The issue chosen is Standardized testing. This type of testing refers to both national and statewide tests, which help convey the intelligence level of that state’s young population, in the hopes that that will create an incentive for the teachers to find new innovative ways of providing lessons to their students. I am against standardized testing, as it does not consider the demographics of a state or the country as a whole in determining what is working and what is not. Each state and country has its own standards, it’s own core values in education. They just are not a great indicator of the a state or country’s aptitude.
The first pro of standardized testing according to procon.org (2016) is that a study found that standardized testing was effective in benefitting the students 93% of the time over the past 100 years. It is interesting that standardized tests have been occurring for that long. I noticed that this study was conducted by one person. As a person who believed this to be true, I would still want to know: Did he use the exact same criteria for standardized tests for each year? Did you use countrywide or statewide data, and if it was statewide. This could be true if standardized tests were standardized over periods of time, in a linear way. Thankfully, we have made advances in knowledge that makes this impossible.
The second pro that stuck out is that the standardized test does not discriminate, because it is equivalent for everyone. I am surprised and interested that this is actually something people think. As a person who believed this, I would notice my own surroundings, and make the assumption that my surroundings were the same as everybody else’s. This could be true if everybody in this country had equal opportunities, and nobody felt the scorn of socioeconomic devaluation that led to the lack of quality and opportunity in several urban settings throughout the country.
The final pro that stuck out was that China uses standardized testing, and that they lead the world in educational progress. This is interesting to me, because I never knew China was number one in the developing world in terms of education. As someone who believed this to be true, I would still want to know the relevance this has to America’s educational system. This could be true and probably is, but it is comparing apples to oranges. The United States is developed, China is not quite there yet. We are a semi-socialist democracy, and China is Communist.
The arguments for standardized testing range from moderately acceptable to completely trivial. The argument that 100 years of standardized testing seems strong on its face, but falls to moderate when it is considered that education and standardized tests are not static year to year. The argument that standardized tests are non-discriminatory is patently false. People from pooor neighborhoods tend to go to poorly ran schools, poorly ran schools tend to teast lower. Standardized tests let several kids fall through the educational cracks. Finally, comparing the United States to China works on a level of economy in terms of GDP, but our educational systems are not.
Reference
Procon.org. (2016). “Is the Use of Standardized Tests Improving Education in America?”
Retrieved from http://standardizedtests.procon.org
