When it comes to standardized testing, children either view it as a good thing or a bad thing. Either their scores will help them in the future, or it will make them suffer yet another year in another sad attempt to make a good score. From A.C.T.’s- C.S.A.P.’s, kids have been under the standardized testing blanket all their lives. The scores can mean funding for schools, or getting into decent colleges for students who aspire to hold a nice job one day. The country focuses so much energy on testing that it often loses sight of the issues that hide in the creases of this testing blanket. If the school scores poorly, does this mean that it will be another long year without new books? If a child scores poorly, does this mean another year with self-doubt in their abilities? Does it mean they will not make it into a good college? Removing all standardized testing would relieve the stress on so many individuals. Colleges would have to look at future students’ effort, rather than their test scores. State governments would have to pay each school an equal amount of money so that all schools had proper learning tools. Standardized testing appears as a thorn in the country’s side that needs removal, and fast.
CSAPS. The very sound of the word can make any third through tenth grader muster up their gag reflex. CSAP stands for “Colorado Student Assessment Program’.Seems rather self-explanatory, but this test does not take place over a single day. It’s a weeklong program that takes away from student and teacher class time. Teachers and principals urge their students to take the testing seriously, for the schools funding stands at stake if the scores do not meet state standards. Putting children under pressure to make good grades so that they can afford new history book the next year seems unfair. Schools need sufficient funding right now to meet the children’s needs. The government rewards the high-scoring schools with a good wad of cash, and leaves the low-scorers in the dust to search for their own money. Schools that do not score so well need the money to improve their educating process. Tests like CSAP do not only punish schoolteachers, but their students as well, which is why they need to be remove from the state education curriculum.
Money doesn’t stand alone as an issue. Making children feel like they aren’t worth it appears to have come from standardized testing. Unfortunately, in America, people do not seem to value hard work in other fields like sports or the arts alongside core skills like math, reading and writing, history, etc. Schools are forced into teaching in a very left-brained, logical and concrete form of teaching because they must follow state rules. This doesn’t give the more right brained, creative thinkers a place to breathe, and a chance to grow. A teacher in this very school mentioned the fact that the country is losing its creativity and abstract thinking to standardized tests like CSAP. Scientists, doctors, and mathematicians hold high status in this country, and that is not a bad thing. But what will the country do when they need someone to think up the next technological advancement for the military? Sure, any scientist can do this, but all scientists need abstract and creative thinking in order to accomplish their jobs. The whole, “yes means yes” and “no means no” thinking needs to be tackled now, and thanks to standardized testing, the future looks grim for a creative America.
Upon receiving their test scores, kids will instantly compare themselves to others around them. If they got a high score on the English portion, but a rather low score on the math portion, they might continue to score poorly in math, and grow in English. Why? Kids take the fact that they did not do so hot on math and immediately tear themselves down about it. “What’s the point in even trying? I’m never going to do good in math.” They will not take that test score and think, ”Oh! Maybe if I push myself harder, next year, my score might get better!” These tests are given in a time of adolescent and pre-teen insecurity, and making kids see that they suffer in one area, especially on tests that receive such high status will make them feel that they can’t do anything right. Sad as it sounds, it’s all very true.
When high school students begin their search for colleges, they must have their A.C.T. and S.A.T. scores to apply. Colleges literally look at these scores first, and then decide, based on the scores, whether or not a kid is worthy for their school. This seems rather unfair, especially when to every kid, there is a background and a reason for their test scores. A kid who did average on their A.C.T.’s or S.A.T.’s may have a problem with taking tests. Maybe they score quite high on classroom assignments and discussions, but when a test comes along, they just can’t seem to make the grade. Or maybe a kid simply does poorly in academics, yet they excel in athletics or the arts. Colleges look at these factors after they look at test scores. In fact, test scores tend to be asked for first before extracurriculars. If testing were removed from the education system, colleges would have to get to know their potential students, rather than just look at the scores and pass or fail them based on those criteria.
A lot goes into a single child. They can have a gift in one thing, and no gift in the other. Maybe acting is their forte, yet science sits center stage as the antagonist in their school performance. Maybe the kid scores well in football, but not as well in reading. Does this make the child any less talented? This country needs to rethink their education system. If children really are the future, then standardized testing is doing a great job in depleting the future. Kids need encouragement, and school need money. Testing only makes accomplishing these goals that much harder.
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