Most of the standardized exams are multiple-choice exams, which means if a students does not care enough to put effort into the exam he does not have to. A student can bubble is all choice "c" and will roughly get 25% of the questions right. What kind of system is that? Why should a student get credit for guessing? I disagree with standardized exams and I do not agree that high stakes assessments improve learning. I agree that tests were designed to be a good teaching tool, but somehow in the whole process it did not get implemented the way it was designed to be.
In theory, high stakes assessment exams has two man objectives: more-stringent academic standards and increasingly rigorous accountability for both students and schools. Ideally, if there are high stakes attached to the exam, the examinee will perform to their best ability. School reform has focused on these objectives in order to improve education. The rationale of the assessment exams is that children benefit from the knowledge teachers gain from these test. Yet, teachers gain little important knowledge from such tests, and children are put under tremendous pressure from school and from parents. .
Still, state after state, legislatures, governors, and state boards supported by business leaders have imposed tougher requirements in Math, English, Science, and other fields. Together with these subjects, new tests by which the performance of both students and schools is being judged. In some places students have already been denied diplomas or held back in a grade if they failed these tests. More than half the states now require tests for student promotion or graduation. In some states funding for individual schools will depend on how well students do on the tests. The big question now is: how fair is it to put so much emphasis on one exam?.
If tests play a significant role in grade advancement or are the primary basis for a school's accountability, teachers feel compelled to spend considerable time preparing children to take the tests.
