Persuasive Paper Part 3: Possible Disadvantages, Answers, with Visuals

ENG215 Research and Writing
Strayer University
March 13, 2015

Persuasive Paper Part 3: Possible Disadvantages, Answers, with Visuals
Paying students to pass standardized tests has been in the works for a while now. The idea of paying students a financial incentive to pass standardized tests came from families who would give money to their kids if they brought home a report card with good grades. Offering students some type of financial incentive to pass standardized tests would get the students attention. Most students don’t care whether they pass or fail school, offering them money in exchange for scoring high on standardized tests would give students a reason to pay attention and pass standardized tests (Flannery, 2015). Motivating students with a financial incentive is a good way to get them to pass standardized tests (Bettinger, 2008).
Problems with Standardized Testing
Standardized testing ramped up in 2002 from the No Child Left behind Act. This act was going to hold public schools to a high standard of education, by measuring the students’ scores on statewide standardized tests. The reasons that standardized tests are a problem is from the following reasons: 1. Test scores can’t accurately measure learning: Standardized tests does not allow students to express themselves because they are multiple-choice. Open-ended tests would allow students to express themselves. 2. Standardized testing eats up instruction time: High school students spend 29 and 45 days per year taking tests. This does not include preparation time. Schools have eliminated courses that are not tested, such as art, music, and physical sciences. 3. Test anxiety impedes learning: Standardized tests can lead to anxiety. Anxiety can make students forget the material they learned or how to do basic mathematical operations. The pressure ends up getting in the way of accurately assessing how much the students know (Evans, 2012).
High-stakes testing punishes students for things beyond their control. Testing doesn’t provide adequate information about a student’s progress in school. High-stakes testing hurts genuine educational improvement (The Dangerous Consequences of High-Stakes Standardized Testing, 2007).
The Solution to the Problem
Standardized tests have become a significant part of education today. They measure subject-specific knowledge and achievement of students across the country. The goal of the assessments is to show how far each student is in their class. Financial incentives have been tested to see if rewarding students is a positive or negative thing for scoring high on standardized tests. There are mixed results on the subject of paying students to pass standardized tests. Some people feel that pupils should be motivated to go to school and pay attention without bribing them (Strauss, 2010).
The greatest benefit that is a result of standardized tests is it holds teachers and schools responsible for teaching students the material that they are required to learn for the standardized tests. The scores become public record, and teachers and schools who provide failing scores can come under intense scrutiny. Teachers could lose their job, and the state takes over schools. Students are assessed on the same platform, regardless if they are in different classes, teachers, schools or other criteria (Meador, 2015).
In the United States, schools have been passing students into the next grade level before the student has a minimum understanding of the material. This has students falling further behind every year and students start feeling discouraged. Standardized tests help make sure students understand the material before they advance to the next grade level (Messerli, 2003).
Parents and teachers can identify the students who have a particular gift in a certain area of study. The letter grading system that schools have makes it tough to see if students have a real gift for a particular subject. Standardized tests help teachers to compare students on a national level, free from biases and grade inflation of local teachers (Messerli, 2003).
The ultimate aim of education is to satisfy a student’s unique demands. The ubiquity of high-stakes testing is a symptom that is increasing centralization in American education. What needs to be done is parents need to make the decision about their student’s education. This system has the demands and accountability about what schools are going to fail or succeed. A system that is decentralized has no need for high-stakes testing. When parents and educators make the decisions about their children’s education, it is the best accountability system there is (Smith, 2013).
The solution to the American education problem has to do with the need to eliminate competitive test scores, not with the need to improve students’ performance on them. We need to start measuring the success of the educational system by looking at if our graduates have internalized the ability and desire to learn.
A successful education system is when students want to go to school, they are excited to learn when they are at school, and in the end, they are prepared to creatively respond to the kinds of open-ended problems they will face in the world.
References
Last Name, F. M. (Year). Article Title. Journal Title, Pages From - To.
Last Name, F. M. (Year). Book Title. City Name: Publisher Name.

Footnotes
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Tables
Table 1
[Table Title] Column Head | Column Head | Column Head | Column Head | Column Head | Row Head | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | Row Head | 456 | 456 | 456 | 456 | Row Head | 789 | 789 | 789 | 789 | Row Head | 123 | 123 | 123 | 123 | Row Head | 456 | 456 | 456 | 456 | Row Head | 789 | 789 | 789 | 789 |
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Figures

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