Argument Map by Victoria Brigida

Argument: What is the true value of standardized testing?

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 00:34:28 UTC

1) Pressure from environment on student performance

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 00:35:17 UTC

2) Student/Parent Preferences

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 00:44:25 UTC

3) Classroom Changes

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 00:44:50 UTC

1-1) Increase in Student Anxiety

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 00:49:54 UTC

It has been shown in different studies that students gain a lot of anxiety when preparing for a test, especially from their environment surrounding them.

1-1a)

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 00:54:12 UTC

In the study Cassady and Johnson 2002, there was a strong correlation between high test anxiety paired with loss of cognitive function, with low SAT scores, suggesting inaccurate reflections of student knowledge.

1-2) Over-preparation

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 01:00:30 UTC

Students tend to over prepare when studying for an exam, leading to poor test performance.

1-3) Personal Pressure

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 01:02:05 UTC

When preparing for a test, students may experience self doubt and put more pressure on themselves to perform better than they can.

2-1) Parental Preferences on Exam Taking

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 01:03:29 UTC

More recently in the last 10 years, parents/guardians are more likely to opt their child out of certain learning topics and certain state-mandated tests.

2-2) Test-Optional

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 01:11:37 UTC

Since the Covid-19 Pandemic, high school seniors have been applying test-optional with percentages of students not submitting test scores each application round over 50%.

2-3) Standardized Tests vs Other Application Factors

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 01:14:42 UTC

It has been shown that students who do not submit test scores are still achieving success in college, compared to students who do submit. There is not change in these two scenarios that suggest one group is doing better than another.

3-1) Testing has not changed

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 01:26:16 UTC

The style of testing has been around for almost a century and it has not changed. Students are dealing with multiple quizzes/tests a week along with state testing and standardized tests.

3-2) Reflection of SAT/ACT Scores

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 01:36:25 UTC

Studies show the results of standardized tests do not necessarily show one's academic knowledge nor accurately depict their success, because of outside factors like stress, over preparation, personal conflicts, etc.

3-3) Incorporating different techniques into the classroom.

vgb18 — 2025-02-25 01:38:26 UTC

Changing the way to test student's knowledge would be beneficial for the student, as well as the school, as long as the student is retaining the information well. Things like labs, hands-on work, and collaborative projects help and test students knowledge better than tests.