Imagine it, you're sitting in a silent room, and the only thing you can hear is your heartbeat. You know that this test will dictate your college application, and ultimately your future. But you can't do anything about it, it's basically mandatory, the only thing there to help you is yourself, a number two pencil, and a calculator. Face it, most students grow up hating tests. A simple, five word sentence that is truer than the statement that Manny Pacquiao could be one of the best boxers alive, but that's beside the point. From the time kids learn to talk, they are repulsed by the thought of school, yet alone, tests. Whether it be in Kindergarten, getting tested on their ABC's, to the ever so difficult, life threatening third grade multiplication tests. Whoever it may be, students, including myself, hate tests. The fact of the matter is, tests dictate students' futures. Tests scores are so important that if you don't get the minimum score for a certain college, they won't even lift a finger to consider you as an applicant. What is the purpose for standardized tests? Are they used to diminish students' egos? Are they used to forge psychological issues? Test makers, of course, say the purpose for standardized tests are used "to provide fair, valid and reliable assessments that produce meaningful results." (ets.org) But in reality, that's not the case. Standardized tests are defective, due to the fact that they have bad consequences and issues, for instance, they replace good teaching skills, cause severe stress, cost a lot of money, don't improve student achievement, and lastly, they're discriminatory. .
Many teachers are under the impression that they don't need to worry about teaching their students the material needed for standardized testing, but in actuality, standardized testing replaces good teaching skills and practices with a "drill n' kill" route of learning.
