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
Though students may perhaps be fluent in English, they may live in households where English is not the first language. Those students may not know the differences in word implications and problems in sentence structure. Why should those students be penalized? Why can’t they create a SAT test for ELL students? Why is that they are not being accommodated during the SAT test such as: being able to use dictionaries that are in their own language?
The self-fulfilling prophecy is a prediction that comes true simply by it being made, which leads to a student’s underachievement. If teachers have low expectations of certain children and they are aware of these expectations, these children may develop a negative self-concept. They may come to see themselves as failures and give up trying, thereby fulfilling their original prophecy and leading to underachievement. Studies show that self-fulfilling prophecy is particularly less likely to occur when children are streamed. Streaming involves separating children into different ability groups or classes called 'streams'.
In the end, she warns that the outcome will produce students who are not able to comprehend complex knowledge and schools that limit history, science, the arts, civics, and many other components of the curriculum that provide college preparatory instruction. Ravitch notes that the United States, compared to other nations, is not following a model that will produce effective change. She explained, “High-performing nations make sure that students have access to a rich and balanced curriculum, not just a steady diet of test preparation and testing” (p.
Passing a standardized test is a skill that can be taught, but does not truly measure what a student has learned in the classroom; therefore standardized tests should not be used as a tool to measure students knowledge because students have more to offer than just filling in bubbles. Standardized tests don’t provide information that is useful in the future, resulting in students losing interest in learning because its not fun. The average student does not enjoy being cooped up in classroom for four hours filling in bubbles. This is when students think that the school is a reflection of standardized tests and they no longer want to learn. The information used in standardized tests has no importance in the real world.
All this is though is just a way to show students that this is the real world and in the real world you don’t get what you want and when you want it. In conclusion, students should ask themselves one question before turning their paper in, “What makes my paper better than the rest,” and if you don’t know then reread or have someone else read to see what you can add or take out to make it better than the rest and then maybe you might get that A you want to
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 with diverse backgrounds and skill levels are expected to answer questions written for the white, abled majority. English language learners have to take tests in English before they have mastered the language, and special education students take the same tests as other children, receiving few of the accommodations usually provided to them as part of their individualized education plans. These factors demonstrate how you can’t design one test to fit the needs of all students. While it is nice to believe that we can administer one all- encompassing test that accurately quantifies a student’s knowledge, it is unrealistic. We can’t issue the same test to everyone, simply because everyone is not the same.
Standardized Testing and How it Impacts Children Standardized testing first appeared with the acceptance of the No Child Left Behind Act. This act was intended to uphold public schools to an extraordinary standard of education, measured by students’ scores in the statewide standardized tests. However, many faults exist with current standardized testing, that could hinder children’s educational growth and also inhibit the growth of a school district itself. Some of the faults found with standardized testing include increased pressure on schools and children, inaccurate measurements of learning, “teaching to the test”, loss of instruction time, score manipulation, cultural bias found in standardized tests, delay in return of test results, and
This allows for a more focused eye on subjects that will be on standardized tests like math and reading. This actually causes a less well-rounded education since teachers have to start teaching to the test. Teaching to test does not cause smarter kids, but instead causes kids to memorize certain parts of a subject while leaving out other subjects like music and art which induce creativity and independence of oneself. So instead of standardized testing, schools should make sure students have a more rounded education which will actually make the kids smarter than when drilling them for standardized tests. (“States Seeks to Block ‘No Child Left Behind’”).