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Essay / Research Paper Abstract
A 6 page research paper/essay that examines the effects of standardized tests on curriculum. For decades, policymakers and educators have been attempting to address the problem of declining quality in the public education system. The latest effort in a long series of remedies is to institute standardized tests at various levels of education, beginning in elementary school. Students must pass these tests in order to proceed and it gives authorities a basis for giving schools, teachers and principals "report cards." Inherent in this scenario is the idea that employing standardized tests will necessarily result in a superior education; however, examination of several recent articles negates this assumption due to the negative effects that standardized testing is having on curriculum. Bibliography lists 3 sources.
Page Count:
6 pages (~225 words per page)
File: D0_khstef.rtf
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Unformatted sample text from the term paper:
long series of remedies is to institute standardized tests at various levels of education, beginning in elementary school. Students must pass these tests in order to proceed and it gives
authorities a basis for giving schools, teachers and principals "report cards." Inherent in this scenario is the idea that employing standardized tests will necessarily result in a superior education; however,
examination of several recent articles negates this assumption due to the negative effects that standardized testing is having on curriculum. In 2003, the Lynch School of Education, which is part
of Boston College, conducted a poll in which 4,200 teachers in 47 states responded (What the numbers say, 2003). Three out of four of these educators felt that state-mandated standardized
tests were not worth the time or money that it takes to administer them (What the numbers say, 2003). Additionally, 40 percent of this sample group asserted that schools frequently
employ "tricks" in order to raise the average test scores from their schools that do not actually entail improved learning (What the numbers say, 2003, p. 8). Other figures from
the poll include the fact that 79 percent of "elementary school teachers said their students are under intense pressure to perform well on state-mandated tests," with 73 percent of middle
school teachers and 66 percent of high school teachers reporting the same (What the numbers say, 2003, p. 8). Boston College professor Joseph Pedulla reported to the Boston Herald that
the poll shows clearly that teachers are not opposed, per se, to standards or having clear objectives, but they do take issue with "putting so much emphasis on a single
test" (What the numbers say, 2003, p. 8). The complaint that recurs over and over again in the literature on this subject is that the intense pressure placed on
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