Mariel Mantia
Dan Curtis-Cummins
English 214
25 May 2016
Testing the Education System
Introduction to Standardized Testing
During my junior year of high school I took the SAT for the very first time. I studied the material for weeks. However, regardless of the amount of hours I spent studying I still received a poor score for that test. I took the SAT three more times after that, but was still never happy with my scores. I doubted my intelligence for a while. I never considered myself to be a below average student, but my test scores were telling me otherwise. My SAT scores were also restricting the opportunities I could have been given; college acceptances, scholarship opportunities and much more. I am just one of many people who have dealt with this situation regarding all standardized testing. Many people have been affected by one form of standardized testing throughout their life. Standardized test results are being used heavily to determine the future success or eminent failure of students. All students are being held to a certain standard that we are required to meet in order to be considered intelligent or successful in today's society. However, is this increasing dependency on standardized test scores benefiting or hurting the ability for the public education system to sustain in society? The readers that will come across this essay will have either had an experience similar to mine or a rather good experience. I plan to provide research that will interest the readers with either experience to show that standardised tests scores do not properly reflect students abilities and therefore should not be depended on to judge our education system.
Last semester for my oral communications class, I researched a topic very similar to this one. My research dealt with why students are required to take certain tests such as the high school exit exam, star tests and the SAT. I found the reasons and laws supporting standardized testing. However, while researching the reasons for enforcing standardized testing I also came across many scholarly works talking about why or why not our education system should be depending on standardized tests score and how this affects the schools. These authors wrote about how students are being affected by these forced standard tests. Each of these authors provided different points of views and different evidence to support their claim. This topic is very much talked about especially in today's society because there are more standards being created that students must meet.
Since I have already done some research on this topic, I am very familiar with the different aspects of standardized testing. I know the basics such as why we are required to take them and who is in charge of distributing them. I plan to research more of the student perspective. I would like to know more about how they are affecting the students. For essay two, I have not yet chosen the visual I want to represent my topic. However, I know that the visual I will end up choosing will not be bias in any way. It will not represent the bad or good effects caused by standardized testing, rather just provide more insight on my inquiry question. For the third essay I plan to enter the very large conversation by providing my readers with information from multiple different perspectives from different authors. I will also narrow down the subtopics that are heavily talked about in my subject to the topics that are relevant to my question. For the final essay I would like to interview an educator. I have not chosen a specific person yet, but I was thinking about someone from the education department here at SFSU. The person I do end up interviewing will hopefully provide me with other perspectives to think about and consider.
When most people think about standardized testing they tend to automatically think about the SAT or ACT. Both of these tests are required to get into any college. However, there are many other forms of standardized testing students are required to take. We are required to take begin to take standard tests before we even start kindergarten. These tests are used to measure if we are ready to be put into schools or should wait another year. The consequences of this is that kids are now starting school later and later which only prolongs their expected graduation time. A common theme people can see with standardized testing is the consequences. There are consequences if you do poorly on these tests and there are consequences if you don’t take these tests at all. The common theme most people associate with standardized testing, including myself are the consequences that come with it. With my negative past experiences with standardized testing, I plan to provide the readers with all points of views which have led me to the conclusion that standardized testing will not let the future of our education systems to sustain and let the readers decide for themselves.
In the next section of my research project, the visual analysis, I plan to show the readers the common beliefs of most people regarding standardized testing. This visual will represent my perspective on the topic as well as show the readers one of the main problems that come up when dealing with standardized tests.
The Visual Analysis
The visual I chose to analyze for my issue is a political cartoon I came across on an Asian American news editorial website. My issue revolves around how standardized testing affects students and whether or not depending on these tests will sustain the future of public education. Because of my personal background with standardized testing and the many other known problems surrounding standardized test, I have decided to focus my research more on how these tests are hurting the students and how the future of schools will not sustain if it continues to depend solely on standardized tests scores. In this picture we can see how the different animals lined up in the picture represent the diverse students in classrooms across the country. The man sitting at the desk presenting the instructions represents the typical standardized test teacher that people have been accustomed to seeing. The teacher sitting at the desk animals gives the students a task, “For a fair selection everybody has to take the same exam: please climb that tree.” Although the task presented is rather simple, some of the students are not capable of doing it. This is because the students are actually all different species of animals. The animals (students) that are lined up are a bird, monkey, penguin, elephant, fish, seal and dog. Not all of the animals are capable of climbing the tree because of their physical nature. However, some of the animals would find climbing the tree easy and would pass the exam, particularly the monkey and the bird. They are smiling because they know they can easily do this task and pass the test without a problem. This represents standardized testing because all students across the country are being given the same exam with the same questions. Typically, this would be seen as fair because all students are given the same level of questions. However, there are many outside contributing factors to a student's success or failure rate that standard tests can not measure. These tests do not measure comprehension skills or critical thinking which is crucial in most education systems. Certain students will indeed benefit from standardized testing because of their ability to perform and memorize well on standard tests. The students who aren't able to do well on these tests are left behind and are considered "unintelligent".
Not only will I be focusing on the image itself, but also the article and commentary from the author which included the image. The website is titled Northwestern Asian Weekly. This website focuses on news in the Asian American community. The article that featured this image is tilted “EDITORIAL: Not Fair- More concerns about standardized testing”. The title alone caught my attention and already persuaded me to believe in a certain way. The article presents recent statistics about the correlation between family income and standardized test scores. Some of these statistics included students from families earning more than $200,000 a year will receive a combined score of 1,714. While students from families earning less than $20,000 will receive a combined score of 1,326. The author also discusses how the increasing dependency on standardized testing is causing teachers to teach strictly to the test instead of teaching critical thinking or comprehension skills. They state that this method of teaching is leaving out crucial learning and educational skills. They also include real commentary from families who are opting their children out of these tests because they believe it is unnecessary and unfair. The visual they chose to include supports the point they are trying to make in their article even more. They are basically saying standardized tests are unfair for a number of students which is exactly what the image is saying.
The visual I chose obviously portrays a biased of the standardized test argument. I chose this visual because this picture serves as a summary of my main argument and will hopefully persuade my readers to believe in my point of view. This visual is pretty easy to understand and makes a clear point, standardized tests are not fair for everyone and will always favor someone, particularly the students lucky enough to come from an upperclass family. It challenges the fact that standardized tests are supposed to be seen as a fair tests and even shows how it is unfair. The image does a great job of using pathos to persuade people to think in a certain way. The visual makes you feel pity for the animals who aren’t able to climb the tree and jealousy towards the one animal who can. The facial expressions on the animals who aren’t able to climb the tree are shocking which makes the audience feel shocked as well at the exam they are being given. The image can also easily connect to anyone and appeal to their emotions. This image does a great job of using logos as well. Obviously not all of the animals can pass the test, but the test is supposed to be fair for everyone because they all receive the same question. Everyone will be able to relate this back to standardized testing. This shows people how testing works to perpetuate inequality in education and favors the wealthy and privileged to succeed.
The article including the image also supports the research I will be doing and answers part of my inquiry question. This article agrees with the clear stance that I am taking, standardized testing is unfair and is an accurate measure of intelligence. The conversation I am entering, as I stated in my introduction, is an already largely talked about topic. There are many viewpoints and information already stated. This image takes a clear stance on the subject. The article that accompanies the picture does add new information to the larger conversation. The article states that students coming from high income families have proven to do better on standardized testing. This is because they are open to more opportunities such as tutoring and taking test prep classes. The students coming from low income families do not have the same opportunities. This information is represented by the picture. Because some of the animals have advantages, they are able to climb the tree and pass the exam. The animals who did not have the same advantages ultimately fail.
The article mostly uses ethos to persuade the readers. Although the author remains anonymous throughout the article, this person gives us a clear perspective about what they believe about standardized testing. The author chooses specific statistics to include in the article that persuades the readers to view standardized tests in a certain way. The statistic I mentioned before, regarding student family incomes, really shows the credibility of the author. This author also brings in real commentary coming from families of students who have to go through the Common Core Standards. This shows that the author did not just invent this topic, but is bringing new information to the larger conversation. The article uses pathos just as the image does, but instead of using images to evoke emotion, the article uses meaningful language and examples. For example this statement,
“According to Russell, this school year in Seattle there will be a new set of standards, which, even though they were rolled out over a three-year period, still bear little resemblance to what students actually have previously learned or are even capable of learning at each particular grade and a new standardized assessment coming up this spring that teachers know next to nothing about and which (by the test creators’ own estimates) 60 percent or more of our students are expected to fail” (Northwest Asian Weekly).
This statement affects your emotions because it challenges your previous ideas of standardized testing and who is affected by these tests.
The topic of standardized testing reaches out to a large audience. However the people who should care the most about this topic are the students. As I’ve said before I used to believe I wasn’t capable of being successful because my standardized testing scores were telling me that I couldn’t. After coming across this visual image along with the article I now know that this is not the case at all. It was not necessarily my fault I did so poorly on my standardized tests. These tests are made to be seen as fair but in reality are not at all. I hope other students in elementary school, high school or college can see this unfairness as well with this visual.
I am trying to prove that depending on standardized tests scores will not sustain the future of public education. The article comments on this topic. They bring up the fact that student failure rates will increase which will only make the school's reputation plummet. A school with a low reputation correlates with the amount of funding they receive. Therefore, if the number of students doing poorly on standardized tests increases then the money school receives from the federal government will decrease. This comment alone ultimately answers my inquiry question. If schools depend solely on standardized tests scores to determine their success rates, than the public education system will not be able to sustain for much longer. Not only does this visual appeal to students, but also adults as well, mainly teachers and instructors who have been distributing standardized tests to their students. This image should open their eyes to the unfairness of standard tests. Since this image does use pathos to appeal to the audience, the teachers can get a clear understanding about what it’s like to be a student and to be judged based on one unfair test.
As a result of this analysis, this image clarifies my understanding of my largely talked about topics. I assumed I did bad on standardized tests simply because I am a bad test taker and suffer from test anxiety. However, analyzing this visual and reading the article alongside of it makes me more aware of standardized tests and how unfair they can be. This visual should also clarify the students’ and teachers’ understanding of standardized tests. Students should not feel bad or blame themselves for their test scores. All students should know that standardized tests are not fair and does not measure true intelligence. Teachers and instructors should know that standardized testing does not measure true educational quality. Schools with poor reputations only have those reputations because of their students receiving poor test results.Through the analysis of this political cartoon and the accompanying blog post, I hope to make people more aware of this large topic. Through further and in more detail research I will be conducting, I will show the readers the many unfair aspects of standardized testing and how the unfairness is hurting the education system's’ ability to sustain.
The Literature Review
The topic of standardized testing in the American education system is a widely talked about topic amongst many scholars. Our society has become accustomed to judge the students and education institutions based on their standardized test scores. The common belief is that the higher the test scores, the more successful students will be in the future. This belief emerges from high stakes tests such as the SAT, ACT, high school exit exam and the common core test. This belief is where my inquiry question arises from. As I’ve previously mentioned before, I am questioning whether or not the increasing dependency on standardized test scores is benefiting or hurting the ability for the public education system to sustain in today’s society. Although more and more people are looking at the scores as students paths for success, I have found various scholarly articles proving that this is not the case. I have pointed this out before: every student has taken a standardized test at least once in their life. Regardless of the grade, the scores have majorly impacted one aspect of their life. This should not be the case. I have found many scholarly articles that support this claim. Scholars’ believe that depending on standardized test scores will only do more damage to the students and their futures.
The students and teachers are told that the focus of these tests are to measure students’ comprehension levels in the classroom and to determine what subjects need to be given more attention to. However, the real purpose of distributing these tests are not what we’ve been accustomed to think. In, “The Case Against Standardized Testing: raising the scores, ruining the schools” by Alfie Kohn, Kohn makes a point to the readers that the people benefiting the most from standardized testing and low test scores are the big standardized test companies. The companies that manufacture and score these tests make enormous profits from selling their tests to the schools. Not only this, but they also strive on students’ low test scores. Low test scores correlates with more purchases of test study material that is also produced by the same big test companies. Kohn points out, “The worst tests are often the most appealing to school systems: It is fast, easy and therefore relatively inexpensive to administer a multiple choice exam… More often than not, these companies then turn around and sell teaching materials designed to raise scores on their own tests” (2). Big companies spend so little to design a standard test for schools and gain so much when theses tests are bought by the schools and failed by the students. These companies are making enormous profits from simply distributing standardized tests. The purpose of making many of these tests mandatory for students is for the big companies to make a profit. It is simple enough to to manufacture a multiple choice test with unmeaningful questions and distribute these to the schools which is why these companies are able to make such a large profit.
Now that we can see why so many different forms of standardized tests are being enforced in schools, we can now focus on how these tests and the scores are affecting the people who really matter, the students. The increasing dependency on standardized testing has resulted in high stakes for all students. With more pressure on students to not only pass standardized tests but exceed them has caused worry for parents and educators all around. Valerie Strauss, author of “13 Ways High-Stakes Standardized Tests Hurt Student”, mentions how the stress of high stakes tests are affecting students ability to succeed in school. The SAT and ACT are two tests that ultimately determine which college or university you will be able to attend. Strauss indicates that these are the main two tests with some of the highest stakes that will affect your future. Knowing the stakes at risk of these tests, cause the students to fall under stress, pressure and anxiety. According to Strauss, “Teachers are reporting children throwing up, losing control of their bowels, and increased commitments for psychiatric and anxiety issues” (1). The students begin to crack under the pressure of being able to get a good enough score on the SAT and ACT to have the future that they want. Other standardized tests such as the high school exit exam and the common core tests reflect more than the students capabilities. They reflect the effectiveness of their teachers’ and schools’ ability to educate the students. This ultimately causes more stress for the students to perform well. With the teachers’ careers riding on the line of their students tests scores, teachers are pressuring their students even more to give exemplary performances on the tests. Strauss mentions in her article, “Schools that perform poorly on high-stakes-tests are labeled ‘failures’ and sometimes have resources taken away from them” (12). With the teachers knowing these consequences of having less than average test scores, they are pressuring the students to perform up to their standards. These pressures forced upon the students only make the students feel the stress and anxiety of the tests even more.
As we all know, standardized test scores determine a lot when it comes to the students future. However, we should not let these tests alone determine so much about the students’ future. Standardized tests can not accurately measure the intelligence level of students because the tests are not asking the right questions or covering all the topics. Because the tests does not measure all aspects of education being taught in school, teachers are narrowing the curriculum to only the subjects that are questioned on the tests. In, “How Standardized Tests Shape-and Limit-Student Learning” by Anne Ruggles Gere, Gere discusses the problems with depending too much on standardized testing scores in the schooling system. Since the tests do not measure all subjects that are being taught in schools, the subjects that aren’t included on the test are being forgotten about and are not being given as much attention in the classroom as the subjects that are covered on the test. Gere points out that subjects such as music, art, history and foreign languages are being “squeezed out” of the education system. Gere states that standardized tests limit students’ writing ability as well. The tests focus on applying a fixed set of writing skills that do not ultimately help students become better writers. These tests leave out certain writing skills such as learning the process of composing and creating a rhetorical analysis. Therefore, skills such as these are no longer being taught in school because of the focus surrounding standardized tests. According to, “One study found that teachers lose between 60 to 110 hours of instructional time in a year because of testing and the institutional tasks that surround it” (2). Because of the main focus on getting test scores to be at the highest level, teachers are losing valuable classroom time to educate students in subjects that are supposed to be taught. Schools are continually teaching the wrong material to the students or excluding some of the most important subjects. This act affects students in the long run. Students being taught directly to the test are finding that they produce successful test scores, but are finding it hard to be successful in the real world. Gere brings up an important point, “...GED recipients perform about as well as high school graduates on standardized tests but have much worse life outcomes because they often lack important qualities such as curiosity, conscientiousness, perseverance, and sociability” (2). These people who have performed well on the standardized tests do not possess skills such as critical thinking, cognitive skills and problem solving because they were not being taught this in the classroom. This is why standardized testing is not an accurate measure of students’ capabilities and intelligence levels.
While there are many people who believe standardized testing is not accurately measuring students’ education, there are still reasons why we enforce tests in almost every school still today. A common misbelief that has arisen is that all standardized tesst, excluding the SAT and ACT, test the same exact subjects and questions all across the country. However, this is not the case. Each state has developed a set of standards that they believe each student should be tested on. In order to create these standards, test administrators check on academic programs in many schools across their own state to determine what all students should be able to understand. As I’ve mentioned before, people see problems with standardized tests because of the high stakes that accompany them which ultimately result in consequences. However, not all standardized tests are high stakes. Along with the state's standardized tests, many districts use tests to measure important educational qualities. According to Patte Barth, author of “Standardized tests and their impact on schooling Q&A”, “...many districts use other standardized tests to monitor students progress, diagnose areas of strength and weakness, and provide feedback used by educators so they can reflect on their practices and by parents for more information about their child's progress”(1). Not all forms of standardized tests are used to work against the student. Specific standardized tests can be used to benefit the students and even improve the students educational experiences. This is only if these tests are used for the right purposes and not for corporate profit. If these tests can be used to accurately measure student intelligence instead of being used for corporations to make a profit, as Kohn point out, our education system will have the ability to sustain in our society.
The articles that I have chosen have provided me with many different viewpoints regarding standardized testing. Each author contributes a new perspective to make me think more about the topic of standardized testing. These authors have ultimately answered my inquiry question. Much of the research I have found for my literature review agrees with the assumptions made in my visual analysis. The unfairness of standardized testing being made by the test administrators and within the tests themselves causes ultimate consequences for both the students and the education system. I can conclude that depending on standardized testing in schools will ultimately not let the future of schools sustain. The information I have gathered to come to this conclusion has came from reliable secondary sources. However, learning information and different perspectives from a primary source will confirm the conclusion that I have come to. In the next section, I will interview someone from the professional world with insight on the standardized testing subject.
The Interview
The topic of standardized testing is a widely talked about subject in both the student and teacher population. There are many different opinions that are formed about the benefits or consequences of having high stakes tests. Certain people believe standardized testing is only hurting the students and the schools while others believe standardized tests can only be beneficial. This common questioning of an uncertainty is what led me to create my inquiry question, is the increasing dependency on standardized tests scores benefiting or hurting the the ability for the public education system to sustain in society? As I’ve previously mentioned before, my personal experiences with standardized tests and prior knowledge of the topic have convinced me to believe that standardized test scores are hurting the students and the education system. My stance on the topic has led me to find research on why I believed standardized testing is not beneficial. I have brought attention to research from different sources all coming to the same basic conclusion, standardized testing is not beneficial for the students and the schools. Although these sources provided important and persuasive information, these were still only my secondary sources. My primary source came from the person I interviewed on my topic.
The person I chose to conduct my interview on was my English 114 teacher last semester at San Francisco State University, Megan Garcia. My process of choosing the person I wanted to interview was rather simple. The reason I am so interested in this topic is because my previous English teacher introduced me to the controversial world of standardized testing. She guided me along the way during the process of creating my research paper about standardized testing. As well as helping me with my paper last semester, she had prior knowledge about standardized testing and is aware of the multiple opinions and perspectives about the subject. Megan Garcia is currently an English 114 and 214 lecturer at San Francisco State University, as well as being a full-time student at SFSU working on her master's degree. I believed that a person with experience both as a teacher and a student could provide me with a different perspective on standardized testing. Her awareness about the subject and qualifications made a perfect fit for the person I wanted to interview. The interview was conducted in her office on campus during her office hours. Because of my ability to clearly communicate with her prior to the interview about what exactly was going to happen, the interview was easygoing and relaxed which made the questions and answers easy to record.
I created six questions to ask the interviewee to get a better understanding of other people's opinions and experiences. Although I have found a lot of research that has been done on the effects of standardized testing, I wanted to hear actual experience from someone who went through the the process of taking a standardized test. My opening question to begin the interview was to find out her experiences with standardized tests as a student and a teacher. She did not have much experience with standardized tests as a teacher, but she did have a lot to say on the topic from the perspective of a student:
I remember having to do an exit exam where I had to write a paper, and I remember it being a very negative experience... I did very poorly on the writing, but my essays in class were very good so I felt like it wasn't a fair representation of what I could do as a writer because you're put on the spot within that moment to perform. (personal interview, 4/29)
Garcia's response actually agrees with most of the research I have found. Many students perform poorly on the tests because of the stress of being put on the spot to perform. However, these test scores do not reflect their real abilities and only shows the one time they did poorly. This is exactly what happened in Garcia’s past experience with the high school exit exam.
After discussing her personal experiences with standardized testing as a student we moved on to her opinions on standardized testing in the education system. I asked Garcia whether or not she believed standardized testing is fair or unfair and to explain her reasoning behind her answer. The previous research that I have done all came to one conclusion, standardized testing is unfair for a number of reasons. Despite the persuasive reasons all of the articles bring up about why these tests are unfair, her point of view on the tests clarified my thesis and answered part of my inquiry question. When asked about her opinion on standardized tests Garcia responded, “I think there are some benefits to standardized tests because it does kind of give students from an early age an idea of what it's like to function in the real world... we're always being tested no matter what we're doing and so thats... kind of a reality check.” (personal interview 4/29). Garcia believes that standardized tests do not always produce as many consequences as many people would believe. Standardized tests can be beneficial for students in the long run. Garcia is right, no matter what we are always being tested even outside of the classroom. However her opinion does go against the many scholarly authors opinions and research. Previous research shows that standardized testing does not show students the true aspects of the real world and does not give them any insight on what it’s like to be tested on skills that matter. Although she does not believe standardized testing is completely unbeneficial, she does believe that these tests do ‘favor’ a certain portion of the student population which makes them unfair. In Garcia’s opinion:
I do think that some students are at a predisposition to be at a disadvantage. Especially students who are at a low socio-economic environment. They may not have the same resources as students who are in a well-to-do environment where their parents are able to pay for them to get extra tutoring to prepare them for tests… (personal interview 4/29)
Garcia’s response proves that she believes standardized testing is unfair and biased. Her response coincides with a lot of the research I have found. According to my previous research, test scores usually prove to be higher in schools in a high socio-economic environment. This is the case because parents from a higher class can afford to pay for amenities such as tutoring or study books which are needed to do well on the tests. Garcia’s answer describes perfectly why these tests are seen as unfair.
Part of my inquiry question is asking how the standardized tests scores are affecting the students and the education system. My previous research shows that high stakes test scores are are causing students to go through anxiety, stress and depression. I do believe this to be true, but I wanted to know if others thought this as well. I asked Garcia how much impact she believes standardized test scores have on the students and their futures. She replied with, “I think [standardized testing] can affect early on students self-esteem and self-worth if they're not performing well... and that can kind of shut them down to maybe furthering their education" (personal interview 4/29). Garcia’s answer to my question brought up a new perspective which I have not thought about before. Low test scores can affect the student's self esteem and confidence in themselves and their ability to do well in school. Her response actually reminded me of why I chose to do my research paper on standardized testing. My own poor test scores made me doubt myself as a student. The tests score made me believe that I wouldn’t be successful in the future if I wasn’t able to get a good score on a standardized test now. Not only does Garcia believe that students confidence and self-esteem are being affected, but also the definition of what it means to get an education, “[Standardized testing] can limit students understanding of what getting an education is” (personal interview 4/29). In today’s society, we are putting so much emphasis on standardized test scores and using these scores to determine the future of the students. Because of our society's increasing dependability on the tests scores, we are forgetting what education is actually supposed to be about. Research has shown that students are not learning the correct purpose of having an education. Garcia’s response shows that she believes the definition of an education is being lost because of high stakes tests and students are not being taught the real ‘benefits’ of having an education. This reason contributes some students stop believing in themselves at an early age.
Most of the research that I have found has shown that standardized testing is unbeneficial for students and the schools, but we cannot completely abolish these tests. We still need some form of measurement to make sure that students are succeeding to their fullest ability in school while making sure they are being taught the correct curriculum. However, there is little research that provides us with alternatives that the education system can use in place of standardized testing. One of the most intriguing answers I received from Garcia was when I asked her what she believed could be other possible alternatives for standardized tests that can measure students comprehension skills. Garcia replied with:
I think that they could take on more of a multiple measures approach... they can take into consideration the students tests scores and maybe GPA... and then maybe even have their instructors write a reflection about them as a student and their progress. Considering all those things rather than just a test... would be a better approach. (personal interview 4/29)
Her response has created a plan of action for the future. It is a much better idea to consider multiple factors instead of depending solely on test scores. I was very excited during the interview when I heard this response. This was the kind of answer I was looking for that my research did not provide. Garcia agrees with my thesis, the increasing dependency on standardized tests scores is hurting the students and the teachers. However, she believes that we can fix this by also considering other forms of measurement to measure students comprehension skills.
Overall, I believe this interview went very well. I received extremely useful information that both agreed with my research and gave me new perspectives. I think this interview gave me a whole new perspective on my topic. I have already learned a lot of information about my topic from the perspectives of other scholarly authors, but it was much more interesting to hear what someone felt about standardized testing in person. Most of what Garcia had said agreed with my thesis and much of the research that I found. In the political cartoon I analyzed, I pointed out that standardized testing is not fair for everyone because it will always favor a certain portion of the students. Garcia confirmed this perspective in our interview. This interview has provided me with not only a new perspective on my topic, but an answer on how to fix the standardized testing problem.
Plan of Action
Standardized testing has affected almost every single student and adult today. The unfairness and biases surrounding these tests have led students to doubt their abilities and restrict them from furthering their education. My own experience with standardized testing along with the research I have found have made me realized that these high stakes test do not accurately tell the students what they are capable of doing. These tests have also limited schools abilities to provide a proper education for the students by ignoring critical academic subjects such as art and history. This constant circle of degrading schools and students must stop if we want the future of the education system to sustain in the United States. Although standardized tests have been proven to test the wrong aspects of education, our education system still needs some form of measurement to measure the student's progress. The obvious answer would be to completely throw out standardized tests. However, we would still need some way to make sure that our students are receiving the correct education and our schools are teaching the proper material. To accurately measure students progress, Garcia suggests that we look at more than just the test scores to judge the students. We should also consider reflections from the students’ instructors to see how the student improved throughout school or to take into consideration their work ethic. We can also give more tests to students throughout their education career instead of depending solely on one high stakes test. This type of change can help the future of our education system sustain and provide the correct education for our students.
Works Cited
Barth, Patte. "Standardized Tests and Their Impact on Schooling: Q&A." Center for Public Education. N.p., 16 Feb. 2006. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
Garcia, Megan. Personal Interview. 29 April 2016
Gere, Anne Ruggles. "How Standardized Tests Shape-and Limit-Student Learning." National Council of Teachers of English. James R. Squire, 2014. Web. 4 Apr. 2016.
Kohn, Alfie. “The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the scores, ruining the schools.” Portsmouth, NH: Heinemann, 2000
Strauss, Valerie. "13 Ways High-stakes Standardized Tests Hurt Students." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 11 Mar. 2014. Web. 05 Apr. 2016.
