Despite the benefits teachers and schools obtain, standardized testing like the FCAT is not effective in evaluating student’s performance because not all students learn at the same level, they fall under pressure, and they are being taught just for the test which prevents from learning skills that are yet to be learned. Admittedly, the FCAT brings benefits to
Everything academic revolves around the year-end state testing to the point that other subjects are usually neglected. Reading, math and writing are the main thrusts of schools, and are obviously important. However, critics state that children are not receiving well-rounded educations because of the emphasis on these subjects
People in poorer communities tend to face harder obstacles like a bad home life, hard economic times, and influences that push dropping out of school. These students also have to deal with old, out-of-date school supplies like textbooks-even their teachers tend to not be as qualified as teachers in wealthier school districts. Furthermore, due to standardized testing, teachers in these poorer school districts tend to teach to the test by teaching with the drill-and-kill method where kids are being taught by memorizing certain multiple choice questions and answers (Neill 29-35). Surprisingly, high-stakes test like promotion tests are the main contributors to retention of students- most of which have learning disabilities. Retention, though, has proved to not help students academically.
Erica Goldson Valedictorian Speech Response Erica Goldson brought up a very controversial and very interesting topic about our current education system in the US. She states that students are so focused at memorizing data and getting good grades, that they miss out on the whole idea of learning and being educated. I agree with her, students should be learning and absorbing the material, instead of memorizing for the next big test and just forgetting about it later on. Graduating seems like the top priority in students nowadays, and to me that is just upsetting. And the students who are very talented and are very motivated to learn and be driven in a non-academic subject seem to have a more negative image than the people who are driven by academics.
They always cheat in the exams. It makes them face a lot of issues. First, although they pass the test and grade but they will be lacking of knowledge. Second , they will be dependent on others. Moreover, if they are caught when they are cheating they will be expelled.
After all, the children are the ones most affected by the standardized testing and may be some of the least biased on the subject. According to Smyth, most students feel exhausted and stressed out by the tests and the knowledge that they must meet certain criteria. This, along with her other evidence makes Smyth’s argument very convincing. She explains everything in a way that even those not in the education field can understand clearly. Smyth does not simply prove that there is a problem with the education system’s continued use of No Child Left Behind.
Many teachers do not like “catching plagiarists and bringing them to academic justice.” As she states, it is not hard to just cite the author that originally had the information you are using (Bojar). Plagiarism is becoming a big problem in the school system. Many students do not understand what needs to be cited and what does not. The school system should teach students the proper way to cite, and they should teach them that copy and pasting is not writing a paper. According Bojar to students at the community college have a hard time juggling classes along with his or her family and a job.
NCLB was established so that students were not held back in a grade and were promoted to the next grade. I think this is a political aspect that is failing our students. If a student is not understanding the material or doesn’t pass the tests showing that they understand and can retain the information, I don’t believe that they should be promoted. I believe that it only hurts the students because they get more behind as they advance through the levels. The ethical issues that regard the high stakes testing is that it could be unfair to some students.
Students today that are missing out on the true contexts of the lesson taught are going unnoticed, due to the pace and lesson requirements the teachers are responsible for teaching. In most states, students are required to pass an exit exam. This may be a way to test a students’ knowledge; however, their attention is focused on passing the test instead of learning. Also, teachers are judged based upon students’ passing grades, which influences them to focus students’ attention on just passing the test. For instance, I live
These kinds of test have been going on for years but they have not put as much importance as they do now. Kids are getting stressed out due to these tests so by the time they take the test they have used all the energy cramming to learn what is on the test. In the past there was no added stress because the outcome of the test did not decide the outcome of their future. If they do bad on test then it creates a domino effect, these test decide who these kids are. It decides if they go into remedial, regular, or advanced classes.