Standardized tests are dangerous to student success.

Question

According to an article called "Standardized Testing is Still Failing Students,"  "Educators have long known that standardized tests are an inaccurate and unfair measure of student progress. There's a better way to assess students." 

Also, from personal experience, I had to take standardized tests for my highschool so our counselors could put me into classes that aligned with my test scores. I was put in the low section for every subject. After getting straight A's in those classes I moved up 2 levels, and was still getting A's. This is living proof that the standardized testing does not show a students true abilities and can be misleading. 

Answer 1

There is a presence of dissatisfaction surrounding standardized testing. While there are ways to elicit helpful information regarding academic performance, standardized testing provides only a limited view at a student's profile. 

An article from Edutopia says, "'Tests don’t explicitly teach anything. Teachers do,' writes Jose Vilson, a middle school math teacher in New York City. Instead of standardized tests, students 'should have tests created by teachers with the goal of learning more about the students’ abilities and interests,' echoes Meena Negandhi, math coordinator at the French American Academy in Jersey City, New Jersey."

Harvard's Graduate School of Education looked at cortisol levels and standardized testing. 

Their article says, "On average, students had 15 percent more cortisol in their systems the homeroom period before a standardized test than on days with no high-stakes testing. Students who showed the largest variations in cortisol between testing and non-testing weeks tended to perform worse on tests than expected given their classwork and performance on non-high-stakes tests, among other measures. Cortisol spikes weren’t the only culprit; some students’ cortisol dropped on testing days, which was also associated with lower performance.

'The decreases in cortisol is more a sign that your body is facing an overwhelming task and your body does not want to engage with the test,' Heissel says."

This data emphasizes the negative effect the pressure of standardized testing has on students' performance. 

Sources:

https://www.edutopia.org/article/what-does-research-say-about-testing

https://www.gse.harvard.edu/news/uk/19/02/tests-and-stress-bias

Comments

I found this fascinating. You included so many facts and details, which I enjoy reading. I also thought it was fascinating because there is actual evidence that our bodies so not want to engage in the tests.

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I think this was a really well put together response with interesting points such as cortisol levels. You provided a general introduction with your claim and delve straight into the supporting evidence to back it up. Regarding your use of sources, I think it was a good idea to use a primary source such as Harvard and a secondary source from a teacher herself. It provides a more well rounded answer.

Answer 2

According to the article titled Standardized tests are fundamentally bad by the Adirondack Daily Enterprise, state that standardized testing is NOT overall beneficial to students. Specifically they said, "The language of standardized tests is abstract and hypothetical, not fully comprehended by most students at earlier levels of development." Therefore I believe that this is true- these tests are dangerous to student success.

https://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/opinion/guest-commentary/2021/05/standardized-tests-are-fundamentally-bad/

Comments

Thank you for your points and links!  We also need to think of this as standardized tests can be beneficial to student success if they are used in a fair and equitable way. For example, standardized tests can help to identify students who need additional help, and they can provide data that can be used to improve instruction. Additionally, standardized tests can provide a common measure of student achievement, which can be used to compare schools and districts. Ultimately, whether or not standardized tests are dangerous to student success depends on how they are used.

Answer 3

https://standardizedtests.procon.org/#:~:text=Standardized%20tests%20scores%20are%20not,areas%20that%20cannot%20be%20judged%E2%80%A6

according to the article "Do Standardized Tests Improve Education in America?" "standardized tests only determine which students are good at taking tests, offer no meaningful measure of progress, and have not improved student performance." The article lists a lot of pros and cons about standardized testing.

I personally do not think standardized tests are the best way to judge a student's knowledge, from personal experience. I am not the best test taker, I get very nervous and overwhelmed and I feel like other people also have similar situations.

Answer 4

Not every student is a good test taker. Standardized tests bring lots of stress and anxiety to students, as they are told these exams will ultimately set them on their education track for the rest of the year, or even their lives. With this pressure, some students get too overwhelmed and don't do as well on the test as others. Some students show their knowledge better in writing rather than testing. The main point is that standardized testing is unfair for students, and not an accurate representation of their knowledge. 

https://lionstale.org/6824/opinion/why-standardized-tests-are-bad/

Comments

While your claim and logic make sense, I believe your factcheck could be improved with data. If not data, if claims based on studies or research were made, I believe it could strengthen your argument.

Answer 5

According to an article for the Fordham institute, standardized tests are an outdated form of measuring intellect and no longer really measure standards that we should be caring about. A lot of factors, such as the school the students attended, are not taken into account with standardized test scores. While test scores have been linked with later life outcomes, there are so many outside factors in a student's life that could affect their standardized testing ability that we can't really take the scores too seriously.

Source:

https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/commentary/how-much-should-we-rely-student-test-achievement-measure-success 

Answer 6

"High-stakes standardized tests can have serious negative effects on student’s academic motivation and learning, their sense of themselves as learners, their attitudes toward school, and their relationships with teachers. Such tests narrow the curriculum, reduce teacher creativity and innovation, and result in teaching to the test rather than educating the whole child." 

Although standardized exams can be a useful tool for tracking kids' academic development, there's continuous discussion and study over the accuracy and fairness of using them as the only indicator of student accomplishment and teacher effectiveness.

https://nepc.colorado.edu/

Answer 7

In addition to encouraging closed off thinking like the article referenced above states, standardized tests are inequitable in the sense that they negatively affect low income students who have less access to resources providing test preparation. This fact is brought up by the UT News and author David DeMatthews who writes "Many low-income families in particular are confronted with significant challenges as a result of the pandemic that include absences due to sickness, the loss of loved ones, housing insecurity, and a sense of anxiety and shame in taking a test that adults emphasize so much without adequate time and support." Standardized tests are not for everyone, especially for those who only have the time and money to focus on school, but still carry weight in the admission process and are therefore a disadvantage. Overall, the claim that standardized tests are dangerous to students success is correct. 

https://news.utexas.edu/2021/03/15/standardized-testing-amid-pandemic-does-kids-more-harm-than-good/

Comments

Nice work with your fact-check. Yours covered a different, and important, angle about low income students and standardized testing. Well done!

Answer 8

While standardized tests are very commonly utilised within modern school systems, it has been proven that they are not beneficial to all students. A very interesting way of considering part of why they are unfair is to consider that every student is a different learner. There are students that are visual learners, audio learners, hands on learners, and more. Young Education Professionals website explains that if there are so many different types of learners and students, then it cannot be expected that all students could benefit from one standard design of test.

https://www.youngedprofessionals.org/yep-dc-recess-blog/why-standardized-tests-dont-work