Imagine walking into school on test day. You’ve spent the whole school year preparing for this exam; one exam that will determine whether or not you can move forward with your life. The stakes are high, and the stress is even higher. The closer the time gets to the beginning of the test, the heavier your chest becomes. You find yourself gasping for air, as though you can’t get any oxygen into your lungs; you’re drowning. The bell rings, and you cringe. The ringing pains your ears; you make your way to your seat. The tests are being passed out to everyone. Your heartbeat starts to pound so loudly in your ears that you can’t hear any of the instructions. Another test. Another grueling test. You’ve done them for years, but none have been this …show more content…
According to Shannon Gilchrist, with the Columbus Dispatch, in Ohio alone, it is estimated that students incur approximately 112 standardized tests before graduating from high school (Gilchrist, 2015). Additionally, Dr. Richard A. Ross and the Ohio Department of Education (2015) released that over the course of a child’s school career, he or she is subjected to over 257 hours of mandated standardized testing (Ross, 2015). It must be understood that this measure of hours spent testing is miniscule in comparison to the time that is wasted instructing students how to take the tests. A colossal amount of time is spent in the classroom teaching students the types of problems that will be on the test, as well as tips and tricks to help them get higher scores, weeks, and even months before their testing dates. This information is only useful to students in regards to taking one standardized test, one time. Without a doubt, a student would be further along spending those hours learning and understanding skills that will help them in the future, rather than becoming experts on standardized …show more content…
The issue arises, in this “solution”, the testing of the new evaluation’s effectiveness. In studying the effects of a new testing system, there would be an increase in the frequency and magnitude of testing which students would be demanded to undergo in order for the test to be deemed adequate. If the new test was not seen fit to measure academic progress, other tests would need to be imposed until a sufficient one is approved; the result of this solution is a mass-tested society. Therefore, this “solution” is not really an answer at all, but rather, another issue waiting to
In this chapter, Jo Boaler describes several school systems who do not use “tracking,” filters that separate students into high-level mathematics classes and low-level mathematics classes. She continues with a discussion that reminds us of the harmful effects of “tracking” and the damage it does to students’ mindsets, both those students on the high-level and the low-level track. Ms. Boaler goes on to suggest that heterogeneous groups of students can effectively work together and individual students can develop a growth mindset. The remainder of the chapter focuses on teaching mixed ability groups effectively and includes an in-depth look at how the tasks students complete and the type of instruction they receive can promote growth mindsets.
Their Struggle is Real Students sat in straight long rows as I gently placed a diagnostic assessment on their desk. As I continued placing the diagnostic assessment on each desk, I listened to the moans and groans of my students who resented the assessment. I could hear the females in my classroom sucking their teeth in disappointment, the males mumbling “Wait we Have an Essay”!.I looked out the corner of my eye watching students put their head down. Many students either stared blankly at their assessments with a look of confusion on their face, while other students raised their hand waiting to be called. Before I assisted any of my students, I explained the directions and the purpose of a diagnostic assessment.
If you cannot stand with your hands by your sides, the test will be over. If you can, your body will give you away if you
I arrived at the testing location an hour early, which did not help soothe my nerves at all since I sat there doing nothing, watching the waiting room slowly drain of people. Again, I tried to reassure myself, but it wasn’t helpful. When the waiting room was finally empty, I heard my name. The waiting was finally over, and I walked into the room. The examiner seemed pleasant, although in my head, I realized that he was trained to do that.
When students could be learning meaningful information, teachers are using up that time and giving them tests and exams. Although, we want to be blaming teachers, states and schools are supposed to give out mandatory tests. Who is to blame? According to washington article post, Valerie Strauss, says “The average student in America’s big-city public schools takes some 112 mandatory standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and the end of 12th grade — an average of about eight a year, the study says. ” The state is to blame.
For example, it takes up too much time in class. Standardized testing is taking up 2.3 percent of classroom time. This 2.3 percent is not counting all of the regular testing students do throughout the year. Although students are prepared for college, you might say, standardized takes time away from current learning. As you can see, standardized testing takes up too much class time.
The SAT and ACT tests only check to see what vocabulary the student has and how quickly they can come up with the correct answer. The math sections just find out if the student is able to come up with the correct answer with the amount of time given. This causes serious concern due to the fact that students will not be on as much of a time crunch when they are doing their work for college classes, which are what these standardized tests are designed to predict. Because of this, it is not reasonable to assess a student’s abilities solely based off of their test
This examination had to be really stressful because you couldn’t fall out of the norm in order to not attract
The time that students spend outside of class studying for standardized tests could be used for something more productive. The school also has to create a modified schedule so students can take the standardized test- it will most likely result in shorter class periods, cutting away from valuable learning time. These tests waste incalculable hours during the school day and outside of
Unfortunately, standardized testing only gives a rough estimate of what a student can do or knows. It is impossible to tell if a student will improve, or even tell if the student just guessed on all of their answers for the test. This explains how standardized tests do not measure the correct information that school’s are actually searching
Introduction Standardized tests may be used for a wide variety of educational purposes. For example, they may be used to determine a young child’s readiness for kindergarten, identify students who need special-education services or specialized academic support, place students in different academic programs or course levels, or award diplomas and other educational certificates. Thesis Statement Standardized tests should not be eliminated completely, but should rather be evaluated in addition to other factors such as grades, extracurricular activities, and volunteer hours. This would take pressure off of students during standardized tests, allow colleges to see how well-rounded the students are, and give students who are better in other areas
I. Students average 20-25 hours a year taking standardized testing, according to a study completed by the Council of Great City Schools. II. This testing is used for a variety of things, all of which affect the way we are educated. III. Through my research on testing, I have found that the tests that we have all sat through are not as accurate as one may think.
As a student in high school did you ever feel like the standardized test are helping you or making you get in to a better college? Have you ever thought about how many hours students and teachers spend preparing for the standardized test? Many hours and studying are being put into those test but are they really effective and are the test doing the students good in life? Standardized tests are really just to effective, teachers and students spend too much time on them and it’s not doing the students any good, and even it’s not doing the teachers any good. Standardized tests in schools today in Ohio should be stopped because they are causing for teachers to be evaluated by the test results of how the students do on the tests, they are having the students more stressed about school and do they benefit you in colleges and university and do they really look at how well students do on them test.
According to a New Report on Assessment Finances that says "Standardized-testing regimens cost states some $1.7 billion a year overall, or a quarter of 1 percent of total K-12 spending in the United States". That is money that could be used to increase the teachers’ salaries because at the end of the day, with they are the ones who have spent 9 hours with us or sometimes even more. According to the Pew Center on the States "annual state spending on standardized tests rose from $423 million to almost $1.1 billion in 2008". Although, testing the concept learned throughout the year is a way to have knowledge of what students have learned worldwide. Also, it could be considered a waste of money because, some students won’t perform the same in an exam, rather than in
To begin with, standardized tests are not wholly reflective of a student’s knowledge.