The topic of standardized testing has been around for a long time. Some people believe it is very imporant to use standardized tests in schools, and others feel they do not reflect someones academic abilities. I feel it is important to understand both sides to this topic mainly because it has been debated for so long.
The people who believe in standarized testing say that it shows a child's academic achievement or how much they have remebered out of all of the things they have learned. In other words students who do well have paid attention in school, and put effort into their learning, and students who do poorly on the tests have not put enough effort into their school work in order to pass these tests. Although this may be true to some students, it in no way describes all students taking these tests.
Standardized tests can be very stressful to some students. Some may get so nervous about the test that when the day comes they are so stressed out that they rush through it and do poorly. Other students may devote all of their time to studying for these tests, and then when the get it, the questions don't match up with the things they've studied.
For me, I canno't stand these tests. I found myself worrying about them way too much, and I never really did all that well on them. Even though I never did great, I don't think it reflects how capable I am as a student or a learner. I don't think these tests show what anyone is truly capable of.
1 comment:
I understand that standardized testing is helpful to some degree. For example, it prepares you for College testing, etc. But I do not agree that standardized testing is appropriate to determine whether or not a student is intelligent or lacks intelligence. Standardized testing is extremely nerve racking. I speak for all of the students who put all of their hard work and dedication into their academics and continuously study to prepare for these tests, but get extremely frustrated that the end result reveals a poor performance, for I am one of those students. Take the MCAS, I am a graduate of the class of 2004. I was the second class that was required to pass the MCAS in order to graduate. I am sure that some of you are also in the same boat as I was only 4 years ago. I had passed the English portion of the exam and by a couple of points just missed the Math portion. Granted Math is not my strongest subject, but I worked hard to pass that exam. I took MCAS prep classes both during and after school. I wanted a chance, a chance to go to college and become the first of my family to not only attend, but to also graduate. I passed the Math with a 220, the passing mark. Now if you look at the MCAS today they have added multiple subjects. For instance, to my knowledge they have added subjects such as, Science and History to the MCAS exam. Also, My mother is a para professional in an Early Education facility in my hometown, and she explains to me that the school is preparing students for the MCAS and other standardized testing(if I'm not mistaken)at the age 6 years old. For someone who grew up in a private school setting for most of their life, and only attended a public high school... it was certainly challenging for me as a student. Despite my personal feeling on standardized testing, I feel that it has made me strong both academically and mentally.
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