What do you think about standardized testing?

[kc261]

I believe standardized tests are extremely useful in many ways. They can help to identify students, teachers, or schools that are doing poorly, or doing exceptionally well. They are about the only tool available to be able to compare schools, and even that is pretty lame because for the most part, tests are standardized at the state level, so comparing schools in 2 different states is close to impossible.

They also are testing something entirely different than the grades that you get, which are usually based on homework and chapter tests. The standardized tests are meant to test whether or not you retained the knowledge, which is something quite different than whether or not you can pass a test on Friday that covers the material you worked on that week. Of course, since probably all schools do lots of review just before the standardized tests, it really doesn't test that anyway, which is kind of stupid.

Since the "no child left behind" law, and to at least some extent before that, they have become the only thing that matters, which is wrong. There should be ways that exceptions can be made when warranted. But if there were ways to make those exceptions, I would agree with the idea of standardized testing and requiring that people pass the tests to move on. Certain things about standardized tests and how they are used may be stupid, but so is having kids graduate from high school who cannot do basic reading or math.