Faults of standardized tests

High school is a very weird and difficult time in life. Because high school is already full of stress, it is not helpful that students have the additional responsibility of taking statewide standardized tests. Often, these tests do not cover what is taught in classroom curriculum. Students are required to pass these tests in order to graduate. Many teachers, administrators, and parents disagree with standardized testing in Florida and the pressure that it puts on students.

Most would agree that the state of Florida doesn’t know what is taught in class while the teachers do. This is why teachers should make the test. This would cut government spending on state tests and leave room for schools to use that money to improve their education department. This would also give teachers creative control. Teachers will have more confidence in their students to pass the tests because they know what was taught.

There are many accounts of students coming to the United States who pass all of their classes with A’s and score extremely well on the SAT and/or ACT. They then take a state test and fail it, which holds them back from graduating. If students are achieving high GPAs and scoring well on SATs, then are held back for not passing a state test, it is obvious that something is wrong. These tests shouldn’t be so difficult that they hold back high-achieving students.

Pressure and stress can be both a positive and negative thing. Students need stress in order to be productive and motivated. However, too much stress hurts students more than it helps them. Standardized tests add unnecessary additional stress in a high school student’s life. Spending hours in an uncomfortable and stressful atmosphere during state tests is not helpful to students in any way.

Learning and testing one’s own knowledge should be exciting, fun, and healthy to all students across the state and even the world. Instead of the state holding students responsible for information they were not taught, teachers should control testing and base it on curriculum taught in class. This can reduce the stress students face on a day to day basis.