MAPS, Aspire, ACT, SAT, PSAT, AP Exams, Iowa Assessments: standardized testing that is required in schools throughout the country to show a student’s intellectual ability or college readiness. There is not a shortage of standardized tests, yet schools keep adding these tests into their curriculum. Standardized testing can be helpful; it can show a student’s improvement in school and help teachers figure out what they need to teach more thoroughly. But, in general, standardized tests are not ideal: bad test takers have a disadvantage and learning is much more important than a test score. Students attend school to learn. However, it currently seems that the only point of school is to be taught about a subject, take a test on that material, and then move on to the next lesson. This does not seem to be huge problem, but the one reason we are in school, to learn, seems to be skipped over in that schedule. Schools are too focused on providing decent test scores, that it seems as if learning is not important, only the testing is. This also leads to more frequent cheating on tests and students not completing homework assigned. The big question is: what is a solution to this problem? Standardized testing can be reduced by adopting the portfolio idea, and because some tests are necessary, schools could make it easier for weak test takers with preparation before taking the actual test, and providing …show more content…
As described in the first article, the portfolio assessments help students see what they have learned throughout their schooling. Instead of being objectified by tests to show what they know, students get a different option of showing what they have learned. The first article states, “The best preparation for a defense is for students to share their work and what they learned in the process.” This could help reduce standardized tests by providing their portfolio score to colleges and including it in high school