Standard Testing

Standardized testing forms the cornerstone of education in the present realm of education. The state department of education administers the tests to ensure that the public education is up to the required standards. In the US, the standardized test is as a result of the adoption of the No Child Left Behind enactment into law. The law aims at ensuring high standards of education in the public school as measured by the individual scores in the nationwide standardized tests. Many educators and students object to the tests because of numerous reasons. Teachers and students can utilize the platforms outlined below to fight against the standard testing.  

Educators and pupils can write to the school boards explaining their dissatisfaction with the tests. The students and the teachers should highlight the adverse effects of the standardized tests. The memo to the school boards should highlight that the test scores are likely to influence the school negatively. The No Child Left Behind Act designates that the school receives government support based on the test scores ranking. Therefore, schools run the risk of not making independent decisions as the state officials interfere in school matters in the endeavor to seek national funding. In addition, the teachers and students should be categorical that the tests create intense pressure on learners and educators and turn the schooling environment into a poor environment full of fear rather than discovery.

Teachers and scholars can form a delegation of parents and interested citizens to their elected leaders such as legislators and convey their grievances.  The politicians can take the matter to the various legislative bodies to debate on their concerns. The affected persons can outline that the standardized tests do not measure the learning. The act of picking a choice from a set of multiple choices limit the student from being open minded. The selection of the answer can be pure guesswork, and if the results form the basis of performance, the advance can be misleading. The tests in English and mathematics do not depict how much the student knows in the said subjects. The standardized tests, therefore, do not accurately evaluate learning. 

The pupils and educators can organize and sponsor forums. The groups can then invite the media and interested parties to grace the forums. Such parties can attract the attention of the legislators and the education officials to rethink the issue of standardized tests. During the forum, the students, and the teachers can dictate the main shortcomings of the evaluations. The teachers can state that they are now teaching around the state tests thereby limiting the range of academics they can show to only areas the tests are likely to come. According to Keizer, teachers are likely to lose the dynamism of teaching, creativity, and innovativeness in education. Furthermore, the tests eliminate the capacity to think broadly, as the scholars do not exercise their hand in projects and concepts that require deep thinking. Therefore, the forums can form an excellent platform for the leaders and education officials to attend and answer some of the attendants’ questions. 

The students and tutors can engage in media- covered protests and matches to send the concerns to the highest office. The teachers can utilize the platforms to attract the attention of various people to ensure abolishment of the standardized tests.  The protestors should send a strong message that the standardized tests are eating much of the time set aside for learning. Most of the tests take even weeks notwithstanding the time spent in preparation for the tests. The intense pressure on the students to pass the exams enhances cheating and other examinations malpractices.

Besides, the protestors should cite the major scandals in the exams cheating and attribute them to the rising pressure on the teachers and students to perform exceptionally well in the tests. The matches should outline that the tests can push the low performing students from not taking up the tests as they can lower the schools aggregate. The advance can have adverse effects on the student and may cause the student to opt out of the school entirely. The advance, therefore, can limit the academic-challenged students from realizing their potentials in life.

Pupils and tutors can exploit the use of research and surveys on the impact of the standardized tests. The instructors and interested society members can administer questions to a given number of people in all the states and declare their findings in the media. The questionnaires should bear the issues aimed at achieving the particular goal. The questions should be set to portray the adverse effects of using standardized tests. The researchers should after that release the finding to the public and dictate the outcome are as per the respondents. The criterion can allow the policy makers to rethink and possibly scrap the administration of the standardized tests. 

Educators and students can utilize different platforms to challenge the standard testing. The groups can use write to the state and schools education boards on the need to scrap conventional testing. In addition, the educators can form a delegation to the political leaders and legislators on the need to do away with the tests. Furthermore, the students and the teachers can organize street protests and matches, sponsor forums and use research as means of outlining their concerns about continued administration of the standards tests. The platforms can offer the good opportunity to fight the norm testing.