The Reliability of Standardized Testing Essay Example

was necessary to teach students testing mentality, instead of doing her job of helping students think for themselves (Haltiwanger 3). The idea of teaching students to test is interfering with their actual education. Taking time to teach how to test could be used to teach more curriculum. In addition to testing being hard for students, the tests also do not cover all information learned.When it comes to standardized testing, all knowledge and skills learned in school can not be a part of testing. In school, students receive scores on class participation, oral reports, group assignments, and discipline (O’Malley 1). All of these skills are important in the real world.

When students are out of school with a job, they will need to do things like speak in front of others and work with groups. Standardized tests do not measure any of these abilities and therefore are not able to indicate if students have such skills they need out of the classroom. It is important students are succeeding in communication skills along with their learning skills. Some may also say that the information included on the tests are most important, like math, reading and writing skills. However, “There's an enormous amount of knowledge that children at any grade level are likely to know. The substantial size of the content domain that a standardized achievement test is supposed to represent poses genuine difficulties for the developers of such tests. If a test covered all the material, it would be far too long” (Popham 2). This meaning, a test could not cover all information learned even in the main subjects. A year's worth of information cannot be included on

one test. If there is such little amount of information on the test from only a few subjects, how is it suppose to represent so much about a student. “No test is completely 100% reliable” (Rothman 156). For that reason, it cannot determine a student’s whole future. Along with the material of the test, memorizing is also a problem.On standardized tests, students are forced to memorize information, rather than fully understand concepts and why they are used. Developing a thought process and reasoning is very important when it comes to learning. “Instead of developing critical thinking skills, which the common core is apparently designed to promote, students are learning to become test takers by memorizing rules and standards” (Haltiwanger 2).

Also, Robert Hach, a teacher, wrote, “When students regurgitate memorized information, they are unable to digest it. That is, to process it into knowledge through understanding” (Haltiwanger 2). If test takers are just memorizing the content for the test, they are not learning. Students need to be able to apply the knowledge into real life situations.They see no reason for knowing why concepts are used, when their only goals are to pass a test. On the other hand, memorizing can lead to recalling how to do specific problems. For instance, sometimes it is necessary to memorize equations in mathematics. Although, according to Robert Hach, a teacher, if students are memorizing information just to repeat it on the test, it results in forgetting the material after the test (Haltiwanger 2). When students are just forgetting what they learned, they will not apply it outside of school. Teachers should be guiding students to grasp concepts for later use

in life and other purposes, then just passing a test.Standardized tests are designed to reflect a student’s capability. But not all results are accurate.

Students are constantly taking these tests throughout their academic career. Many feel the scores could determine their whole future, like where they attend college and their career path. The stress to do good is overwhelming and unnecessary. Overall, the use of standardized testing is a poor way to indicate the performance and intelligence of students because many struggle with test taking, all information learned id not covered, and it requires memorization rather than fully understanding the material.