In the 1920s is when standardized testing all began. Back then they used it to see if kids were gonna be “successful” in life or if they were gonna be a little slower. Which if you think about it that is horrible to think about. Looking back researchers realized that standardized testing is not a good way to be able to see what a kid is capable of doing inside and outside of the classroom, instead they realized there are other ways to tell. The reason they think that it needs to be stopped is that the companies that are making the test are making time limits. With these time limits, kids start to get stressed and worry more about the time they have left rather than what they really should be focusing on.
For example, the ACT is a standardized test you will most likely take if you want to go to college. On the ACT they test you over the subjects English, Math, Reading, and Science. So with these tests that take about four hours, they are expecting you to do good on it. I can’t believe they really expect that. Just to make it even worse research shows that having a big test with a time limit does not give effective results.
Another example would be the Iowa Assessments. Do you really try on them or do you walk in and just fill out the answers, so you can be done with them already. Plus with the Iowa Assessments, they stretch it out throughout days. I can see the benefits of it, so it’s not all at once so kids will try, but after the first day, the kids just are done and over the test.
Since corona hit last March they put a stop to these tests for a couple of months. In those months they realized these standardized tests are not very effective. They also realized that a student’s GPA is more reliable and can show what kids are actually capable of doing. So with that being said, they thought about canceling them all in general, but the chances they actually do that are probably very slim.
Should they get rid of standardized tests?? Why or why not…
Do you think standardized tests are effective?
Replies
For me personally, I get extremely bad testing anxiety. I could get 100% on every in-class or homework assignment but then do awful on the test and have my grade plummet. It's annoying how not only testing is stressful, but it also so largely affects your grade. I think testing is also exclusive and not fair to people who are neurodivergent, such as those with ADHD. Plus, a lot of people do the memorizing study technique where they just train their brain to memorize the information quickly so they can pass the test and then quickly forget everything they learned. I would learn material much better if standardized testing was less scary.
I agree with you because some kids just aren't as good at the test and to think that a test determining your future is horrible.
I do not think we sould have standardized testing because I really think that it just causes students to memorize information instead of understand and know how the information. If anything schools should be teaching things that the majority of people need to know like how to file your taxes.
I don't believe standardized tests should be taken away in their entirety, but their importance and impacts on things like scholarships should be diminished. Many aspects of these tests are flawed, including the concept of a time limit. However, many people argue that timed tests help students grow time management skills and learn to prioritize when really they just stresses kids out and may cause them to pay less attention to their answers. Standardized tests do develop a general idea of how a student is performing, however I belive we put too much emphasis on their importance.
I do not think they should get rid of standardized tests because these tests help with scholarships, and show different percentages on schools. I do think tests should be taken, but they shouldn't have such an impact on our future. No matter if you are really smart or not as smart these tests are not completely accurate.
I see your point and I agree with you on how it shouldn't impact our future as much as it does.
yes we should it gives us a more diverse way of learning and really making us test our knowlige it would be easier to figure out where certain students are at and what help do they need.
I think that they shouldn't abolish standerized testing as a whole because it does help them to decide on who gets scholarships and decide what classes are best fit for each student. However, I think they should shorten them becuase they waste a lot of time we could be learning new stuff. I think standarized tests are effective to some extent.
I agree with you because the test is way too long and I also feel they should be shortened.
I think they should keep standardized testing because they show who has worked hardest to learn as much material as possible. However, some people aren't good at test taking. Either way, I think these important tests teach kids discipline, how to be a good test takers, and to work hard to get good results. I think kids that try hard and take these tests multiple times to improve their scores have earned the scholarships they recieve. Although some people might not be as good at test taking, I think these tests are effective because the people who work hard will continue taking these tests to improve and will set themselves higher than their classmates.
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