Against Standardized Testing Essay -- Standardized Testing Essays

There seems to be a dilemma in the educational system. In order toreceive funding, a school system has to test its students annually.These tests ar supposed to measure the progress of the students and theschool system. But what is really measured with these scores? What do theyreally mean? Should children be tested as a great deal as they are? And mostimportantly, should the ability to pass on to another grade or to graduatefrom high school be based on only one test? With so many questions arisingfrom these tests, the answer is to take a stand against them.Perhaps a brief history will provide a better understanding of the standardizedtesting system. In the 1980s, the National Governors Associationpushed for states to have performance-based accountability of their schoolsystems. Basically, states would grant schools more flexibility in what andhow they chose to teach in return for more accountability for academicbasedperformance. In 1994, Title I, the largest federally funded educ ationprogram (http//www.doe.mass.edu), actually required that all states createperformance-based accountability systems for schools (Elmore 2). Now,with the introduction of the Bush administrations No Children LeftBehind, all states are required to annually test their students in order toreceive federal grants (Romano 1). In Bushs attempt to make sure that ourschools are held to a high standard, he is threatening their funding basedon their students performance. not only are students grade advancementsand sometimes graduations dependent upon these tests, but so is the fundingfor their schools as well. Teachers can be dismissed or schools shut devour based on test performance. No pressure there, kids.W... ...ardized tests. Utahs officials were willing to lose $76 million dollars infunding by deciding not to follow federal testing standards (Quindlen 2). Ifwe take a stand, is your state ready to be next?Works CitedElmore, Richard F. Testing Trap. Harvard Magazine. 11 November 2005. h ttp//www.harvardmagazine.com/print/090240html. mommy Department of Education. Massachusetts Government. 11 November 2005.http//www.doe.mass.edu/Quindlen, Anna. Testing One, Two, Three. Newsweek. 19 June 2005. 4 November2005. http//www.msnbc.msn.com/id/8099819/site/newsweek/page/2/print/1/displaymode/1098.Romano, Lois. Test Scores Move myopic in Math, Reading. Improvement Appears SlightSince No Child Left Behind. 20 Oct. 2005. Washington Post. 1 November 2005.http//www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2005/10/19/AR2005101900708.