|
Post by Ms. English on May 30, 2023 7:54:31 GMT -5
Post your answers to the discussion question here. Make sure to read the responses of those posted before you and respond directly to them when appropriate before posting your own.
Looking further: Research the recent emphasis on standardized testing in public education through initiatives such as No Child Left Behind. What are the arguments for and against the increased use of testing? Do you find one set of arguments more compelling? If so, for what reasons? If not, are there further studies you think need to e done on the issue? Describe them.
|
|
|
Post by hannahboothby on Jul 7, 2023 9:11:47 GMT -5
Testing in school is necessary, but flawed. Some arguments for standardized tests are that they are necessary for data and finding what needs to be taught in schools. They gather information about students and schools, so that aid can be given to those who need it. Initiatives like “No Child Left Behind” were made for this purpose, to help disadvantaged students in the area of education. Some arguments against standardized testing are that they only measure if a student is good at testing and they make school more about preparing students for tests than teaching them. Some students do worse on tests than other assignments because of anxiety, or just because they’re having a bad day. Testing and studying for standardized tests wastes time that could be spent teaching. Both sides of the argument are compelling, and the best option for students would be somewhere in the middle ground, such as less having standardized tests and measuring progress in other ways as well. Additional research into how tests affect students' mental health should be done to study the effects of testing.
|
|
|
Post by elizabethb on Jul 21, 2023 10:20:22 GMT -5
Testing in school is necessary, but flawed. Some arguments for standardized tests are that they are necessary for data and finding what needs to be taught in schools. They gather information about students and schools, so that aid can be given to those who need it. Initiatives like “No Child Left Behind” were made for this purpose, to help disadvantaged students in the area of education. Some arguments against standardized testing are that they only measure if a student is good at testing and they make school more about preparing students for tests than teaching them. Some students do worse on tests than other assignments because of anxiety, or just because they’re having a bad day. Testing and studying for standardized tests wastes time that could be spent teaching. Both sides of the argument are compelling, and the best option for students would be somewhere in the middle ground, such as less having standardized tests and measuring progress in other ways as well. Additional research into how tests affect students' mental health should be done to study the effects of testing. I 100% agree that there should be more research on how standardized tests affect students mental heath. Because standardized test have so much hype and pressure around them I am sure they greatly affect students. So with more research on what the affect of testing is on students would be good for either argument for or against standardized testing. I also agree that lots of teaching in schools it to prepare students for test when really they should be using that teaching time to immerse the kids and help them learn. I have had teachers that have done this and I think I have learned way more than my other teachers that are test focused. To get back to the question, some pro standardized testing arguments are that it can help to recognize struggling districts or schools. I understand this argument but I think there should be other ways to do the same thing. For example, classroom observations or even school observations similar to what principles do to evaluate teachers. Some anti standardized testing arguments are it is unfair to low-income students as well as disabled or ELL students. It can also negatively impact students confidence, when they see their score compared to others, in addition if they have testing anxiety it can alter their results and lower confidence. I think that the anti standardized testing argument is more convincing and compelling because it is putting the students first over money and ratings. With no standardized testing you are protecting students, making life/school less stressful, and not tapping into life's unfair circumstances.
|
|
|
Post by jordanpritchett on Jul 23, 2023 22:16:40 GMT -5
Nobody should argue for or against something without understanding what they are defending and I am someone who is not arguing against standardized tests, but more so in defense of students. Many students are against standardized tests, but the responses usually sum up to being solely because students don’t want to take tests. I don’t feel that it would be appropriate to sum up student responses though since that is minimizing the feelings and thoughts that so many students are having. Students don’t want to take tests because not only are they typically excruciatingly long, but they also feel they’re just another score that defines students as a statistic rather than a person. On top of that, many schools also require standardized testing since certain tests can cause a school's funding to be altered based on scores. Knowing that the funding could be lowered (which can cause many schools to fail due to them already only having the bare minimum), but also that good teachers could be lost since standardized tests are also used as a method to evaluate teachers causes a negative pressure to be placed onto students. Many who aren’t students will usually minimize students’ opinions, but also flip the same argument as a reward over risk thing. For example, funding can go down if students happen to do poorly, but if they do well enough, the funding could increase for the school.
|
|
|
Post by morganhall on Jul 24, 2023 9:35:48 GMT -5
Like said before me, I feel as though teachers nowadays focus more on teaching what's going to be on a test rather than a general subject. Standardized tests are important because they help with data and where teachers need to focus on teaching, but then that creates an environment of less learning and more memorizing for the paycheck. When it comes to tests today, I study for an hour at least before a test; not teaching myself the information but temporarily memorizing something so I can get a good score and relieve my stress. I wouldn't be able to remember a single one of those mnemonics or the information itself months later. The things I do remember are the interesting facts, with interesting teachers, and interesting subjects. Not only is testing a stress inducing process but it creates a worse education. Obviously testing is important, it gathers a lot of data about a person but 5 hours can't predict their entire future. Data gathered from these tests are important but there are solutions, like portfolio based assessment where you create projects throughout the whole year.
|
|
sofia
New Member
Posts: 10
|
Post by sofia on Jul 28, 2023 14:36:19 GMT -5
The No Child Left Behind initiative was created to help track the progress of students in schools across the country to make sure they were receiving an adequate education, meaning that annual standardized testing was implemented into the lives of students from elementary school up until high school. Many people who agree with the increase in testing believe that it is a good way to measure the knowledge of students on a national level through equal tests, can show progress over time, and these scores can be used to determine if extra help is needed. However, many arguments against this rigorous testing say that it causes unnecessary stress, can lead to low self esteem, and even that these tests are more harmful to disadvantaged students than helpful. As a student who has taken many exams throughout their life, I lean more towards the argument that testing isn’t as beneficial as many believe. I believe that it often doesn’t show how “smart” or how much knowledge one has and instead only prepares someone to learn about certain topics that will be tested. It is impactful to the teachers as well because their student’s scores directly correlate to their success as educators, even though it may not be the best way to show it. Overall, I do think that there should be a way to monitor the growth and development of a student but standardized tests should be re-evaluated and given less emphasis.
|
|
|
Post by margaretscavarda on Aug 7, 2023 12:34:18 GMT -5
Like said before me, I feel as though teachers nowadays focus more on teaching what's going to be on a test rather than a general subject. Standardized tests are important because they help with data and where teachers need to focus on teaching, but then that creates an environment of less learning and more memorizing for the paycheck. When it comes to tests today, I study for an hour at least before a test; not teaching myself the information but temporarily memorizing something so I can get a good score and relieve my stress. I wouldn't be able to remember a single one of those mnemonics or the information itself months later. The things I do remember are the interesting facts, with interesting teachers, and interesting subjects. Not only is testing a stress inducing process but it creates a worse education. Obviously testing is important, it gathers a lot of data about a person but 5 hours can't predict their entire future. Data gathered from these tests are important but there are solutions, like portfolio based assessment where you create projects throughout the whole year. I agree with this. I like how you mentioned how testing is important so that teachers know what they need to teach and what students already understand, but the amount of importance put on standardized tests is too much. I feel like there should be a few standardized tests for each class. This way, teachers understand if their students are improving, what they need to focus on, etc. But testing shouldn't be the main intention of the class. Just like you said, studying a topic for a test for an hour isn't going to benefit you at all. All that's doing is storing a bit of information in your brain that you'll lose within a short time. Classes and teachers should focus on teaching the subject in an indulging way that helps the students learn and participate. This form of teaching actively makes students more interested in what they're learning. I also feel like teachers should work to get to know their students and understand how their students learn best. Some students may prefer watching a video while others prefer creating a poster about what they are learning. For that reason, I think teachers should teach in different ways knowing that some students learn in different ways than others.
|
|
|
Post by Ari Johnson on Aug 21, 2023 22:31:16 GMT -5
There are many pros and cons to standardized testing. An example of a con would be that they cause kids to be stressed out before/during the tests because they don't know how well they do. This fear of doing poorly on a test could stem from the feeling of being less than when getting a score lower than someone else. Standardized testing could also cause the kids who get lower scores to lose confidence in themselves or in their abilities. However, there can still be benefits to standardized testing; such as eliminating teacher bias towards other students because the answers aren't being graded by a person. Another benefit would be that it shows a students progress overtime as they continue to take the same tests every year. And while these pros could possibly weigh out the cons in some situations, I still believe standardized testing isn't as good as it could be and should be improved.
|
|
|
Post by rubydrzick on Aug 27, 2023 22:18:54 GMT -5
standardized testing in the us tends to shift towards a certain demographic. i feel that testing in schools is unnecessary and not fair at all, some people don't test well while others do it is completely fine if you do not test well but i do not think it is fair for some schools and also people to judge someone off of a test score. i don't think test scores should define anybody. although some may argue that testing has benefits i don't think the benefits outweigh the cons nearly enough to keep testing in school systems. the "no child left behind" imitative was created to try and help students or groups that struggle with testing have a more fair chance of success. standardized testing is also a very stressful event that you learn from a very young age. i remember being in 2nd grade and being worried what i would get on my m-step or my reading tests and i also had a hard time because i would get super stressed and do bad. in my opinion i don't think standardize testing is fair to everyone and there should be a replacement for it.
|
|
|
Post by stephanie1garcia on Sept 1, 2023 22:01:02 GMT -5
Standardized testing is needed in all schools now, due to "No Child Left Behind". Some may argue that it was a good idea, and some say that it was not a great act. The testing is now required, to see if kids are actually learning in school. No Child Left Behind has helped students to be able to grow on how they learn, so that they get more, to be able to achieve a goal. However, having students take a standardized test puts a hard impact on their mental health, some think that they are less if they don't get a good score. Which is why many students are anti-testing, based on how they are sometimes viewed differently because of a score.
|
|
|
Post by Sophia Salinas on Sept 1, 2023 22:01:58 GMT -5
The quote, "Students will float to the mark you set" has always been applicable to me. Since the moment I was born, I have been told to be someone in this life, especially since I am a first-generation oldest kid. My parents always wanted to be something grand, like a doctor or a lawyer. Thus far, I have been an okay student, nothing phenomenal, unfortunate for my ambitious parents. Our school system does a horrible job of encouraging our students. Getting good grades has done a good job of motivating me and I'm sure other kids too but so much work can burn one out. If we had breaks and support offered to students we could create a healthier work environment, one that shows students that they need to also focus on themselves and not just live up to their expectations.
|
|