Standardized tests have been around for over 100
years. They have been used to check student abilities to ensure they are up to
the standards of the state and country. I find that there may have been some
benefits in the past, but after being on both sides of standardized testing as
a student and teacher in the same county, I am starting to lean more toward
being against them. I think that they effect students and teachers negatively
and portray the nations youth poorly.
As a student, I was always pushed by my parents to do
my best. They did not give me choices on my future after high school; the only
option I had was going to college. Growing up and not having much money to
afford going to college, I felt the added pressure from my parents to do well
in school. Part of doing well in school and being able to get scholarships and
grants, was having to do well not only in classes, but on the standardized
tests. The pressure was immense being only in my teens, causing me to become
overly stressed and having constant mood swings with my family members. It also
did not show how good of a student I was at the time. Like in my classes, I did
well on everything I was taught, but was not the best when it came to taking tests
because there was an added pressure. When I took the SATs, I scored low on the
reading and writing portions, but I was an A student in my English classes.
Looking back now, I do not think that my test scores really show how brilliant
of a student I was.
As an educator in the same county I once went to
school in, I can see another viewpoint when it comes to standardized tests. The
feelings and struggles mentally that I endured while testing is also
demonstrated by my students. I have students consistently missing class due to
testing, which makes it difficult for them to keep up with the material after
testing for 3 plus hours. It takes a told on their mental capacity. I had a
student the other day come to me about their grade because they had to take
almost every standardized test, so they could graduate, in turn missing almost
a month’s worth of assignments. My student seemed very stressed and down
because he was basically put into a whole with my class and others. By the time
they had a moment to get caught up to some extent, there were only 2 days left
in the quarter. I try to be understanding in that these tests are mandatory and
that they serve a purpose that I just cannot wrap my head around, but what it
is doing to students in the population I teach is unfair. Many students just
sit for the test or do not take it at all because they have other means of
getting the credit for it to graduate. There are projects students can take in
place of standardized tests if they have failed them more than once, but
students where I teach take advantage of that, making the days that they are
getting pulled to test a waste of time that they could have been in class
learning the material and not falling behind.
I know I may not understand the full meaning of
standardized testing and what it may do for our nation, but I am 100% against
it. I do feel that I may be very biased on this topic, but I have gone through
the struggle and I see what my students go through as well. The amount of money
that these tests costs are wasted on schools like the one I teach at because
these students are not dumb and know they can get out of taking or passing a
test by doing a project. The school system is allowing this to happen making it
even more frustrating that a whole month and a half plus is dedicated to
testing students back to back. I think that for students, there should be an
alternative means of testing their abilities to pass certain subjects. In
giving students some other form of summative assessment like the projects
alone, I believe would help the demonstrate cumulative knowledge and mastery of
a topic. Not all students excel in the same fields so by allowing them to do a
creative project or something that they can use to show they know the subject
should be enough in telling if a student is up to standards.
