Should standardized testing be part of high school curriculum?

Resolved: High School Standardized testing (ACT) should not be part of the Alabama state curriculum.

As a whole, we believe that ACT should be a part of the Alabama state curriculum. As of 2009, the Alabama State Graduation Exam was removed from the curriculum and replaced with year-end tests for each grade and the ACT for juniors. The state covers the cost of one ACT exam for each 11th grade student. High school standardized testing should be a part of the state curriculum because: it provides common ground for comparison between high school students across schools; The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 states that all student must take standardized tests; and it allows the U.S. to “catch back up” to other countries in the educational race.

Contention 1: The test provides common ground for comparison between high school students across schools.

Standardized testing allows students located in various schools, districts and even states to be compared. Without standardized testing, this comparison would not be possible. Public school students in the state of Texas are all required to take the same state standardized tests.

This means a student in Amarillo can be compared to a student in Dallas. Being able to accurately compare data is invaluable, which is why the Standards have been adopted. These will allow for a more accurate comparison between states. Standards are a U.S. education initiative that seeks to bring diverse state curriculum into alignment with other states by following the principles of standards-based education reform. This helps colleges and universities search and find promising students more easily.

Contention 2: The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002 states that all students must take standardized tests.

The No Child Left Behind Act of 2002’s mission is having 100 percent of students pass standardized math and reading tests by 2014. Under the plan in Alabama, which is still being developed, a new test would be given to third through seventh graders. High school students would take various versions of the ACT college entrance exam designed to help students fi gure out their career interests, which schools are already planning to do. And the graduation exam would be replaced in 2013 by end-of-course exams.

Contention 3: The test allows the U.S. to “catch back up” to other countries in the educational race.

Every year, countries around the world have their students take standardized test to evaluate the education they are receiving. However, the U.S. is falling drastically behind.

In the year 2010, with the average country scoring around 500 in math, the U.S. placed 31st with a score of 487, compared to China’s 600 (PBS). For reading, Korea scored 539, but the U.S placed 17th with a score of 500 (PBS). In science the U.S placed 23rd with a score of 502, while Finland scored at 554 (PBS). Many of these countries that scored higher than the United States prepare students more for these tests because they are a central part of their curriculum.

Standardized testing needs to become more a part of the Alabama state curriculum to bring U.S. scores up so that we may better compete with other developed nations and ultimately become greater involved in our world as a whole.

Resolved: High school standardized testing shouldn’t be part of the Alabama State curriculum.

The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) was first administered in 1926. It is not beneficial in any way to students and therefore should not be a standard part of Alabama curriculum for these three reasons: it does not reveal full potential of students; the initial test and prep courses can cost a significant amount of money; and SATs are inessential to acquire numerous occupations.

Contention 1: The SAT was meant to measure some “sort of underlying, biological potential,” according to Harvard professor Christopher Jencks, and it was often called aptitude and sometimes genes or intelligence. However, the College Board said the SAT measures nothing except developed reasoning skills, which students develop both in school and out.

Contention 2: The costs are too substantial.

The SAT serves no substantial purpose with today’s society. According to sat.collegeboard.org, the SAT costs $50 dollars per test. The amount being paid for the SAT is too much for public schools to spend. This money spent on testing can better be used to stimulate the local economy and plan for further education.

Contention 3: Students are often burdened with anxiety and tend to not completely focus on learning because they are focusing on the score of their ACT or SAT.

There is an aura about these tests that make it seem as if the student does not score very high, his or her future in college and obtaining a job is lowered.

Richard Atkinson, a psychologist for the University of California, said “the test hurls kids into months of practicing word games and math riddles at the expense of studying chemistry or poetry.”

He also expressed how he “wants to make SAT scores an optional part of the application for all 90,000 kids who want to go to U.C. each year.”

SAT and ACT scores do not necessarily represent how well a student will do in college or how intelligent he or she is.

An online article on U.S. News’ website states, “Knowing the meanings of laconic, loquacious, or lugubrious does not prove you are smart. Nor does knowing how many real roots there are for a quadratic or the rules of logarithms, apostrophes or parallel structure. Mastery of that information demonstrates knowledge, not intelligence.”

Ultimately, standardized testing can be said to trigger unneeded stress to students and display an inaccurate future for their college or occupation.

Contention 4: The SAT is irrelevant if you are not going to college. Standardized tests are designed for colleges to determine which students to admit based on a ranking of intelligence. However, if a student is not planning on attending college, this score is irrelevant to the rest of his or her life in the work force. Only around 39 percent of 18-24-year-olds were enrolled in college in 2007, making up the minority. If the majority of students aren’t going to need their SAT scores, we shouldn’t require them.