The Advantages and Disadvantages of Standardized Testing

Standardized testing is tests that are uniform, and the scores from them are used to compare states, schools, and individuals. A lot of people think it is a good thing, but in reality it does more harm than good. There are many reasons standardized testing does more harm than good, such as, it robs children of their childhoods, and it teaches children to be good at tests but doesn't prepare them for adult lives. Standardized testing begins in third grade by the No Child Left Behind acts mandate, but most schools start testing students earlier to try to get children good at taking tests so they will do better in the future.

Some say this is good, so they will do better on tests later in life, but it's really robbing kids of their childhoods.

March 2009 research from the Alliance for Childhood showed “Time for play in most public kindergartens has dwindled to the vanishing point, replaced by lengthy lessons and standardized testing.

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” Some of the most important things learned in a child's life are learned in preschool through third grade, such as how to socialize with others, play, and other things that help them develop as human beings. In an article from the National Education Association Tom McLaughlin says “We're robbing our students of the joy and adventure of learning.”

There are so many things that students miss out on learning because of standardized testing. Standardized testing focuses on math, and English, which is why you might find yourself writing an essay for gym class.

It also takes up so much class time, that teachers have to teach what's on the test, and then once the test is done; teach what's on the next test. Math and English are important, but there are so many other things we don't have time to learn that we need to know when we're adults. We don't learn how to do bills, or taxes, how to jumpstart a car, or how to sew. How can we as a nation, or even just as a school expect students to be well rounded if we spend so much time teaching strictly what is on the test so they do well, but not teaching them things that actually prepare them for adult lives?