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Arguments Against Standardized Testing

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Standardized testing has been a part of student life in America for more than 50 years now, and it’s no surprise that they’re more pressure-packed than ever before. The SAT and ACT are by far the most popular standardized tests today and have become one of the largest determining factors in the college-admissions process. The SAT, or the Scholastic Aptitude Test, came first, founded in 1926 by the College Board. The original test lasted 90 minutes and was made up of 315 questions that tested the students’ knowledge of vocabulary and basic math. By 1930 the test had grown into its now familiar form, with separate verbal and math tests. By the end of World War II, the test was accepted by enough universities that it became a standard rite of …show more content…
In addition to the SAT and ACT, there are also the marathon four-hour long Advanced Placement exams. These tests, if passed and accepted by the university, can be used towards college credit for students who want to opt out of college-prep classes. There are also the PSATs, which are taken in the junior year of high school to prepare students for the SAT and are also used as an assessment for the National Merit Scholarship—and this is only covering high school …show more content…
It would give the same tests, just fewer of them. “Accountability could be achieved at the district level by administering traditional standardized tests to a statistically representative sampling of students, rather than to every student every year (Kamenetz).” Stealth assessment has similar math and reading data, but is collected differently. Major textbook publishers sell software for students to practice English and math and these programs register every single answer the student gives. The companies that develop this software argue, “[i]t presents the opportunity to eliminate the time, cost, and anxiety of “stop and test” in favor of passively collecting data on students’ knowledge over a semester, year, or entire school career (Kamenetz).” Stealth assessment doesn’t just show which skills a student has mastered at a given moment, but it also offers insight into how quickly students learn, how diligent they are, and other big-picture factors

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