The Importance Of Standardized Testing In Education

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Standardized testing is supposed to be a method of measuring a child’s academic growth. However, there are a number of problems with the way standardized tests are given. Standardized testing evaluates a student on a certain day, therefore a student could perform worse because of some outside factors. Standardized testing has a “one-size-fits all” mentality, and because of the significance of the results, teachers hinder a students overall learning potential by trying to “teach the test.” Unfortunately in our society, standardized test scores are an extremely important factor when applying to college or seeing whether or not you can go on to the next grade. Because they do not accurately assess a student’s academic abilities, only focus on one approach to education, and …show more content…
There are a number of factors that make people question how accurate these tests really are. The tests take place in an artificial environment, in which students are timed and given an inadequate amount of time to complete the test. Additionally, unlike a test taken in the regular classroom, questions are not allowed to be asked. The root cause behind why a student had a lower score on a standardized test could be personal or emotional factors. Students who are poor test takers because of the nerves associated with standardized testing will not be able to show their academic capabilities in these situations. One report showed that six in ten school psychologists say that Common Core standardized tests have increased student anxiety (Spector, Lohud.com). With this in mind, it has been proven that stress has a negative effect on the body. Studies using the Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) technology found that stressful situations are directly linked to the decaying of the brain (citation). Standardized testing provokes a considerable about of stress on students and clearly harms their bodies. With that being said,