Destructive Implications of Standardized Testing
At every level education, our instincts are to prize creativity, ingenuity, individuality and competitive excellence. Never is this more so than at the University level, where a great many students are working hard to prove that their unique and individualized talents make them of value in the working world. However, over the course of recent decades, a growing emphasis on the use of standardized testing to evaluate student ability, aptitude and performance is depriving students of the opportunity to focus on advancing this important and individualized ambitions. As the discussion hereafter will demonstrate, standardized testing is especially out-of-place in the University setting, promoting a one-dimensional way of assessing an incredibly diverse array of students and simultaneously interfering with the far more important pursuit of personal betterment intended by the university experience.
First and foremost among concerns regarding the use of standardized testing is the question of their basic effectiveness. According to Rubenstein (2008), standardized testing methods must be used sparingly and concert with other more intimate measures of student capability. Otherwise, considerable risks exist in vesting too much stock in the metrics produced by such tests. Rubenstein asserts that "today's standardized assessments can be useful for spotting big trends or gauging the effectiveness of state programs overall. However, when used in high-stakes...
Standardized Testing -- Students with ADHD The first study in an article in the Journal of Learning Disabilities by Frazier, et al. (2007) looks at the published literature (studies) since 1990 in order to produce a meta-analysis that will show the "…magnitude of achievement problems" that confront individuals with attention deficit hyperactive disorder (ADHD). In other words, the purpose was to find out exactly what problems ADHD sufferers encounter when trying
"One problem with achievement testing is that a few minutes of performance time can end up directing a young child's entire educational career." (Schmitz 1991) When tests are administered to young children that take extended periods of time to complete, such as those which take six to eight hours with only short bathroom breaks, the child's naturally shorter attention span may affect performance on the tests. Many test makers
Standardized Testing: The Good, Bad, and UglyToday, high-stakes standardized testing in the nation�s schools is commonplace, and the practice has been used in American schools at some level for more than 175 years. During this time, standardized tests have been accepted for their ability to gauge student learning by some, criticized by others and lambasted by some, but they have generally been accepted as the only cost-effective, standardized method of
No high-achieving nation tests every child, every year, in the way we're currently doing. They have much more intellectually ambitious assessments [or measuring not just memory but what students can do with knowledge]. -- Ed Finkel, 2010 As the epigraph above emphasizes, during an era when critical thinking skills have assumed new importance, young people's academic and professional careers are still being controlled by high-stakes standardized testing regimes and teachers are increasingly
(Rosow, 1994, p. 797) From this review there is a clear sense that success with regard to community college students is determined by their ability to successfully complete the first term of study, as well as by their ability to receive financial aide that adequately covers costs. Additionally, offering culturally diverse social interactions through both official and unofficial means also assists the minority student in achieving success through peer relations
IntroductionThe education industry is currently undergoing fundamental change globally. For one, globalization has created a protracted and entrenched competition for education talent. Here, with new innovation in hybrid and online formats, instructors have a much larger opportunity set to use their talents globally. Likewise, the need for talent is growing as education population become more diverse. In both Europe and the United States, minorities continue to take a larger share
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