Student Aptitude Tests

Persuasive Essay # 103518

Education

A look at the argument against student aptitude tests.

1,234 words () | 5 sources | MLA | 2008 United States

Paper Summary:

This paper contends that student aptitude should not be assessed through standardized testing because these tests are unfair to many students. It also claims that, these tests are unfair to underprivileged schools and poor test takers and that they take time out of class and don't prepare students for real life by teaching them to pass the test.

From the Paper:

"Not only does this form of testing cut out time from class, it is a poor assessor of student achievement. This means that a standardized test cannot measure the ability to create. A multiple choice test cannot determine a child's ability to "think or create in any field" (Fairtest 1). Standardized tests cannot give questions to do so because they are expensive and often the scoring is incorrect. Therefore this type of test should not be given if the ultimate goal is to assess student achievement because it cannot measure the student's ability to think at a high level; which is what all educators want for their students. Not only this says Fairtest.org, "Nor so these tests adequately measure thinking skills or assess what people can do on real-world tasks" (fairtest 3). Is not the sole purpose of education to prepare a student for college, and then ultimately the real world? Students are required to take classes such as FACS to prepare them for life situations, however if a standardized test cannot measure such skills then they are ineffective and obsolete. "

Sample of Sources Used:

Lockry, Ted. "Rethinking Standardized Testing." Online posting. 17 May 2001. 3 Apr. 2008 <news:Seattle Post>.
Richard, Judith, Jan, Stephen, Stiggins, Arter, Chappuis, Chappuis. Classroom Assessment for Student Learning. Portland: Asessment Training Institiute, 2004.
Sambar, Chuck. "Pros and Cons of Standardized Tests." Online posting. Mar. 2001. 3 Apr. 2008 <news:SAMBARPRESS.COM>.
"The Dangerous Consequences of High-Stakes Standardized Testing." Fairtest.org. 17 Dec. 2007. The National Center for Fair and Open Testing. 3 Apr. 2008 <http://education.com/article/Ref Dangerous?&page201=4>.
"What's Wrong with Standardized Tests?" Fairtest.org. 17 Dec. 2007. The National Center for Fair and Open Testing. 3 Apr. 2008 <http://www.fairtest.org/k-12/high+stakes>.