Proposal Classical Argument Assignment
ENGL 101- Composition and Rhetoric B04
Ruth Ronk
By Olena Koonce
05-30-22
What needs to be done to reform public education in the United States?
When looking at education reform it can be a tricky subject which has been a work of process for
several years. If we decrease the number of standardized tests the students take each year during
the school year. Instead track students' progress every 2-3 years opposed to every year. Testing
every year can be incredibly stressful for students which causes them to score low on these tests.
Maybe even cutting these tests out completely, may help minimize the stress the students feel
when taking these tests.
Standardized testing has been a part of America’s education since the mid-1800s. The No Child
Left Behind Act is mandated annual testing in all 50 states. These tests are used to track how the
students are progressing at the end of the year. This testing every year puts pressure on the
student as well as the teacher to make sure the student does well. Standardized testing has gone
too far and is exhausting teachers and students. The teachers struggle to help students prepare for
the tests at the end of the year. Students are required to take standard practice tests throughout the
school year. To prepare them for the test at the end of the year which determines if they pass to
another grade. These tests do not measure the students' progress, tests can cause severe stress in
the student. The government should review and make improvements regarding the decrease of
standardized testing for public schools to ensure testing every year is overkill. Especially for the
students and staff, the government should review and make improvements regarding the decrease
of standardized testing for public schools. It is overkill, students get burned out taking yearly
exams. They suffer from anxiety and the pressure teachers put on the students to pass these
exams. Instead of testing every year it should be every 2-3 years, then adjust the curriculum
accordingly.
If a student does not pass the standardized test the students feel less smart than other students if
they do not pass. A test should not be the judge if the student is smart enough to go to the next
grade. Some children do not learn and comprehend the same as other children. Each child has
different learning tactics on how to learn certain things. There are many negative affects standard
testing does to children. The United States made standardized testing which causes concern
across the country. There are many negative affects standard testing does to children. The United
States made standard testing a major to pass to another grade. And this causes concern across the
United States. These experiences for the students and how they learn to cope with the
educational system are a complete struggle. Students' accomplishments can slowly fade when a
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student's future is based on a test. These test the students of their abilities of what was taught in
the past year. Standard testing is an unsuccessful in grasping the actual capabilities of a student's
potential, due to the student's mind and how it works. Class time is consumed by preparing for
these standard tests. It narrows down the teacher's time to teach certain subjects. Standardized
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test scores are not predictors of future success standardized tests can only, at best, evaluate rote
knowledge of math, science, and English. The tests do not evaluate creativity, problem solving,
critical thinking, artistic ability, or other knowledge areas that cannot be judged by scoring a
sheet of bubbles filled in with a pencil.
1 ProCon.org.”Standardized Tests.” ProCon.org. Last modi昀椀ed on December 7, 2020. Accessed May 31,
2022.h琀琀ps://standardizedtests.procon.org/
2 ProCo/norg.”Standardized Tests.” ProCon.org. Lat modi昀椀ed on December 7,2020. Accessed May
31,2022.h琀琀ps://standardizedtests.procon.org.
Public educators hoped the countries obsession with testing would stop with standardized tests to
address inequity baked into the funding system. The curriculum system should be focused on all
public schools providing a learning environment hence the standardized testing to verify what
the students had learned during the school year. Decreasing public’s standardized testing needs to
be improved and considered within government standards. These tests do not provide positive
feedback on how the students perform better. These tests do not count creativity, for example a
student who writes a more creative answer on the test is counted incorrect because it is in the
margins instead of the standard bubble that is provided for the student. Children do not benefit
from these tests; it just makes them think they are not smart if they do not pass. They should do
testing every 2-3 years so the students can relax and really learn without being pressured to pass
these yearly exams. Maybe even consider cutting these tests out completely because of the stress,
anxiety, and pressure it puts on students and teachers. Today public schools are still based on
these yearly tests. These yearly tests are not fun for the students, and it determines if they go to
the next grade. Not every student learns the same or thinks the same as these robot tests they are
forced to do every year. Even when I was in school years ago these tests measured if we go to the
next grade or not. I remember the pressure that was put on us students and teachers if their
students failed. I think these tests should be taken every 2-3 years and see what the child has
learned over the past 2-3 years. As mentioned earlier some students learn more slowly than
others and not in the same ways either.
Each student should not have to feel less smart because they did not pass the test. These tests are
robots and do not instruct the students anything. There is so much wrong with the yearly testing
at the end of the school year. Teachers are focused on teaching what they are given and
sometimes the student gets left behind. And teachers are pressured all year to teach the same
things repeatedly. Some children do not benefit from what the teacher is teaching, nor understand
what the teacher is teaching.
Works cited
ProCon.org (2020, December 7). Standardized Tests. ProCon.org.
https://standardizedtests.procon.org
