Example research essay topic: Teachers And Students Standardized Tests - 809 words

NOTE: Free essay sample provided on this page should be used for references or sample purposes only. The sample essay is available to anyone, so any direct quoting without mentioning the source will be considered plagiarism by schools, colleges and universities that use plagiarism detection software. To get a completely brand-new, plagiarism-free essay, please use our essay writing service.
One click instant price quote

"Teaching to the test" does not increase student capabilities and knowledge. This depends on whether the test is good. For multiple-choice tests, "teaching to the test" means focusing on the content that will be on the test, sometimes even drilling on test items, and using the format of the test as a basis for teaching. Since this kind of teaching to the test leads primarily to improved test-taking skills, increases in test scores do not necessarily mean improvement in real academic performance.

Teaching to the test also narrows the curriculum, forcing teachers and students to concentrate on memorization of isolated facts, instead of developing fundamental and higher order abilities. For example, multiple-choice writing tests are really copy-editing tests, which do not measure the ability to organize or communicate ideas. Practicing on tests or test-like exercises is not how to learn even the mechanics of English, much less how to write like a writer. Standardized tests do not provide accountability. Tests that measure as little and as poorly as multiple-choice tests cannot provide genuine accountability.

Pressure to teach to the test distorts and narrows education. Instead of being accountable to parents, community, teachers and students, schools become "accountable" to a completely unregulated testing industry. Those who are against standardized tests say that better methods of evaluating student needs and progress already exist and propose an interesting alternative. Good observational checklists used by trained teachers are more helpful than any screening test.

Assessment based on student performance on real learning tasks is more useful and accurate for measuring achievement - and provides more information - than multiple-choice achievement tests. Trained teams of judges can be used to rate performance in most any academic or non-academic area. In the Olympic Games, for example, gymnasts and divers are rated by panels of judges, and the high and low scores are thrown out. Studies have shown that, with training, the level of agreement among judges (the "inter-rater reliability") is high. As with multiple-choice tests, it is necessary to enact safeguards to ensure that race, class, gender, linguistic or other cultural biases do not affect evaluation.

One of the final and most valuable (as opponents think) argument is the obvious lie. They say that the United States is the only economically advanced nation to rely heavily on multiple-choice tests. Other nations use performance-based assessment where students are evaluated on the basis of real work such as essays, projects and activities. Ironically, because these nations do not focus on teaching to multiple-choice tests, they even score higher than U. S.

students on those kinds of tests. This is the list of organizations, both national and international, that oppose the standardized testing: AESA 2001 Legislative Agenda/Accountability and Testing Under "What's New" American Evaluation Association (AEA) Alliance for Childhood American Association of School Administrators (AASA) American Association of University Women (Wisconsin) American Civil Liberties Union American Educational Research Association (AERA) American Society for Ethics in Education Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development Association of Childhood Educator's International (ACEI) American Psychological Association Applied Research Center Canadian Psychological Association and the Canadian Association of School Psychologists Center for Collaborative Education Chicago Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Inc. Center for Law and Education Code of Fair Testing Practices In Education Prepared by the Joint Committee on Testing Practices Consortium for Equity in Standards and Testing (CTEST) Harvard Civil Rights Project International Reading Association (IRA) Massachusetts Alliance for High Standards NOT High Stakes (also see list of state organizations opposed to high-stakes testing joined in the Alliance) Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund National Academy Press (NAP) National Association for the Education of Young Children National Association of Elementary School Principals National Association of Secondary School Principals National Coalition of Education Activists National Council for Social Studies National Council of La Raza (NCLR) National Council of Teachers of English (NCTE) National Council of Teachers of Mathematics National Council on Measurement in Education National Education Association (NEA) The National Forum to Accelerate Middle-Grades Reform National PTA National Research Council National Women's Law Center North Carolina School Psychology Association National Parent Teacher Association (PTA) Ontario Secondary School Teachers Federation President's Advisory Commission on Educational Excellence for Hispanic Americans Rouge Forum Scarsdale, New York Board of Education Statement Senator Paul Wellstone Students Against Testing Student Coalition for Alternative to MCAS Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages Whole Language Umbrella Interesting enough, one cannot find here any non American/Canadian organizations, while the standardized tests are used almost worldwide. The good example is Japan, as well as Great Britain.

Or may be they are not economically advanced? The U. S. Supreme Court decisions on the University of Michigan's law school and undergraduate admissions policies should, "encourage even more colleges and universities to de-emphasize standardized test scores in evaluating applicants, " according to Fair Test, the National Center for Fair & Open Testing.

Research essay sample on Teachers And Students Standardized Tests