The Validity of Standardized Tests

Standardized testing is the scourge that plagues the classroom and renders immobile the wheels of thought in a quagmire of ineffectual batteries of questions unintentionally fashioned to inaccurately assess a student’s mastery of subject material.

I intend to research the validity of standardized tests in school. The standardized tests can include the Stanford 9, PSAT, SAT, CRCT, etc. I chose this topic because I feel that educators and political leaders place an undue amount of importance on it. A flaw in standardized testing is that while two students know the same subject material, one may get a question right while the other does not. Through my research, I tried find a more effective personalized test that would help most of the students. This topic appeals to me because I generally do well at standardized tests. Before we go further, let me explain what standardized tests are. They are just one type of assessment, although they often get the most publicity. We need to know “What is the purpose of the assessment?” and “Is this purpose worthy or meaningful? The approach we take appears to be overly punitive when it really should be ultimately served and the primary goals should be helping students. Our students are disconnected, bored, and alienated from their own natural ability to learn while they needed to be hopeful and learn with a joy. Currently, 49 states use standardized tests. Our President George W. Bush’s NO Child Left Behind Act has mandated high-stakes testing in grades 3-8 across the country and tells us how much importance we are giving to this type of tests. Not only has the creator of the SAT Carl Brigham stated, “If the unhappy day ever comes when teachers point their students towards these newer examinations, then we may look for the inevitable distortion of