Alexis Danz
Honors English, Period 2
Mr. Sykes
March 7 2014
Standardized Testing
"The cat, named Elijah was a blue tom cat!" Michael kept reading down the white page until the article was finished. Michael turned the page, feeling the paper under his fingertips. His eyes scrolled down the page to find numerous multiple choice questions on the article. One question asked "what color was the cat?" Michael rolled his eyes thinking that he just read that two paragraphs ago, and had no problem regurgitating the information. These are standardized tests, regurgitating information. Standardized tests were made by the government to test nationally how the United States' education was compared to other countries. These tests are given nation-wide to rank students among others. Although these tests do not correctly rank students. These sorts of tests are incapable of testing an individual's attributes, whether it may be analytical thinking, creativity, self-motivation, etc.
20131022-NGC-DBF-5701
common core cartoon
20131023-NGC-DBF-5680Not only do standardized tests not test students full capabilities, standardized tests do not improve education by decreasing focus in other area's and are extremely costly toward a school's budget.
Standardized tests decrease focus in other essential learning area's which makes the student less prepared for the real-world. Standardized testing is required from third graders to eighth graders. Montana's standardized tests (CRT's) are given in the three "main" subjects; math, reading and science. When a student is advanced on to high school, their sophomore year they will take a standardized test on science only. "14% of school districts had reduced the time spent on science, social studies and the arts by an average of 145 minutes per week in order to focus on reading and math" ("Standardized Tests"). When teachers are decreasing education in vital areas, this is detrimental to their education. A student may be taught to study...