Throwing Out Standardized Testing

Throwing Out The Test

I remember when being in high school, I dreaded having to take those god-awful TAKS, TAAS, and the Benchmark tests. They would give me nightmares just from thinking about them. Those tests were always so much pressure on many of my fellow classmates and I, all throughout my years in public school. My friends and I are not the only ones who have problems with standardized testing. Many students and teacher across the state and nation have similar issues as well. I do not believe that the district should measure a student’s intelligence based on standardized test scores because it is inaccurate way of measuring their full potential. The district should also not use the tests to measure intelligence because if schools…show more content…
More so, it is being done internally by teachers (Falk, 616). The stakes are so high they manipulate test results by keeping certain students out of the testing environment. It has been reported that kids were purposely held back so that their performance will not bring down the test scores that the more intelligent students submit. I agree with that Lindsay Jillson argues about how standardized testing has jeopardized a student’s future because of the sanctions that are given to them for being less intelligent. I just do not understand why the main focus of our education has to be all about test. I feel as if my classmates and I were like lab rats, being used for discovery and research, just so the school can gain recognition and reap the rewards for producing good test scores. Many districts use strict curricula’s that publishing companies produce to “promise” outstanding grades if you buy their products and complete them all. When you try to force that on the teachers, it is frustrating to them because they have the freedom of teaching taken away from them and are given a set of rules to produce better test results. Because many teachers and other educators are being forced to move away from teaching in their own preferred style, they must follow a set pace so that their instruction to the students is to what the district mandates instead of responding to the students need. Many have grown…show more content…
"A Tyranny of Standardized Tests. " New York Times (1857-Current file) [New York, N.Y.] 28 May 2000,WK11. ProQuest Historical Newspapers The New York Times (1851 - 2005). ProQuest. JPL Library UTSA, San Antonio, State. 7 Oct. 2008 <http://www.proquest.com.libweb.lib.utsa.edu/>.
Falk, Beverly. "Standards-based reforms: Problems and possibilities." Phi Delta Kappan. 01 Apr 2002. 612. eLibrary. Proquest CSA. JPL Library UTSA. 08 Oct 2008. <http://elibrary.bigchalk.com/curriculum>.
Jillson, Lindsay. "Should We Stand Against Standardized Testing?" The Student Writing Anthology. Boston, MA: Pearson, 2005. 43-48.
Ullrich, Doug. "Texas assessment of academic skills." Agricultural Education Magazine, The. 01 Mar 2001. 10. eLibrary. Proquest CSA. JPL Library UTSA. 08 Oct 2008.