • I agree, but I also think that the ACT and SAT can benefit students more than the ISASPs

  • I think standardized test should be eliminated because the stress people have is not worth it. Getting no sleep and worrying to much about how good they are doing. Its all memerizing and not really testing what you know. You could switch to other ways on how to see where students are at. Most people forget all the information after they take there test because its all memerization.

    • I agree, and I don't like how there's no way to prepare for the ISASP tests

  • I think that some should be eliminated, but if they are eliminated we need to find another solution in order to see how students are preforming in school. Whether that is hands on projects, more homework, different types of quizzes or test. But there should be some type of scale where we can see how students are doing in school. I don't think that third grade is too young to test. By then students have learned quite a bit and their brains are starting to retain information better. We can also understand how their brains are working at this stage of life if we test them when they are younger.

    • I agree that there should be some other way for tests to be taken, because we do need to scale students progress and see how they are doing.

  • I think standardized tests should be eliminated. Its like doing extra work and more stress because it doesn't help with anything but just see where you are, which is good but i still dont think its worth the extra work/stress. not only that but most of the stuff we learn about we forget so its not really a fair thing to do. 

This reply was deleted.
eXTReMe Tracker