In the united states, both public and private schools use standardized assessments each school year. How standardized testing damages education updated july. Standardized testing only evaluates onetime performance instead of a students progress and proficiency over time. Advantages and disadvantages of standardized testing. Brown and others published the benefits of regular. Students develop test anxiety, which hinders performance. Here are a few negative effects of standardized testing. The role of standardized testing in the american education. The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the pros and cons of standardized test. Many people say standardized testing provides an accurate measurement of student performance and teacher effectiveness. Pros and cons with standardized testing when designed and administered effectively, standardized tests can offer important benefits to students, teachers, administrators, and policymakers.
This shows that standardized tests are not too stressful for students. Examining the pros and cons of standardized testing. When the students tend to be assessed on the basis of the results of the standardized tests, a potential metric cam is gained which can be used to verify. Accountability, student assessment, and the need for a. The fourth section deals with the negative outcomes of labeling young children, and the fifth section contains recommendations for elementarylevel administrators and teachers about. Standardized testing has been around for a long time with a storied history of evaluating university prospects, job candidates, and other forms of aptitude and intelligence. There are pros and cons to standardized testing, and these will be discussed in the paper. Their use skyrocketed after 2002s no child left behind act nclb mandated annual testing in all 50 states. Standardized testing can provide benchmarks for parents and teachers. College board was a not for profit group of universities, colleges and other educational organisations. To find books and articles on this topic, click below to access one search. The pros and cons of standardized testing essay 1755. The standardized tests and to score well in them have become an allconsuming force in the schools.
Gives parents information on how their child is performing compared to students locally, provincially. Persistent low scores may attract severe penalties for the school. Others say such a onesizefitsall approach to assessing academic achievement can be inflexible or even biased. Standardized testing has not improved student achievement. Standardized testing holds teachers and schools accountable.
The value of standardized testing psychology department labs. This is why using results of standardized tests may seem unfair to students as this. Do standardized tests accurately show students abilities. Some say that standardized testing is the best way to accurately evaluate students. First off, most of the standardized tests are in multiple choice format. The industry of testing grew rapidly during the 20th century, largely in response to the need to develop rapid screening tests for army recruits. Teaching to the test is replacing good teaching practices with drill n kill rote learning. Robert schaeffer quotes standardized tests have historically been used as measures of how students are compared with one another or how much of a particular curriculum they have learned throughout. Sforsyth while standardized testing is stressful and time. In the following article, some of the positive and negative factors are discussed. On the scores depend the school ranking, in the district, even in and funding region, and these are widely covered by the media. In other words, they are not complicated enough to explain and any student no matter what level can understand that they have to tick one of the boxes as their answer.
The pros and cons of standardized testing standardized testing has become the arbiter of social mobility, yet there is more regulation of the food we feed our pets that of the tests we give our kids. Standardized tests can help identify problem areas in individual students, as well as schools and. How standardized tests shape and limitstudent learning. Teachers can see what they need to teach and when they are able to teach it. Rethinking standardized test of science education in.
Pros of the standardized test standardized testing is a good metric of learning for the students. Standardized testing has been a cornerstone of the educational. There are many pros and cons of standardized testing. While standardized tests pros and cons exist, i believe the key is to use the test results as a guide for teachers, parents, and students. Veteran florida educator, marion brady, outlines 34 problems with standardized tests. The pros and cons of standardized testing whitby school. Many would argue that teacher and student performance should be evaluated for growth over the course of the year instead of one single test. Standardized testing only provides a oneday evaluation for a student. The pros and cons of standardized testing in one highly. The pros and cons of standardized testing show that the amount of information that these tests can generate is invaluable. Racial justice and standardized educational testing young people of color, particularly those from lowincome families, have suffered the most as the explosion of highstakes standardized testing in u. Racial justice and standardized educational testing. Standardized tests are those where all students answer the same.
An obstacle in the path of quality education introduction in todays competitive world, testing has become a common method to assess competence level in human beings. To conclude, standardized tests need to be kept in schools. Georgina levey, fifthgrade teacher, aspen middle school. Theres less time for learning with testing and test prep for example, pittsburgh students now take 2025, or more, highstakes tests a year, with new tests this year in art. The pros and cons of standardized testing 957 words 4 pages. Standardized testing provides an easy, effective way to assess students learning without the. Pros and cons of standardized testing what does the. Standardized testing has both positive and negative aspects and when used effectively can play a significant role in bettering the education of our students. The pressure to do well on standardized tests can often put students over the edge, causing mental breakdowns and feelings of negativity. Its important to cut through the debate and identify exactly what these. Gives teachers guidance on student learning and their own teaching practices. Standardized tests became the norm in elementary and secondary classrooms across the united states in 2001, when congress passed the no child left behind act nclb under president george w.
Local educators discuss the value of standardized testing. Its a list of testing pros and cons from, of all places, the onion, which, if you somehow dont know, is a satirical newspaper that has fun skewering everything. In public schools, students must undergo many tests to. A brief look at some of the pros and cons of standardized testing. Research institute mepri to conduct an audit of standardized testing in a random. Again, standardized tests are a good measure of a students achievement, the standardized tests and increased testing are a better college preparation, and the testing is not too stressful for students. Community school district has revamped its standardized testing programs and is now gaining valuable feedback about student performance. Standardized tests have been a part of american education since the mid1800s.
Right from getting admission in schools to getting a job, one has to pass through different tests measuring different aspects of personality. The pros and cons of standardized testing are examined in section 3 using researchbased studies from the last 20 years. There are pros and cons to the use of standardized tests. Identify quantitative advantages of using standardized. The downside of standardized testing partnership for the public. They should also be used, in a limited capacity, to assess how well schools are doing. The debate over standardized testing can be heated. If you continue browsing the site, you agree to the use of cookies on this website. Pdf the benefits of regular standardized assessment in childhood. It also seems like the newer state tests are doing a better job of assessing deeper rather than broader into certain. Standardized testing causes severe stress in younger students. This allows parents and teachers to see how a student is doing compared to other students in his or her class, city, and country. For students, these measures can provide an external assessment of their knowledge and skills. If we can focus less on taking the test and more on teaching every student in an individualized way as much as possible, we will be able to see.
The pros and cons of standardized testing nbc bay area. A look at standardized tests pros and cons brighthub. The benefits and advantages of standardized testing 1. For ela teachers, these tests also lead to subjectspecific narrowing. If a student had a difficult morning and it affects their performance on the day they take a standardized test, then their scores may not accurately reflect their true knowledge or potential. Academic achievement, accountability assessment, high. Pros and cons of standardized testing 1, the basic demographic. What are the pros and cons of potentially using nwea map growth as a. It is great to have a common set of data to refer to when making instructional decisions and to monitor student growth from year to year. Commerciallyproduced, machinescored standardized tests are unavoidably biased by socialclass, ethnic, regional, and other.
Us students slipped from being ranked 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 40th in 2015, and from 14th to 25th in science and from 15th to 24th in reading. Additionally they can be helpful to collect data on ethnicity, socioeconomic status, special needs, etc. Standardized tests can cause so much stress that on march 14, 2002 the sacramento bee reported that test related jitters, especially among young students, are so common that the stanford9 exam comes with a test booklet in case a. Only two words, but a world of stress for teachers, students, and parents. There are a number of reasons standardized testing is good.
Secondary school students conceptions of assessment. Standardized testing, the bane of many high school students existence. Probably the greatest benefit of standardized testing is that teachers and schools are responsible for teaching students what they are required to know for these standardized tests. Others believe that standardized testing provides skewed, inaccurate results. Down below some of the most discussed pros and cons of standardized tests have been discussed. Psychological tests, including iq tests, are used to measure a persons cognitive abilities and mental, emotional, developmental, and. I need books on the pros and cons of standardized testing. A hotly debated topic, we look at some of the pros and cons of these tests, and ask your opinion on the issue. Limitations of standardized tests by julie eisenband on prezi. An outline of standardized testing, along with its pros and cons slideshare uses cookies to improve functionality and performance, and to provide you with relevant advertising.
Fair and objective advocates for standardized testing posit that this type of test is one of the best ways to assess the achievements of students for the reason that they will be answering the same questions with other test takers. Standardized tests narrow the entire curriculum in many schools, often squeezing out subjects such as music, art, foreign languages, and, especially in elementary grades, social studies, because they are not included in tests. Like many issues in public education, standardized testing can be a controversial topic among parents, teachers, and voters. Essay about against standardized testing 2262 words. The pros and cons of standardized testing affinity magazine. The big question is, are standardized tests actually helping or hurting student learning. Forms of standardized test collegeadmissions tests are used in the process of deciding which students will be admitted to a collegiate program. Army alpha and army beta, developed for use in world war i, were the first of countless standardized tests designed with many of the same restric. Pros in regards to standardized testing, the positive aspects dont usually get mentioned as much as the negative ones, but thats not to say they dont exist. Hence, it is natural for everyone to expect that the tests should. Public does not understand limitations of tests tests do not accurately measure. Vocabulary strategies external factors such as home life are not factored in to the test.
Nclb was a reauthorization of the elementary and secondary education act esea and established a greater role for the federal government in education policy. Below are some of the common arguments in favor of and against standardized testing. A perspective from cognitive psychology the authors 2015. Today sat and act are the most widely recognized standardized tests. Pros and cons of standardized testing tempus magazine. Gives students a picture of their progress or lack of over a number of years in significant areas math, reading, writing. The start of sat was at the scholastic aptitude test by college board in 1926. Talking about tests with bill evers, research fellow at the hoover institution and former assistant secretary of education for policy, and sean reardon, associate professor at stanfords school.