What Are The Arguments Against Standardized Testing

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Savanah Benbenek Prof. Tomaiolo May 11, 2012 Position Paper Standardized Testing: a Lack of Understanding As a child in an American public school system I was introduced to standardized testing at a very young age. I have memories of lining up my freshly sharpened 2 pencils, watching the clock and carefully filling in bubbles with the hopes of getting a high score, from as early as fourth grade. As I got older the pressure to do well on these tests, and the frequency of the tests only grew. I was in eighth grade the year Massachusetts began the MCAS, and even though I was among the last of the graduating classes that were not required to pass to receive my diploma, I felt as though my future depended on those scores. I knew I…show more content…
Now, as a college student preparing to become an elementary teacher and as mother preparing to place my children into a public school system, I’m fully realizing the injustice that is standardized testing. There are seemingly few accurate advantages to a process that takes away so much from our teachers and students. The tests are a poor measurement of knowledge and growth, and have become the major focus in all schools, leaving what should be the most important factor of education, the children, out of the…show more content…
Opponents of standardized testing have researched other methods of evaluation, which are arguably more accurate. One method that has been discussed is called the performance assessment, which compares each student’s work over a period of time and the procedures by which they created this work, evaluating whether satisfactory improvement has been made based on the individual child’s growth (Crane

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