Standardized testing is a form of testing that involves all test takers answering the same question and scores them in a consistent manner in which it is possible for those who they carried out the tests to compare and evaluate the performance of each student. Multiple-choice questions, true-false questions, short-answer questions, free-response questions, and the like are some examples of standardized tests. Schools implement standardized tests for some important reasons such as: (1) they are objective and not biased; (2) and according to them, accurately evaluates the student's academic abilities; (3) provides benchmarks for both parents and teachers; (4) helps to know which key points need to be emphasized; (5) and also provides guidelines for the school curriculum. However, for students, it creates stress. They begin frantically searching for the best way to study for a test and spend a lot of time studying. According to studies, teachers end up preparing their students for a specific standardized test rather than making them understand and gain knowledge about the subject being taught. Standardized tests only consider the student's performance on tests leading up to the assessment and not the student's growth throughout the school year. In other words, it reduces the chances of improving students' learning ability. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on "Why Violent Video Games Shouldn't Be Banned"? Get an Original Essay Standardized tests create only a limited scope of learning and growth for students due to the never-ending cycle of how an individual student is assessed. Tests like this only measure specific areas like reading, writing, and math. Standardized tests focus only on cognitive dimensions and do not give importance to other skills such as creativity, motivation and cooperation. According to the National Council of Teachers of English, students who do well in school and take standardized tests have much worse life outcomes than others because they lack curiosity, perseverance, sociability and the like. Another claim by the NTCE was that participation in such tests can lower students' self-esteem, for example, when a proficient literacy student may not understand or appreciate their abilities and disengage from school because their skills are not being cut. the narrow range of skills measured by standardized tests. There are many ways teachers can assess their students because each individual has a unique way of learning. There are those who are good at both writing and speaking, they are what people call verbal learners. Spatial learners are people who need visual aids to learn. Auditory-musical people are those students who rely mainly on sounds and music. These people learn well by listening and hearing. Kinesthetic learners are individuals who respond to words that stimulate feelings and physical activity. Logical students are the type who take notes and are organized. These people prefer to use logic and reasoning while learning. Social students are the type of people who prefer to learn in groups, while solitary students tend to be distant and prefer to be alone and study alone. You cannot simply rely on a standardized test where the same type of test is administered to every student. However, for some, the standardized test is an exam that is given under well-defined conditions in which the result does not depend on the evaluator, therefore being objective and fair. It is a means of determining and measuringlearning provided by the Department for Education and a way for schools to relate to each other. Standardized tests not only limit students but also create stress for them. Students were surveyed by the American Psychological Association in 2014 and the result showed that many adolescents experience symptoms of stress in their daily lives and that school contributes to student stress. According to Abeles (2015), “today's students are the most tested generation in history." He also said that excessive focus on testing has negative consequences, including placing unhealthy stress on students. Health consequences associated with standardized testing have been cited as stomach pain and vomiting, headaches, sleep problems, depression, attendance and acting problems, and, most notably, mental health problems. There are students who are exceptionally good and understand what the topic is but are terrible at taking tests. In 2015, Dutro and Selland stated that categorizing students as competent or less competent has the ability to inform and influence how children construct their identities as students. They also noted that high-scoring or excellent-performing students were students who expressed positive feelings about the test-taking experience; none of the students who scored below proficient, on the contrary, had such a positive outlook. “Less competent” students eventually become discouraged and label themselves failures, so they no longer try. Standardized tests should be abolished. There are many modern and new ways to assess students, such as real-world work and projects. Real-world jobs are activities that require students to leave the room and go to an area where they can explore and learn about the location. This not only affects placements but also other school work such as, for example, a site relevant to what is taught by the teacher can be visited and explored by students and they will share their reflections about it next time. With this, students will be able to learn both from books and from reality. While schools only award credit to students who perform well in school during school hours, there are also students who perform well outside of school without properly receiving credit. Some of these acts are even bigger than what is done in schools. For example, when a student participates in socioeconomic activities, they will earn a social studies credit, provided they provide evidence or when a student participates in a marathon, they will earn a physical education credit. In these cases, students learn from the real world and gain both experience and knowledge. Another way is a personal success plan customized for the student and not a standardized system. This assessment caters to the student's interests where the teacher works with him to discover and hone his talents. This type of assessment basically happens when a teacher works with students to help them identify their goals and develop a real plan to achieve them and support them if necessary. Bibliography Grade Power Learning. (2017, June 22). PROS AND CONS OF STANDARDIZED TESTS. Retrieved from Grade Power Learning: https://gradepowerlearning.com/pros-cons-standardized-tests/National Council of Teachers of English. (2014). How standardized tests shape and limit student learning. Retrieved from the National Council of Teachers of English: https://www.ncte.org/library/NCTEFiles/Resources/Journals/CC/0242-nov2014/CC0242PolicyStandardized.pdfPennsylvaniaHigher Education Assistance Agency. (2019). What is your learning style? Learning styles. Retrieved from Education Planner: http://www.educationplanner.org/students/self-assessments/learning-styles-styles.shtmlSimpson, C. (2016, May). Effects of standardized tests. Retrieved from Harvard: https://projects.iq.harvard.edu/files/eap/files/c._simpson_effects_of_testing_on_well_being_5_16.pdf Why shouldn't standardized tests be a way to measure knowledge? Standardized tests compare the school as a whole rather than how each student performs on that test. Some kids may not be good at taking tests, but they may be good at homework and knowledge. Standardized tests are not an accurate way to measure academic performance. Teachers now have to teach based on tests instead of being creative with their evaluations. These tests are also a terrible way to evaluate the teacher. Ignore everything the teacher did the entire year. Standardized tests are just a way to see if the student can do well on the exam, not if they know the knowledge like a performance assessment would. Standardized tests unfairly measure student knowledge, making teaching uncreative. The stakes are so high that this standardized test is mainly used for funding. The higher the test scores across the school, the more funding the school receives. This test is more important for liability. Responsibility means being responsible. This means that an organization can be expected to take responsibility for its actions. Author Dylan William of the article Standardized Testing and School Accountability writes, "the literal meaning of the term—that of being 'held to account'—suggests that there is an expectation that when a person, organization, or entity is accountable, it can be expect or be held accountable for their actions” (William 2010). School accountability all depends on standardized testing. In the article Teachers' Beliefs about the Purpose of Education in a High-Stakes Testing Environment, author Kristina M. Veselak states, “Schools, districts, and states have much at stake, including rankings and funding, as a result of test scores” (Veselak 2018). The higher the test score, the more money the school receives. It doesn't matter how well the student does in terms of learning, it matters more whether he or she passes the tests so that the school or district gets a better ranking and more funding. The most important part of this test is not to see if the student has mastered the subjects and learned everything, but it is a way for the school to appear better in terms of placement and get more money. The school district is responsible for making sure students score high on standardized tests and will receive rewards in return. It's sad, the school does its job in terms of teaching the kids and then tests them with a big test and if they do well enough, the school itself gets a reward. In the article The Growth of High-Stakes Testing in the USA: Accountability, Markets and the Decline in Educational Equality, author David Hursh states, "Additionally, test scores are used to hold schools and school districts accountable for student learning, with schools that receive high ratings are eligible for monetary rewards, while those that receive low ratings risk sanctions, including possible closure high test score and when they get a scorelow they can potentially close. One wonders what the real reason for this test is. Teachers have to change their entire curriculum because of this test. Teachers now have to create their own curriculum to teach students how to test. Teachers try their best to carry out many practical activities for their students to learn. Because of this test and the way teachers have to teach, many teachers want to leave the field of education. In the article Standardized Testing and Its Victims, Alfie Kohn states: “Many teachers are leaving the field because of what is being done to schools in the name of 'accountability' and 'tougher standards.'” This test had such high standards for students to pass that teachers wanted to stop because they thought they had too much pressure to make sure their students passed. Teachers worry that they can't produce the highest test scores through their students. Kohn states, “Prospective teachers are rethinking whether they want to begin a career in which higher test scores matter more, and in which they will be pressured to produce these scores” (Kohn 2000). Being a teacher, you are evaluated based on your students' test scores. If students get high test scores, it shows that they are doing their job as a teacher. This places too much pressure on a teacher to ensure that all of his or her students achieve high test scores. There was a teacher describing her class before and after she started doing the homework for the test. His classroom is a kindergarten class where the district wants to administer a standardized test to improve reading and math levels. The teacher, Darla, goes above and beyond to make sure everything she teaches has meaning and is a hands-on activity. This way, students feel good about themselves and their learning. In an article, Standardized Testing in Kindergarten, authors Stepanie Feeney and Nancy K. Freeman write: “Darla takes pride in providing many opportunities for the children she teaches to have meaningful, hands-on learning experiences and to feel good about themselves as students. "(Feeney, Freeman 2013). By providing these hands-on activities, his students feel good about themselves and their learning, which changes as soon as they apply the test. The tasks they create and teach for the test are not creative and done disengage students. These children are very bored and do not like doing homework because they are not very creative. During the test the children were restless. The authors state: "When he administered this test for the first time last year, i children began the task with enthusiasm, but as they worked on the test they became restless and showed signs of distress" (Feeney, Freeman 2013). Children do not do well in a testing environment, they do better when they have space to express themselves also demonstrating knowledge of the topic. Author Kristina M. Veselak, from the article Teachers' Beliefs About the Purpose of Education in a High-Stakes Testing Environment, states: “However, in schools that focus so much on student preparation. test, students report an almost complete loss of interest in education, higher levels of anxiety, and lower levels of confidence…” (Veselak 2018). This test disengages all students. All students lose all interest in wanting to do school work. Anxiety levels in students increase due to the idea of failing this high-stakes test. Performance assessments throughout the school year are a much better way to measure learning growth. Many people.
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