Should Standardized Testing be Part of The Curriculum Essay Example

The debate over Common Core created controversy between Republicans and Democrats.

In December of 2015 the U.S. passed the Every Students Succeeds Act which replaces the NCLB act. The ESSA supposed to develop educational standards and test students on those standards. Unlike the NCLB, the ESSA does not require the federal government to hold schools accountable for their performances. “The law also forbids the federal government from requiring states to adhere to any specific set of standards” (Issues & Controversies). The ESSA held States responsible for their own standards and forbids the federal government from requiring States to set any specific standards. Many people favor the ESSA because it reduces federal control over education because they feel that federal control limits creativity in classrooms.

Standardized test provide minimal to no useful feedback to classroom teachers and limit teachers to adapt to leaner differences. Valerie Strauss who is a reporter of The Washington Post has been covering and investigating education issues in local, state, and federal levels; states that “Adaptation requires new knowledge.” Strauss goes on to explain that human survival requires adaptation, and with adaptation comes with new knowledge. Meaning that to require new knowledge you have to go through multiple thought process, which standardized test limit students in school. As teachers spend most of their time “rallying the troops” and focus on specifics on the tests it can derail a class and block real learning as Bari Walsh explains, who is a senior editor of Usable Knowledge where she writes articles about children education. “The pressure to raise test scores has become so strong that testing often degrades instruction rather than improving it” (Walsh). As test

prep continues, it increases the pressure to preform well on standardized tests because teachers and administration decided where students end up based off these tests.

Scores from standardized tests are not as accurate as some believe them to be. So how are teachers, colleges, or work places suppose to base these students scores’ and predict their future success? Because of all the test prep in classes it has tough students how to become good test takers instead of widening a students horizon, “it has led to severe score inflation gains in scores far larger than real improvements in learning” (Walsh). In Valerie Strauss article “34 Problems with Standardized Tests” she gives an example of how in Florida a law says how if a student in third grade fails a standardized language arts tests then they cannot move onto to fourth grade, and not based of actual grades. So some third graders from a number of school districts, including honors students, were not allowed to move on into fourth grade because they opted out of the test. This then went to court where it was ruled that it was wrong to refuse advancement. It was then that many superintendents in Florida said they had “lost confidence” in its accuracy.

Since schools do base these scores on how well we will succeed in the future it increases the pressure on students. This pressure causes students to have unnecessary stress and eventually causes a negative attitude toward school, “The pressure to raise test scores has become so strong that testing often degrades instruction rather than improving it” (Walsh). Not only is there pressure to perform well on tests because it

dictates their future; but pressure also comes from their schools so teachers or school get recognized,“Schools and school systems that point with pride to their high scores on standardized tests.” (Strauss). While schools think that they are showing off their academic ability, they are only flaunting their ability to memorize and apply.

Although the standardized tests do have some complications, but they do promote excellence and hold everyone in the nation to the same standards. Bill Gates once said “These standards ensure that students are gaining the skills and knowledge they need to get a good job or succeed in college”( Issues & Controversies). These education standards help students require skills they need to succeed in school, but do they help students require skills they need in the outside world? Maybe the problem isn’t actually the standardized tests, maybe it’s the misuse of these tests that is. Because without standardized test how would we be able to recognize the performance gap between students, “How do we know that the gap between poor and well-off students has been growing at the same time? Standardized tests” (Walsh). But that can only help if we use them to help instruct and improve, not to raise the pressure to increase test scores.

Maybe instead of passing a new act every five years or so we could adjust them and take inputs from student and teacher around the U.S.. Many of these standards were set without taking in consideration of teachers and what subjects need more help then others. “if you pressure people to improve on just a few aspects of their job, some of the other important aspects of the job

will stay the same, and some will deteriorate” (Bari Walsh). Instead of focusing of the subjects that you need to pass to get into the next grade maybe we should focus on the stuff that’s going to help us get through the real challenges that life hits us.