Are Standardized Tests Worth It? Anthony Del Coro

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Towards the end of each year, rows of single-seat desks populate the room with anxious students. After the prolonged book of instructions, silence fills the room further enhancing the already static mood. There are remnants of student confidence as the scantrons are handed out. Overall, it's a depressing and anxious environment, but students are forced to live in this loop for hours, somewhat against their wills.

The New Jersey State Testing week begins and as kids walk sluggishly to their assigned room, they think, "Is it worth it?" or the better question, "Is this fair?" and "What does this actually prove?"

After No Child Left Behind (NCLB) passed in 2002, the US fell drastically in their rankings, from 18th in the world in math on the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) to 31st place in 2009, the same trend happened in science, but there was no change in reading scores since the act was introduced. May 26, 2011, the National Research Council report found no evidence that test-based incentive programs are working: clearly they are not beneficial to the students or the overall rankings for education and should be replaced with a different substitute that is not as stressful, not as demoralizing and not as boring as tests like the parcc and njsla.
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Comments

  1. AnonymousSeptember 18, 2019 at 5:40 AM

    I agree with you 100%. I think that standardized test are dumb and they don't allow for any creativity and they provide insane amounts of stress. If you look at all of the great companies and people of today, they didn't make it by just filling in bubbles, they had a creative idea, and went with it -- and that can't be taught on standardized tests. Great Job!

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  2. AnonymousSeptember 18, 2019 at 5:51 AM

    I totally agree. I think that the school system needs to find a better alternative to standardized testing. Very well written!

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  3. AnonymousSeptember 18, 2019 at 6:44 AM

    I completely agree with you! Standardized tests are very stressful for students and don't allow them to think outside the box. Not every student learns the same way, meaning standardized tests may be harder for some students than others. I think schools should find an alternative for standardized tests, preferably something everyone can be successful in. Nice job!

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  4. DanielleSeptember 20, 2019 at 8:48 AM

    So many good questions. I often wonder what testing will look like or if it will even exist in the future.

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  5. AnonymousSeptember 20, 2019 at 8:34 PM

    Excellent word choice and imagery in the first paragraph! I felt like I was transported back to the PARCC testing last year. To answer your questions it isn't fair, it isn't worth it, and it does not prove anything. We should not expect students to learn all at the same standard because every student is different.

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