Carter+E.


 * Is Standardized Testing Failing Our Kids?**

By: Carter Ehlers March 28th, 2010

The practice of standard testing is a huge debate. The idea of standardized testing is to test students in either advancing in a grade, as well as testing their IQ to get into college. I mean if school requires students to take a test to advance into another school, then how are these tests really testing our capacity to understand subject matter. The debate includes a bigger question of how a test should tell how smart someone is.

Standardized testing is used because many professors believe that this is a great way to test a person's ability to obtain information over their years of learning as well as identify learning issues if any. Millions of people each year or maybe more than once prepare to take this test that tells them how "smart" they are and what their future pertains because of this test. I think a test cannot possibly tell someone what their future is based on a test. These tests are not fair because many people cannot test well and even though they may be brilliant, they just cannot take a test.

This article states that now schools are giving children not others who are testing into college, but young children a new test. This test now is called a "performance assessments", that are based on what they can do, not their potential for future success. It has students building, drawing, collaborating, and experimenting. I think that this is a better test to test children, but I still do not believe that a test can completely tell how much potential one has because it's just one test.

I think standard testing is a horrible way to test and decide where a student should go to college because I believe that these tests cannot possibly measure someone's IQ. What if someone works really hard in school and makes excellent grades, however they are not great test takers? Should this factor still determine where they should go to college even if they work hard, but cannot test well? Should someone who does not care about school, but tests well, get into a well-known college? I think not and that's why I really like test-optional schools because they understand that standardized testing doesn't really test the ability to obtain information from classroom discussions or test our study habits. Thus I believe that these tests cannot possibly test our ability to perform well or tell colleges whether we should attend them or not based on a simple test. Which is ironic because these tests are not simple, but rather stressful, which takes our attention away from really studying. If a test really tells our future, and we fail it then how can it really test us. I just do not believe that these tests can test our IQ.

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