Standardized Testing Persuasive Essay

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Dear Commissioner Pam Stewart, Thank you for your dedication and ever-present interest in education. Standardized testing impacts my daily life because throughout my high school experience, I am expected to prepare for these types of tests. Although, in some instances, they correctly assess a student's knowledge and skills, this is not always the case. Standardized tests constrict the liberty of teachers and students in classrooms since there are strict restrictions concerning the information on the tests. This creates a lack of creativity and advanced anxiety within teenagers. Standardized testing negatively impacts students and our learning development. Schools seem to prioritize the wrong issues, with learning the skills…show more content…
They do not value creativity, diversity, or individuality, but rather the ability to choose the correct answer from a series of systematic questions, says Thomas Armstrong. This, he continues, encourages immoral actions, such as cheating, from both students and teachers, since it affects their careers. Similarly, Armstrong believes these tests benefit the wealthy, since they have the resources to pay for tutors and corresponding practice books. Moreover, standardized tests do not provide feedback on techniques to perform better and improve test scores, Armstrong argues. He continues to state that tests such as the FCATs and SATs are dehumanizing; they do not acknowledge students outside of their results, which mostly do not reflect their personalities. They are only beneficial for political campaigns, financial resources, and administrations, but students, become more competitive and narrow-minded. We want to score well because since 1999, the FCAT results direct school grades and developed a passing score as a requirement for a high school diploma, according to Valerie Strauss in her article How Standardized Tests Are Affecting our Public Schools. I am concerned that students will further become solely grade- driven and care for school because of the standardized tests and not because of creativity, learning to think, or socializing.

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