Standardized tests like the AIMS, the SAT or the recently proposed PARRC tests have caused a controversy around the country.
Proponents of standardized testing claim that the tests are a fair and objective measure of what students have achieved and ensure teachers and schools are accountable for taxpayer dollars. However, those who are opposed to the tests claim that no test can adequately gauge a child’s intelligence, and further believe that the tests harm America’s ability to create innovators and critical thinkers.
I, for one, consider these tests a waste of time. School districts spend millions to administer tests, money that could’ve been spent on books.
Not only are they a financial waste, they are often a detriment to students. These tests add one more level of stress to already stressed-out students. Education Researcher Gregory J. Cizek stated, “Testing…produces gripping anxiety in even the brightest students, and makes young children vomit, or cry, or both.”
Why would anyone want kids go through something so stressful? While testing-induced nausea is not the goal of standardized testing, it is often the result.
Also, the results of these tests can affect a person’s future. If a student doesn’t do well on the test, they may not be allowed to move on to the next grade or course. This in turn creates a big problem because they will fall behind.
If juniors and seniors don’t perform well on the SAT, then they are extremely limited in their collegiate prospects.
Someone may think, well that’s what they get for not preparing well enough for it. But this just creates more problems. Not only does the score affect them physically but emotionally as well. Students will get defeated and just want to give up.
Students often hear not to let anything get in the way of success. Yet this phrase is pure hypocrisy when the these standardized tests can do just that.
I understand standardized tests are intended to prepare students for the future, but these tests often just stand in the way of achieving a better future.