mxrider155
October 28th, 2010, 09:01 PM
Sorry, this isn't a creative piece. It is an intro paragraph to a research paper on whether or not standardized tests are helpful to students, and i am just looking for some tips to improve. I have two options, trying to pick the best one...
#1 "Our culture places an excceedingly high value on the notion of potential to achieve, rather than achievement itself." Unfortunately, standardized tests do nothing if not support this statement. With hours and hours spent on the preparation of how to take the tests, most students overlook a simple way to improve these "important" test scores: studying the subject. As students spend more of their time learning how to "beat" the tests, they are reinforcing the notion that standardized tests show only a student's potential to achieve, if they show anything at all. This is just one of the many problems that standardized tests bring to schools and students alike. All in all, standardized tests are not helpful to students because there are too many sources of error on the tests, the tests can be interpreted differently among students, and the tests can cause schools to limit curriculum.
#2 The SAT, ACT, PSSA, GRE, and NWEA are all examples of standardized tests. Unfortunately, they all have one thing in common: they can't accurately show whether or not a student has learned anything after years of education. Suprisingly, a number of educators agree that standardized tests cannot replace what a teacher learns about a student. In fact, in a nationwide poll, 52% of respondants do not think that standardized tests reflect student achievement. The question then to ask is if educators do not believe in the so-called system of black-and-white test results determining student knowledge, why are we still using them to evaluate a student's knowledge? The answer might not be very simple. If we could judge what a student knows based on hundreds of multiple choice questions with memorized answers, then yes, standardized tests in their current form could work. The truth is, however, that there are too many factors to use only standardized test results to evaluate a student's progress. Standardized tests are not helpful to students because there are too many sources of error on the tests, the tests can be interpreted differently among students, and the tests can cause schools to limit curriculum.
#1 "Our culture places an excceedingly high value on the notion of potential to achieve, rather than achievement itself." Unfortunately, standardized tests do nothing if not support this statement. With hours and hours spent on the preparation of how to take the tests, most students overlook a simple way to improve these "important" test scores: studying the subject. As students spend more of their time learning how to "beat" the tests, they are reinforcing the notion that standardized tests show only a student's potential to achieve, if they show anything at all. This is just one of the many problems that standardized tests bring to schools and students alike. All in all, standardized tests are not helpful to students because there are too many sources of error on the tests, the tests can be interpreted differently among students, and the tests can cause schools to limit curriculum.
#2 The SAT, ACT, PSSA, GRE, and NWEA are all examples of standardized tests. Unfortunately, they all have one thing in common: they can't accurately show whether or not a student has learned anything after years of education. Suprisingly, a number of educators agree that standardized tests cannot replace what a teacher learns about a student. In fact, in a nationwide poll, 52% of respondants do not think that standardized tests reflect student achievement. The question then to ask is if educators do not believe in the so-called system of black-and-white test results determining student knowledge, why are we still using them to evaluate a student's knowledge? The answer might not be very simple. If we could judge what a student knows based on hundreds of multiple choice questions with memorized answers, then yes, standardized tests in their current form could work. The truth is, however, that there are too many factors to use only standardized test results to evaluate a student's progress. Standardized tests are not helpful to students because there are too many sources of error on the tests, the tests can be interpreted differently among students, and the tests can cause schools to limit curriculum.