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What are the Pros and Cons of High Stakes Testing?

High stakes testing has become very common at schools since 2001 to make sure that students move up in classes or graduate only if they manage to pass it. It is used to measure a student’s achievement. There have been a lot of debates over this. The debates usually are centered on whether this has been beneficial to students or has resulted in more pressure for them.

So what are the pros and cons of this system? Does it follow the assignments procedure of marking or the quiz marking procedure? Let’s find out shall we?

These high stakes sometimes result in a student not graduating at all and can also make a student in the third grade repeat a whole year at school just because he did not pass this test. Apart from this they are not understood properly by parents and the students themselves which can cause various problems like stress and anxiety when the student is taking the test. It causes panic even in the best students leading them to make silly mistakes. It does not offer much in the area of creativity and innovation which leads to teachers teaching in a very systematic way and can result in both unhappy students and teachers. It does not test all the subjects so a student cannot find out how he might score on that omitted subject. Some examples of this are subjects like math and social sciences which are not given any attention whatsoever.

It’s all overwhelming pressure but you need to understand as well that it’s just for the benefit of the student. These tests are not the final measure of a student’s intelligence. They just help to find out how well the student is at taking various tests. They help the teacher find out what are the things the student needs the most help in and leads the teacher to make their students turn their weaknesses into strengths. They can make an actual learning plan for the student. Results are available publicly so a parent can also find out how well the school is doing compared to other schools to find the best school for their child. They also improve a student’s test taking skills.

The student learns how to work under pressure and how to meet high expectations of both the parents and the teachers and develop strategic skills while doing so.

Resource: http://www.scoop.it/t/chief-essays