Standardized testing for primary schools in the U.S. is unnecessary

Since standardized tests encourage candidates or other applicants to demonstrate similarity in their responses to various questions during an exam, I believe that standardized tests for primary schools in the United States are unnecessary for the following reasons.

Standardized tests are pointless because they rarely reveal what we candidates always knew. For example, if you ask a teacher which candidate can read and write, he will respond based on letter grades or tests that break down improvement on qualifications, leaving you perplexed as to whether you should trust the teacher rather than the candidates (Kohn, n.pag). Standardized test brings unhealthy and unfair academic competition among pupils and between neighboring schools. Being that the standardized test requires the candidates and the participants involve giving similar answers, one candidates who did less research and read shallowly is likely to gaze and score a right answers. While the other one who did an extensive research might fail since he might not have the lack to gaze properly but would argue his or her answers best upon given opportunity. This would boost the ego of the most fortunate candidate making them underrate their fellows academically (Kohn, n.pag).

On the other hand, due unhealthy competition that is brought by the standardized test in US, different schools are now being subjected into unhealthy competition going by examinations done. Publication of grades locally and evaluation and compilation of the evaluation reports, has led to a say that crazy schools will now fudge results. Grade data means nothing because the teacher apply different standards with different values. A question on whether to give them one reliable test would only answer the bureaucracy involved in grade compilation (Leiding n.pag).

Through standardized test people would start to game a system, all true in exception of one test being reliable , going by the high pressure and high stakes involves in standardized test people do start gaming a system in search of better grades in exams. It is also true that grades would now vary widely due to teacher’s conception of achievements, teacher’s sense of equity and vigor, teacher’s ability and the composition of the candidates involve. In the US people are nowadays gaming standardize test criminally, and at basic level of competency, a grade or an evaluative report would give us much information as we now get away from standardized test (KAWASHIMA et al. 104).

Candidates do not learn much from the standardized test, since they have lost a great deal by giving the standardized test much prominence. This makes the common core to be at risk of failure , not because the standardized test are bad per se, but because with the standardized accountability , as in so many partial reforms, the candidates don’t get the real picture of their achievements , this makes people to be disappointed as the standardized test run their course (Smolin and Clayton, 30).

Standardized test requires a lot of money. Low-income schools will continue to decline because of inadequate income to provide for the incentives for good teachers and even the administration staffs to stay in schools all the time. Some candidates’ backgrounds doesn’t allow them to have with them the good teachers who can do for them some extra teaching interventions at their homes for them to improve academically. While at the same time, the candidates from able backgrounds will have with them some very important teachers at home who would coach them on their areas of weakness. Ironically, they are required to tackle the same standardized tested examination together with their lesser fortunate individuals, hence the standardized test in the US is unnecessary (Kohn, n.pag).

The standardized test does not truly measure what do happen in the classrooms, since many teachers if not all are expected to provide pre-test prepping for their students in order to improve the chance of their schools raising their averages. The test prep makes the test results a demonstration of the quality of the test prep, but not what the students absorbed while in class (Misco 11).

Through standardized test, many teachers upon realizing that much coverage in class work and not focusing on the key areas that are likely not to be set does not help their candidates to perform well. They start to focus on drilling methods of teaching, whereby they now only focus on the examinable areas that are likely to be tested living what might benefit a candidate in their future life for the sake of having good grades in class and paperwork. This has led to over dependency of the pupils on teachers and on areas where they cannot reach the teachers; they now start embracing the teacher’s guide as a solution to their academic problems in class and as a shortcut towards their academic excellence. Because of teaching only on the areas that are likely to be tested, when the examination test goes beyond the focused areas of study that the teacher gave more attention, the grades of the students are normally compromised by dismal performance. This the worst side effects of the standardized testing (Smolin and Clayton, 31).

Standardized test usually tend to evaluate the student progress going buy their progress only on one test rather than the average performance of the student throughout the entire academic year. Adequate Year Progress (AYP) normally test the students proficiency at the time when the test was administered not taking into consideration the students long time efforts toward uplifting his grade and performance. This would demoralize the students and the teachers in many occasions, who worked hard in the course of the year to improve and eventually fails at the time of proficiency test. In addition, the average performance of the students normally depends on their daily academic progress and growth but not what they score in the standardized test, since the standardized test do not evaluate the growth owing to the single test on proficiency (Sunderman n.pag).

Standardized test leads to inaccurate judgement of the students involve. This is because the questions are made by a very select group of people, with the interest of how they can accurately determine the students on what it takes to understand a subject. Students do differ and understand concepts differently; standardized test put the students to boxes that they feel they must feet into which is negatively affecting the mindset that comes along with an education (Misco 14).

Standardized test also inspires cheating, since much of the schools funding depends on how well they perform on the state of the standardized test. This is the huge amount of pressure to put on teachers and the students. And because of this growing and overwhelming pressure on the schools desire to perform well and match others that usually prompt the students to cheat in an exam in order to get better grades . The cheating does not only lie on the student’s sides but also the teachers, schools and throughout the entire United States. Of which senior people have been found guilty of changing answers, submitting false test and doing whatever it takes to boost their class scores. Hence putting the entire education in jeopardy. The rating systems on how well they do on their test in the standardized test scores can actually cause a child to be kept behind grade level (Sunderman n.pag).

Standardized test do not provide any feedback on how to perform. The results are not even given back to the teachers and students until months later and there are usually no instructions provided by the test companies on how to improve the test scores

Standardized tests do not value diversity. There are wide range of differences between people who take the standardized test; they have different cultural backgrounds, different levels of proficiency in the English language, different learning and thinking styles and even different family backgrounds and above all different past experiences. Yet the standardized test treats them as if all are identical; identical to the groups that took the test the test several years ago and to which the test has been normed against which any future test takers are to be compared (Hanushek, Rivkin and Schiman n.pag).

Standardized test occurs in an artificial environment, they are usually timed and the students are not allowed to talk to their fellows they cannot even ask a pinching question of concern. The students are not even allowed to refer or use any reference device; you cannot get up or move around to brake the boredom that the test might have resulted on the students. With this set up in place, the only real world that look like this is prison coming to mind. Yet the education is meant to prepare students for the real world, this would make a student wonder whether a real world is a prison or not? (Reardon n.pag)

Standardized test reduces the richness of the human experience and human learning to a number or set of numbers. This is quite dehumanizing. A student may have a deep knowledge of a particular subject, but receives no acknowledgement for it because his or her test score may have been very low. For instance, if the student may have the ability to draw a picture, lead group discussion, or creates hands on project he or she should show that knowledge. But not in a standardized testing room (Kawashima et al. 105).

Standardized tests provide the parents and teachers with a false sense of security. For instance if a student scores well on a test, then it is assumed they know the material. However, this may not be true at all. The student may have simply memorized the fact, formula, or trick necessary to do well on the test. Some students are generally gifted in taking standardized test while others are not. Standardized tests exists foe administrative, political, and financial purposes but not for educational ones. Test companies makes billions. Politicians are elected by promising better tests results. Administrative gets funding and tends to avoids harsh penalties by boosting testing scores. Everyone benefits except the children whom the test are meant to improve their life academically, up to then standardized testing becomes worthless and worse (Reardon, n.d.).

Standardized testing creates winners and losers. The losers are those people who are unfortunate in the tested exams while the winners are those students whose cramming power elevates them higher in the ladder of academic success and makes them view their fellow students as losers and academic dwarfs. Candidates who fail in standardized tests become laughing stock and are branded all kinds of names such as ‘reluctant learners’ or ‘learning-disabled kids’. The winners are also trapped in the ladder of academic excellence since they have to maintain their wonderful performance all throughout their sixteen years of their schooling or even more. The losers suffers loss of self-esteem and damages of low expectations (Rosenthal and Jacobson, n.pag). The winners suffers loss of soul, since most of them are trained seals performing for fast- tuck parents and may reach midlife in the pinnacle of power and achievements, yet lack any connections to their deeper selves, to ethical principles, aspiration, compassions , creativity and even commitment to life (Rosenthal and Jacobson, n.pag).

Standardized test are time wasting, this is because the time a child is sitting for the test they would have been doing something far much valuable. Actually learning something new and interesting. Instead, they are forced to sit for the test that even themselves are not convinced in the mind that are of help to them in their daily lives and future lives to come. They eventually ends up failing the examination of which their time was wasted while doing (Rosenthal and Jacobson, n.pag).

Educational settings vary depending on different learning environment that the students are exposed. Therefore, the test should 0nly be intended towards assessing the performance without necessarily doing the comparison of the students academics progress depending on how they score in their tests, however comparison of scores enables teachers and students to recognize their weak areas and focus on them for improvement. Consistent emphasis in the standardized testing has increased the argument that the inability to prepare students on the provided test areas usually results to failure hence the need to increase the teacher’s engagement. However, teaching programs are at times inconvenienced, as the teachers cannot teach all that is expected of them and the students but rather what is provided for testing (Reardon, n.d.).

Narrowing of the curriculum alongside achievements of the authentic academic goals has also compromised the excellent performance of the standardized test in the primary schools in the US. Despite the standardized test being associated with innovative ideas, primary schools have failed to adopt systems and make changes that would ensure efficiency and quality in administering the tests required.

Standardized test limits the scope of the children and the parents. Standardized test do not cover most of the things that the parents expect their children to develop while at school, this include teamwork , being creative and how to ask good questions, how to persist with difficult projects and how to apply skills to real world challenges. All problems that remains unsolved in candidate’s daily lives are because of children being subjected to learning situations that are exams oriented and none would like to take part in doing creativity work even during their leisure time. They instead burry their head to books in search for better grades on paper so that they can compete well in the job market where people are judged based on their academic qualification (Rosenthal and Jacobson, n.pag).

Standardized test has led to limited coverage of higher-level skills. Even in their area of strength, curriculum content, most standardized test leave out a great deal of materials. According to the National Academy, the omitted materials are the ones that usually forms the greater portion of the curriculum that usually deals with the higher levels of cognitive functioning and the applications of knowledge and skills. Obscuring real achievements gaps by the standardized test has made them not to effectively measure the achievement gaps between racial, economic or other groups, for instance a low- performing school that focuses on the limited range of the material covered by the standardized test at the expense of higher level of skill. Higher scores might make it appear that those students at higher performing schools who spent much more time on higher-level skills would be growing much better than those who performs dismally (Smolin and Clayton, 32).

Conclusion

Continuous expansion of higher stakes for standardized testing will prove to boon the companies that provide the testing materials, data analysis and physical equipment. Online assessments such as those that are currently planned for by the new common standards will prove special benenefi, as they will require school systems to invest billions in equipment and services, while on the other hand will be continuously suffering. As more than a decade of experience attests, disadvantages of the standardized test outweigh any benefit that can be derived from the data that they provide. Hence, standardized test for primary schools in the US is unnecessary and should be abolished.

Works cited

Hanushek, Eric A, Steven G Rivkin, and Jeffrey C Schiman. Dynamic Effects Of Teacher Turnover On The Quality Of Instruction. Print.

Kawashima, Yasushi Et Al. “Quantitative Evaluation Of Asr Deterioration Level Based On Survey Result Of Existing Structure.” Journal of Japan Society of Civil Engineers, Ser. E2 (Materials and Concrete Structures) 67.1 (2011): 103-120.

Kohn, Alfie. The Case Against Standardized Testing. Portsmouth [New Hampshire]: Heinemann, 2000. Print.

Leiding, Darlene. Winds Of Change. Lanham, Md.: Rowman & Littlefield Education, 2012. Print.

Misco, Thomas. “Was That A Result Of My Teaching? A Brief Exploration Of Value-Added Assessment.” The Clearing House: A Journal of Educational Strategies, Issues and Ideas 82.1 (2008): 11-14. Web.

Reardon, Robert Martin. Assessing Potential For Learning: A Factor-Analytic Study Of A Performance- Based Identification Protocol For Young, Socioeconomically Disadvantaged High-Ability Learners, 2015.

Rosenthal, Robert, and Lenore Jacobson. Pygmalion In The Classroom. Carmarthen: Crown House, 2003.

Smolin, Andrea, and Jennifer K. Clayton. “Standardized Testing: How Prepared Are We?.” Journal of Cases in Educational Leadership 12.4 (2009): 29-36.

Sunderman, Gail L. Holding NCLB Accountable. Thousand Oaks, CA: Corwin Press, 2008.