Arguments Against Standardized Tests

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Pages: 4

Are Standardized Tests an Accurate Indicator of One’s Abilities?
What exactly is the point of standardized tests? From a student’s point of view, the standardized test is given by teachers to be used as a way to submit their students to a whirlwind of stress and misery. From a teacher’s perspective, tests such as the ACT can be used to accurately determine whether their prospective pupils are ready for the world of college academics; from a boss’ eyes, a test can be used to determine a person’s ability for a job. The fact of the matter is, standardized tests can be used as an indicator of an individual’s ability for a job or can even be used to determine whether or not a student is ready for college. Standardized testing is not only just used in the world of academics. For hundreds of years, the standardized test has been used throughout the world for a variety of purposes. Standardized tests have been found to be used as early on as Imperial China, in which they were able to assess an individual’s eligibility for government positions in the ruling class (Are Standardized.. Par.6). That’s not the only case where a society used a test to decide if one was qualified enough to earn a job; the United States military used mental tests in
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Critics believe that the multiple-choice tests are “too simplistic” (Are Standardized.. Par.18). With multiple-choice testing, a student can simply make a “lucky guess” so to speak, and answer the question correctly without having idea what material the test covers. These same critics suggest that standardized tests contain more “open-ended” questions; this means the question given is answered by the test taker writing a short response with their answer along with supporting details for their answers. This type of question demands the student to fully grasp and comprehend the concept that was