Argument Against Standardized Testing Essay -- Standardized Testing Ess

Argument Against Standardized Testing President Bush is promoting annual standardized testing for all students in grades three through eight. This bill is currently being considered in Congress, and has garnered much support. As of right now, 15 states test students in those grades, and more than 20 have high school exit exams, which look only at the test score of a student, not at his or her academic achievements. Standardized testing is an unfair and inaccurate form of judging a person’s intellect. In many cases, people are either over- or underrepresented by their test scores, partly because America does not currently have the capabilities of fairly scoring the increasing number of tests. Additionally, many students today are not native English speakers, and their capabilities could be grossly underestimated by these types of exams. Although President Bush is a supporter, many influential people are against this bill, including the largest teacher’s union in the United States, which has formed a commission in opposition to the President’s proposal. As stated earlier, many states require a student to pass a certain test in order to receive a diploma. This results in many capable students, who have finished all of their requirements, being denied their diplomas. If the Valedictorian does not pass the exit exam, are you going to bar him or her from graduating? It is a fact that some people are better at taking tests than other people. Intelligent students who challenge themselves throughout their high school careers and have high grade point averages can do poorly on a test, while a student who has only taken basic level classes can score significantly higher. Is that a fair representation of what ... ...logies and always received poor scores on the language portion of standardized tests. Her teachers always encouraged her to be a math or science major, since she had scored much better on those subjects. She rebelled and is now a very successful and influential writer. This points out an obvious flaw in depending on standardized tests. It is not in America’s best interest to pass the proposal to require standardized testing at elementary school levels, or to force students to pass exit exams to earn their diplomas. If we wish for our children to be informed and educated, and ready to survive on their own in the real world, we need to give them the tools that will get them there. These tests are not accurate, and they are detrimental to the education of children. There should be no debate over how our representatives in Congress should vote on this bill.