Schools Should Get Rid of Standardized Testing

            Imagine sitting in front of a computer, your stomach churning & your head aching, with just a scary, white screen, and a little mouse and keyboard to guide you. That’s what students 3rd-8th grade go through about 8 times every year. Because there are too many other ways to measure learning & growth, standardized tests should be completely abolished.

            There are simply too many ways to measure learning that standardized tests could be removed from schools. Since we have enough average tests, fun projects, daily assignments, and all sorts of other assignments that students from any learning style could complete, the standardized tests are just unnecessary. Without standardized tests, it would be even easier to do the other required things by giving valuable time back to the classroom.

            Another thing is that the standards are inconsistent from state to state. Put yourself in this position: you’re living in Oregon, passing all your tests, buy then you move to California. You get the same scores, yet you don’t pass. It’s quite silly that the federal government lets the different states use different scoring systems.

            Standardized tests are only a snapshot of what the student knows, not a full review. It’s just what they answer, not how they answer it. What’s that going to tell you about a whole human brain?

            You may think that standardized testing is a good way to measure learning & show growth, but it only captures little. And again, there are so many other ways that you can measure what the students know and don’t know. Also, in the class, there will be more instructional time and teachers will be able to actually teach their classes, and give assistance to those who can’t easily complete the tests, which brings me to another thing – the tests are unfair.

            To sum it all up, you have heard many great reasons as to why standardized tests should be done away with. Standardized tests are only one of many ways to show students’ learning and growth, they’re inconsistent, and they barely even give any information on what the student knows. A test is just an examination to measure learning. With all the other ways of doing that, testing is unneeded. This is my belief, and I think it’s time for someone to make a difference.