Standardized tests have been a
controversial issue for a long time now. This is a topic that is near and dear
to me as college student who has lived through standardized tests for much of
my education. Yes, there are pros and cons to the use of standardized tests, but
it seems to me, that if you look at the majority of concerns from this type of
testing, many feel that there are more negatives than positives. I personally
agree strongly with a lot of the negative aspects of standardized testing. I
don’t think these tests should be weighted so heavily or should determine the
future of kids education and lives.
When I hear the word standardized
tests, I immediately get a pit in my stomach. I am brought back to scaring
memories of middle school exams that determined if I would go onto the next
grade level. But, fresher in my mind, I remember sophomore and junior year of
high school. When I think of my education during this time, one of my most
vivid memories is preparing and taking the SATs and ACTs.
The school system brainwashes
students to think that these exams are all that matter. If you don’t do well on
your SATs, you aren’t going to the college of your dreams, which in some cases
is true. This is extremely depressing and hard for many students to come to
terms with. With all this anxiety and stress before the tests is even taken,
how are students expected to perform well? Besides that, some students are just
bad test takers. Pair these two factors together, and it most likely is not
going to have a good outcome. The
website www.procon.org takes a look at both
sides of the issue of standardized tests.
The pro side of standardized tests
advocates for their use as a reliable measure of academic performance. They
claim that many professions also use standardized measures and standardized
tests can give solid information back to use about American schools. Those in
favor of this argument deny that test anxiety and stress for students are issues.
Teaching to the test is framed in a positive light since it removes unnecessary
teaching and makes uniform what students across the country are learning. And
then they claim that, after all, China uses them so we should too.
I am not unbiased here. The
arguments against standardized tests seem to make so much more sense to me.
Standardized tests only measure a small part of student learning and who a
student is. I lived through so many of my friends spending enormous sums of
money on test preparation, there is no way tests can be fair when preparation
is not. These tests are not about progress,
they are about who has learned to be an excellent test taker. Standardized
tests are simply one test and one grade, yet they carry so much weight.
Starting as early as elementary years, the results of standardized tests are
even said to have a strong influence on the real estate market in a
neighborhood, which is stressful then not only for the student but for the
family as a whole!
I still have to do a lot of confidence
building to not fall into the trap of seeing myself as my tests. I feel it took
a lot of courage to know I wanted and could succeed at Gettysburg College even
thought my standardized test results were not in line with most acceptances
here. I know when I go into the job
market I won’t see myself as a test grade in talking about my skills and
intelligence. I am more than my tests, but it has taken a lot of years and
support to figure that out. I hope for kids in the future this weight and the
pressures of the standardized tests is altered in some way, so it doesn’t take
the toll on kids and families as it has done in the past and is doing now.
