Scribd
Upload
83 views5 pages

Literature Review

Standardized testing puts pressure on teachers to ensure their students perform well and impacts how they educate. It has become a tool used by the US school system to measure teacher and school effectiveness. However, standardized testing takes instructional time away from learning and forces teachers to teach to the test. It also does not account for individual student differences and circumstances that could affect their performance.

Uploaded by

api-558768588
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
83 views5 pages

Literature Review

Standardized testing puts pressure on teachers to ensure their students perform well and impacts how they educate. It has become a tool used by the US school system to measure teacher and school effectiveness. However, standardized testing takes instructional time away from learning and forces teachers to teach to the test. It also does not account for individual student differences and circumstances that could affect their performance.

Uploaded by

api-558768588
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as DOCX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
You are on page 1/ 5

Duffy 1

Ashley Duffy

ENG 1201

Professor Johnson

11 June 2021

How does standardized testing effect the way that students learn, and teachers educate students?

Standardized testing is used to determine how much students learn and how well

educators teach their students. This puts pressure on teachers to make sure that their students can

take these tests and score well. Instead of teaching valuable information that students will need

throughout their lives and making sure the information is retained, teachers are forced to teach

students how to take tests and retain information just enough to get a high score.

In 2001, the No Student Left Behind Act was enacted by Congress in hopes to

close the achievement gap (Mayers). This act was updated in 2015 and renamed the Every

Student Succeeds Act (Berwick). The No Child Left Behind Act and Every Student Succeeds

Act requires students to take standardized tests calibrated to their states standards (Berwick). The

research on the No Child Left Behind Act did not show that it helped students learn (“The Future

of No Child Left Behind”). From 2003 to 2007 the improvement in 4th grade reading scores only

went up three points, whereas from 2000 to 2002 the scores went up 10 points which was before

the No Child Left Behind Act was started, proving that standardized tests didn’t help students

learn (“The Future of No Child Left Behind”).

Standardized testing has become a tool that the United States school system relies on as a

way to measure the effectiveness of teachers and school district improvement (“Teachers Take”).
Duffy 2

This major change has taken place mostly in the last twenty years. Many teachers have begun to

focus more on hand-on-projects rather than multiple choice testing when it comes to assessing

their students’ knowledge (Berwick). This gets students to think critically and master the

information rather than only memorize the information. Most teachers can agree that students are

given too many standardized tests (Berwick).

Between pre-kindergarten through twelfth grade, students take an average of one-hundred

and twelve standardized tests (Berwick). Many educators believe giving students so many

standardized takes away from learning (Berwick). Instead of using assignments to help students

learn important information, instructional time is consumed by test prep for standardized testing

because of how frequently standardized tests are given (“Teachers Take”).

Chicago Public School teachers stated that a large amount of time was spend preparing

High school students for the ACT. Around a month of school time was dedicated to preparing

students for the test (“Teachers Take”). The more that students were prepared for these tests, the

lower their score were according to a survey given to Chicago Public School teachers.

Some states have begun to offer incentives to educators if their students test scores go up.

This raises the question of if these incentives really improve students learning and how teachers

educate their students (Hout). Schools that are not showing progress in their students test scores

are facing consequences (Hout). This forces educators to teach students how to score well on the

tests rather than focusing on helping students learn and retain information.

Standardized testing does not take into account that every student different. Some

students retain information better than others, but every student has different situations that could

affect their education. For example, students that do not have access to books or other resources

at home or who are hungry, afraid of violence in their communities, students with uneducated
Duffy 3

parents or a variety of other circumstances might be at a disadvantage in comparison to students

that are more fortunate (“Teachers Take”). These factors can greatly affect the scores from

standardized testing of these students.


Duffy 4

Works Cited

Berwick, Carly. “What Does the Research Say About Testing?” Edutopia, George Lucas

Educational Foundation, 25 Oct. 2019, www.edutopia.org/article/what-does-research-

say-about-testing.

Hout, Michael, et al. "Do high-stakes tests improve learning? Test-based incentives, which

reward or sanction schools, teachers, and students based on students' test scores, have

dominated US. Education policy for decades. But a recent study suggests that they should

be used with caution and carefully evaluated." Issues in Science and Technology, vol. 29,

no. 1, 2012, p. 33+. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A306358477/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-

OVIC&xid=17330b69. Accessed 30 June 2021.

Mayers, Camille M. "Public Law 107-110 No Child Left Behind act of 2001: support or threat to

education as a fundamental right?" Education, vol. 126, no. 3, 2006, p. 449+. Gale In

Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A145681737/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=d2a01cac. Accessed 7 July 2021.

"Teachers Take an Ethical Stand Against Testing." Teachers and Ethics, edited by Noah

Berlatsky, Greenhaven Press, 2016. Opposing Viewpoints. Gale In Context: Opposing

Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/EJ3010986218/OVIC?

u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-OVIC&xid=b3613b26. Accessed 30 June 2021. Originally

published as "CTU Position Paper: Debunking the Myths of Standardized Testing,"

Ctunet.com.
Duffy 5

"The future of No Child Left Behind: end it? Or mend it?" Education Next, vol. 9, no. 3, 2009, p.

48+. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints,

link.gale.com/apps/doc/A225449548/OVIC?u=dayt30401&sid=bookmark-

OVIC&xid=1bb76a81. Accessed 7 July 2021.

You might also like

pFad - Phonifier reborn

Pfad - The Proxy pFad of © 2024 Garber Painting. All rights reserved.

Note: This service is not intended for secure transactions such as banking, social media, email, or purchasing. Use at your own risk. We assume no liability whatsoever for broken pages.


Alternative Proxies:

Alternative Proxy

pFad Proxy

pFad v3 Proxy

pFad v4 Proxy