Do you think standardized testing is good or bad?

Question

I don't think it is. Mostly because it's teaching you how to answer tests the "right" way without allowing for the person taking the testing to actually think out an answer of their own. It should be more important that a student is getting the education that he or she needs, rather than test scores they recieve.

Out of curiousity, how does knowing how to take a test tell you how smart you are?

Answer 1

It's ridiculous. I don't know if you are talking about the tests that students have to take for the NCLB law, but the tests for this NCLB law are done ONLY to show how good the SCHOOL is doing and NOT the student!!
Schools go WAY out of their way to make sure the kids pass this test, so the school can GET MORE MONEY !!!
The schools with the best scores get more funds (money)
Schools have afterschool programs set up to help kids who don't pass the tests. YOu would think this is in the best interest of the kids, but it's NOT. THey ONLY help the child pass the test so THEY can get more MONEY!!!
These same children who get help from schools to pass this test, will most likely NOT get help from the school to help with their learning problems, which is most likely why they are not passing the tests to begin with.
Today since this stupid NCLB law started, teachers teach ONLY what is going to be on the test. and NOTHING else!
To hell with what the children really need to learn for life, as long as they get MONEY
Will the schools use this money to help the children??
What do you think???


To GUNit, colleges and high schools do NOT compare what they are teaching. The things being taught in high schools (and all schools for that matter) are 'dumbed down' so the kids can pass the state mandated tests, so schools can get MORE MONEY.
These same kids go off to college, only finding that they can not do the college level work.
There was a news story of a girl who was valedictorian for her high school class. She went to college thinking she was the smartest one, but had to drop out of college cause it was too hard for her.....

Answer 2

It's good because every student across the country takes the same test, so the colleges have something to compare students with. GPA and class rank are based more on how tough your particular school is. Standardized tests show how smart you are without any bias.

Answer 3

Standardized testing is a good thing when used in the right context but definitely can be biased toward differing populations. The problem is a standardized places norms on how a population answers a given set of questions. While it is in the test-maker's best interest to make the questions as generic and cross-cultural as possible, it is a daunting and impossible task as trying to construct a national curriculum is not feasible because different areas of the country may require different emphasis on their education systems. While science and math are universal across languages, many standardized tests deal with language/grammar, historical situations and literature. While it would be ideal for all populations to learn about each other, many hesitate to take on these challenges because of cultural perceptions about each other. Many do not accept what or how historians depict a given event or how it is taught in school. Many areas of the country do not have enough teachers who are fluent in the many, many, many language barriers that come into their school.

Most educational theorists 1. Believe that the major subjects should be taught in the native language of the student until that student has a proficient grasp of the language of the land and 2. Most educational theorists feel that standardized tests are only good as one of many potential assessment formats that will help show what a given student's true intellectual standing or potential intellect is.

I feel, as a future educator, that it is ridiculous that all these researchers and theorists have clearly stated that Standardized Testing IS NOT the answer for America's education...and have done so for the past two decades, yet I have to study about all these theorists and their beliefs, research and findings, then take a standardized exam (the PLT - Principles of Learning and Teaching Exam...which I passed), and have my future based up that same information. So, if it makes you feel a bit better, teachers, college students and many other professionals do go through the same thing that our students do. Doesn't mean it is right for our students/kids.

Many colleges and universities education departments are resentful of what President Bush's and the severely under-qualified Secretary of Education, Margaret Spellings have done with the creation and implementation of No Child Left Behind Act. Now all public school are bent over the lap of this act that is vastly underfunded and abundantly discriminatory toward individuals with disabilities, culturally diverse and socio-economically poor. NCLB, as i have said from the beginning, is a wonderful idea in an ideal world, but the population....and ANY population of humans cannot be assessed under one format. Any scientist or researcher will tell you that intellect within a population works on a bell curve. You have many of average intellect, many above and many below. Then, you deal with each individual's rate of growth. Not just musculature and major infrastructure...but also the neuropathways that help fire those synapses for sensory perception, memory, retrieval and output. Because one student does not perform well in the 2nd grade doesn't mean they are behind the rest of their peers...that student may just be on their own schedule. That is true of many, many, many students. But because local districts are pressured, local governments are pressured, it means that teachers are pressured and finally...it is all laid upon the students to perform....a true shame.

This answer may be more of a rant at this point, but education is truly the answer to most of society's issues. It also should be THEE most heavily funded area of the U.S.'s budget.

A quality education can lower health cost at all levels, create and/or raise economic opportunities, close cultural gaps - yet celebrate the diversity all bring to society and lower the need for defense spending. Obviously, there needs a strong long-term commitment to this venture from all areas of government and civilian life, but I fail to see the future in this area.

As a teacher, I will use standardized testing in my curriculum. But I will use it as a tool for helping my students, not as a way to decide what they can and cannot do in their lives. They will make up that decision for themselves. I work for them and I will not close doors to their future. I will work to advocate for this not just in my classroom, but with my peers as well.

Answer 4

Standardized attempting out could be undesirable in that the teachers instruct to the attempt...thus the pupils don't get a balanced training and could lack the form of extreme thinking skills.

Answer 5

Its bad. I used to hate it when schools had "model answers" which we had to follow in order to score marks. As long as the student understands the concept, she/he should be given the marks accordingly.

Answer 6

yes definetly standard testing is always good because sta

Answer 7

dont know