pIs there too much standardized testing in schools?

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71 %

Yes

20 %

8 %

Perhaps

@Mar '13 c 109 comments V 275 votes

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275 Votes

Sat
doggie_luv voted

v Yes
Sat
Reidabsher voted

v Yes
Sat
sillybilly1b voted

v No
May 17
solodad voted

v Yes
u

May 17
DrSilicon voted

v Yes
May 16
Kacela voted

v Yes
May 16
littlewolf8469 voted

v Yes
May 15
Bob72370 voted

v Yes
u

May 15
o_oo_e endorsed PayThatCEO

v Yes
u

May 13
HMB1114 voted

v Yes
May 12
rangerjeff voted

v Yes
u

May 12
zoomer339 voted

v Yes
u

May 12
skspls voted

v Yes
May 12
warwil630 voted

v Yes
May 12
Fyi1957 endorsed PayThatCEO

v Yes
May 12
Ashley_Steele voted

v Yes
u

May 11
Rydad voted

v No
u

May 11
RAEMM voted

v Yes
u

May 9
pezcore64 voted

v Yes
u

May 9
LilliB voted

v Yes
u

May 9
Bill voted

v No
May 9
Mournwolf voted

v Yes
u

May 9
Brilee129 voted

v Yes
u

May 9
buckilaked voted

v Yes
u

u

May 8
sml11 endorsed fistv

v Yes
u

May 8
LibertyWolf voted

v Yes
May 8

LEC

v Yes

You know how Republicans have a habit of naming things the opposite of what they really are, like Clears Skies for the law that allows MORE pollution? Well No Child Left Behind [NCLB] really means "all children left behind except the ones whose parent''s can afford private school who don't have to spend all that time getting the kids ready for the test". That is what NCLB really means.

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u

u

May 8
DemonsAngel13 endorsed Hireman

v No
May 7
that1guy voted

v No
u

May 7

Gatnos

v Yes

And who sets these standards and test criteria?

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u

May 7
nagydonnac voted

v Yes
May 7

looncraz

v No

Standardized testing is essential for ensuring a basic standard of educational achievement by our schools. The tests should be VERY comprehensive with questions demonstrating basic understanding of the curriculum being more valuable than specific details. If a student can demonstrate that they understand the basic nature of chemistry, but are unable to remember atomic weights or symbols they should receive a better grade than the person who doesn't demonstrate understanding but can remember every single atomic weight and symbol. And, to the person saying more homework is needed: NO IT IS NOT! Homework, in most cases, is really just busy work and teaches students N...

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May 7
Aaron262 voted

v Yes
May 7
SgtNFury voted

v Perhaps
u

May 7
Wooky endorsed PayThatCEO

v Yes
May 6
Ddegnernm voted

v Yes
May 6
PaulUK2901 voted

v Yes
u

May 4
mxdirtdude endorsed PayThatCEO

v Yes
May 3
Randolf voted

v Yes
u

May 3

fraps

v Yes

One size fits all is never smart policy. Education is not a Federal issue. Each state should set their own standards. Those with good standards will outperform those with bad standards in most areas. The various states can choose to emulate the successful or continue to under educate their population. The individuals of the states can vote with their feet.

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u

May 3
DotsonB voted

v No
May 2
StanH voted

v Yes
May 2

NoAmnestyEVER

v No

The fact that so many people answered "Yes" explains why this country in going down the toilet in terms of education. Chinese kids spend 14 hours a day doing school work, seven days and week, and they're taking over the world. American kids would rather sit around and play video games for the rest of their lives.

Post
May 2
tarakitten endorsed PayThatCEO

v Yes
May 2
MarkColwell endorsed ZombieMedic

v Perhaps
u

May 1

Michael_Taylor

v Yes

Growing up in Florida, I had to take the FCAT. It was a joke. You spent most of the year being taught for a test that was a very poor indicator of students' progress.

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u

May 1
Alphacent voted

v Perhaps
u

May 1
captbigtime endorsed cat2009

v Yes
Apr 30
Keystroke voted

v Perhaps
Apr 30
JerseyLady voted

v Yes

May 8

LEC

v Yes

You know how Republicans have a habit of naming things the opposite of what they really are, like Clears Skies for the law that allows MORE pollution? Well No Child Left Behind [NCLB] really means "all children left behind except the ones whose parent''s can afford private school who don't have to spend all that time getting the kids ready for the test". That is what NCLB really means.

Post
u

May 7

Gatnos

v Yes

And who sets these standards and test criteria?

Post
May 7

looncraz

v No

Standardized testing is essential for ensuring a basic standard of educational achievement by our schools. The tests should be VERY comprehensive with questions demonstrating basic understanding of the curriculum being more valuable than specific details. If a student can demonstrate that they understand the basic nature of chemistry, but are unable to remember atomic weights or symbols they should receive a better grade than the person who doesn't demonstrate understanding but can remember every single atomic weight and symbol. And, to the person saying more homework is needed: NO IT IS NOT! Homework, in most cases, is really just busy work and teaches students N...

Post
u

May 3

fraps

v Yes

One size fits all is never smart policy. Education is not a Federal issue. Each state should set their own standards. Those with good standards will outperform those with bad standards in most areas. The various states can choose to emulate the successful or continue to under educate their population. The individuals of the states can vote with their feet.

Post
May 2

NoAmnestyEVER

v No

The fact that so many people answered "Yes" explains why this country in going down the toilet in terms of education. Chinese kids spend 14 hours a day doing school work, seven days and week, and they're taking over the world. American kids would rather sit around and play video games for the rest of their lives.

Post
u

May 1

Michael_Taylor

v Yes

Growing up in Florida, I had to take the FCAT. It was a joke. You spent most of the year being taught for a test that was a very poor indicator of students' progress.

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Apr 29

busseja

v Yes

Who's standard? Seems that the standard knowledge gathered by many graduates leads to no job or career. Schools need to allow the student the option to actually learn something useful.

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Apr 27

MnMking2797

v Perhaps

there needs to be a better way to test the students knowledge. now we just have to deal with it.

Post
Apr 27

Concerned_Cit

v No

There is not too much, just too much emphasis on it.

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Apr 26
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Apr 26

VVP

v Yes

What we find is that thanks to the educational apathy that has arisen from the mentality of "I can just look it up on wikipedia/google so why do I need to remember anything?" we know that this generation is falling way behind in education. The pervasiveness of standardized testing does not show progress or intellect. Honestly all it shows now is how those taking the tests have been indoctrinated to the format and as such only reflects how well we take standardized tests. Our education system needs an overhaul from below the ground up.

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Apr 25

harold_lloyd

v Yes

Kids should be tested twice, once at the beginning to see where they're starting, and once at the end to see how much they learned.

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Apr 25

Bill2E

v Yes

Our teachers should be teaching, not worrying about these standardized tests. There are tests given each week by teachers to gauge the progress of the students. If we don't trust our teachers to teach because the students are not progressing, change the teachers and get new ones. this is a parental responsibility, not a government responsibility.

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Apr 24

Aftermath

v Yes

As well as too much teaching the test to even begin to understand how smart the students really are.

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Apr '13

teacherjoe13

v Yes

teaching to the test is an insane idea for all involved except the politicians and test makers. It causes unneeded stress on the students, not to mention completely ruins their idea of what it really means to think. It causes teachers to be branded as "failures" if not enough students pass. And, to that end, if not enough pass, a school is deemed a failure even if the teachers are the best in the world. So I believe high stakes tests should be done away with except the ACT and SAT. To evaluate teachers, simply send an assistant principal to observe them at an unannounced time and write up a performance review. As for student achievement...isn't that what grades are for?

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Apr '13

DanielZ

v Yes

Standardized testing falsely identifies information as knowledge. It relies primarily on memorizing information, rather than having students use it in a context that can raise it to the level of knowledge. As a professor, I see students entering college less prepared the longer they have had No Child Left Behind as a substitute for genuine education.

B1

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Mar '13

AndrewMC

v Perhaps

I don't have an issue with standardized testing necessarily. I do have a problem with putting too much emphasis on testing as opposed to teaching. The role of a school is to impart knowledge to students; the role of testing should be to ascertain the knowledge retention of the student. But not all schools, students, or teachers are equal, so the system must be to some extent flexible and allow differing approaches in different schools.

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Mar '13

Gary_Owen

v No

Standardized tests are our friends. It's those evil Hello Kitty Bubble-Blowing "guns" that we must banish from our schools, and don't forget staple "guns", and glue "guns" they could give students homicidal ideas as well! (sarcasm for the school system administrators and school principals- I don't want you guys to think I'm one of your fellow madmen!)

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Mar '13
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Mar '13

cynic

Why would you say that? Are you suggesting inferiority? Really?

Post @cynic
o

Mar '13

NavinRJohnson

@cynic Not at all, just stating facts based on results to date.

Post @NavinRJohnson
Mar '13

cynic

@NavinRJohnson Those "facts" you claim would indicate inferior. Are you certain you want to continue that claim? I don't believe that for a second.

Post @cynic
Mar '13
Post Removed by Moderators
Mar '13

cynic

@NavinRJohnson You are indeed saying they're inferior. Show evidence.

Post @cynic
View all 10 replies >
Mar '13

hwyangel

v No

As an adult I don't get paid to just show up, my skills are tested daily.

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Mar '13

PayThatCEO

v Yes

Standardized testing leaves no room for creative teaching or critical thinking. It is what it is and there is no deviation. There is too much emphasis placed on testing and not enough on teaching.

B3

r12 replies

e40 endorsed

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Mar '13

fistv

v Yes

Testing has become another industry in this country, one that produces nothing, from the people who write the tests to those who administer them. Teachers now spend fully a third of their time teaching the tests, the students have had their test times doubled.

B1

r1 reply

e13 endorsed

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Mar '13

ErnestPayne

v No

Standardised testing measures progress nationwide. It allows universities to judge students when they apply for admission. Frankly american students need more homework and longer school years. As it is, academically, americans are far behind the rest of the world.

r7 replies

e11 endorsed

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Mar '13

Chromalord

v Perhaps

Its hard to accurately evaluate potential amongst individuals. Humans grow and develop emotionally at different rates, and a single year can yield a measurable and significant difference in brain development and comprehension skills. There can be up to a 18 month age discrepancy of kids entering school, yet the outcome of most of these tests, throughout their development years, give rise to unfair placement and perceived judgment and labeling AND by doing so, abates the learning process from the beginning. The governments view is 2-dimensional and myopic: "low grades bad, high grades good" so they implement and mandate systems to raise grades, not to entice and foster...

B2

e5 endorsed

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Mar '13

ZombieMedic

v Perhaps

There is not too much, but there IS too much emphasis on it.

e4 endorsed

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Mar '13

lochlomond

v Yes

Standardized tests do have a role in education; the problem is that they have become the purpose of education. When I first started teaching, there were two or three days set aside for a single section of the test. The school schedule was revised to allow 45 minutes for math testing on one day, reading a second day and writing a third. The results were intended to show individual student progress from year to year, to identify individual weaknesses or a pattern of weakness in an area of instruction, and for 8th graders, as a tool for placement in high school classes. The results were not written in stone and there were other considerations involved in high school group...

e4 endorsed

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Mar '13

Hireman

v No

If you don't test to an equal standard, not only do employers and future educators lose out, but also the students as they're the only way to truly tell strength/weakness. People need to understand that in the real world, people are always judged against standards for behavior, production, service, etc. Not having them strive to achieve this forces them to a greater learning curve when they get out of the educational system.

B1

e2 endorsed

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Mar '13

JoeJared

v Yes

Anyone taught to think critically and question sources would generally flunk a standardized test due to excess mendacity in educational materials.

B1

e2 endorsed

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Mar '13

Mike_Monacelli

v Yes

While standardized testing is certainly necessary in some aspects, it is relied on far to heavily to gauge a student's capacity for problem solving and logic. Furthermore, strictly memorizing answers for standardized testing suppresses creative thinking in some aspects, forcing students to simply regurgitate information rather than produce logical thought.

B2

r1 reply

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Mar '13

rainpebble

While I feel there is a need for some standard testing, it appears to have taken over the curriculum in most schools and ignores innate ability, stifles creativity, and prevents children from developing the critical thinking skills they will need in the real world. The students and teachers become too focused on passing a test to explore original thinking and to think outside the box. Kids who don't test well, even though they are intelligent, talented individuals, become frustrated and bored and often give up. More latitude needs to be given to the teachers as far as assessing the progress in education, as they are in the best position too gauge the abilities and need...

B2

Post @rainpebble

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pIs there too much standardized testing in schools?

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