The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing - 1511 Words

Over the years the educational system has faced various controversial issues, but the most recent one making a negative impact on students, is standardized testing. Standardized testing is a type of testing used to evaluate students academic abilities . It is a way to measure if standards are being met but does not provide a variation in the type of administration based on the students needs (Sacks, 2000). In other words, all children are provided these test to track their learning progress based on their grade level. Some believe this is the best way to measure students knowledge, others believe it is doing more harm than good, and I believe it is an unrealistic form of an academic evaluation. Throughout this piece, I will evaluate the†¦show more content†¦As teachers are trying to prepare students for these extensive tests, there is not adequate time for creative projects. Creative projects are important outlets for students to express themselves outside of the norm of cla ssroom assignments. For example, with standardized tests, students are provided with a set of predetermined answer choices, this in turn limits them. Confining children to multiple choice options limits their ability to think critically because it does not provide them with the chance to question or research possible answer choices. These limitations can also be seen in as poor and ineffective ways to evaluate both students and teachers (Perrone, 2012). The evaluations provided by testing results adds pressures to perform well on standardized tests can lead to cheating, testing anxiety, or can cause teachers to stress testing preparation in hopes for positive results. Teachers often fear poor results because it can impact their teacher evaluation of inadequately preparing the students for the test. If a significant amount of students are performing poorly then it can affect the school as a whole. The district may lose funding and find it necessary to cut electives or extracurricular activities when they do not have the findings needed (Perrone, 2012). testing scores about testing scores in fear of a poor evaluation based off of their students test results. With standardized testing comes very few intendedShow MoreRelatedPros And Cons Of Standardized Testing801 Words   |  4 Pagescontroversial topic Since Middle School, I was not opposed to standardized testing. I thought of it as a way of testing us of what we have learned. Although, after reading some articles about standardized testing I am re-thinking the pros and cons. From personal experience, I thought of it as a challenge to pass them. But now that reminisce about it, I noticed some of the cons of standardized testing. I remember having a week or two dedicated for testing, and in case of students failing they had to take timeRead MorePros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1400 Words   |  6 PagesEven though there are many downsides to standardized testing there are still viable reasons why they are still being used today. One of the main reasons includes the easy and quick access of testing students. Standardized testing allows schools to quickly access a large amount of students at one time. This is also one of the cheapest ways to tests such a large crowd due to machinery that grades which results in low tests costs f or students. These tests also help by setting a national curriculum forRead MorePros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1025 Words   |  5 PagesWhat are standardized tests? Standardized tests are exams that are administered, scored, and interpreted in the same way for all students. Now there are many pros and cons of standardized testing however, I believe that public and private schools should just abolish standardized testing all together. These tests determine a student’s academic performance and each student is given the same test with the same questions and answers. These tests are designed to measure the students learning capabilitiesRead MoreThe Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing1050 Words   |  5 Pageseducational world is standardized tests. All fifty states have their own standards following the common core curriculum. There are many positives and negatives that go with the standardized tests. A standardized test is any type of â€Å"examination thats administ ered and scored in a predetermined, standard manner† (Popham, 1999). These standardized tests are either aptitude tests or achievement tests. Schools use achievement tests to compare students. There are pros to standardized examinations as toolsRead MorePros and Cons of Standardized Testing583 Words   |  2 PagesStandardized testing has its pros and cons I do not believe in it but I will give you proof for and against the testing. We will cover some the history and where the testing came from and why we do it. I will talk a little bit of how I feel about testing and how much we should focus on how the students do on the test. I have interviewed a few teachers that I had when I went to school and some personal friends that are teachers now and how it effects how they teach. Most historians trace the beginningRead MoreThe Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing Essay674 Words   |  3 PagesStandardized testing is a down fall to many students but also an opportunity for many others. Standardized testing has its pros and its cons. It can be the make it or break it factor into getting into colleges you are hoping to attend or the scholarships you want to earn. Some people may have their opinions about the test, whether they hate it or not but the fact is that it’s here to stay. What exactly is standardized testing you may ask, it is a test which measures the knowledge among differentRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1491 Words   |  6 PagesStandardized testing was introduced by French psychologist Alfred Binet in 1905. The test originated because Binet was commissioned by the French government to create a tool to identify which students needed remedial studies. Over time, the standardized tests evolved into multiple different tests in multiple subjects for varying age groups of students. The tests were initially seen as a way to test a large sum of people with the same general questions to see an individual’s knowledge. Some peopleRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1100 Words   |  5 Pagesscience, history, and science. Then, every year, students typically take one big standardized test, or even more. These tests are claimed to give educators an objective that’s unbiased. Standardized testing supposedly hel ps identify the natural tendency of individual students, identifying skill development and progress. However, are these things what standardized testing really do for students? Standardized testing only measures a small portion of what makes education substantial. This means thatRead MorePros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1201 Words   |  5 Pages Standardized testing is all based on your performance as a student on a specific day, time and place. What it doesn’t show is how you perform on a day to day basis. These types of test can be given in any type of form that requires test takers to answer the same questions, and is then scored in a â€Å"standard† or consistent manner. Students should not have to take standardized test because of many reasons. As a human I have days where I’m tired and didn’t get enough sleep the night before or it isRead MoreThe Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing1286 Words   |  6 Pagesto graduate because of their poor scores on standardized tests. Students all over the United States are forced to participate in statewide standardized tests each year. Many claim that standardized testing allows for teachers to help their students easier, and that it holds school districts accountable. While school mandated standardized testing can be useful, statewide standardized testing is ineffective and negatively impacts students. Standardized tests can cause unnecessary stress on, already

Miss Jane Marple and Miss Cordelia Grey Free Essays

At first blush it is difficult to imagine two women who are more different that Miss Jane Marple, the cozy amateur detective featured in Agatha Christie’s At Bertram’s Hotel and Miss Cordelia Grey the protagonist in P. D. James’ An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. We will write a custom essay sample on Miss Jane Marple and Miss Cordelia Grey or any similar topic only for you Order Now First, Miss Marple is a good deal older than Miss Gray, although their lifetimes overlap. Secondly the times and worlds they each occupy vary considerably. Lastly, Miss Marple’s life experiences appear to have occurred in the village St. Mary Mead. Cordelia Grey however has never really known a home and has lived throughout Europe. However, after sorting through the differences between the two women it becomes clear that each has the necessary qualities necessary to play the role of mystery novel detective. Time provides the most obvious focus between these two novels and their main characters. Miss Marple’s age is not revealed, but Lady Selina, herself sixty-five-years-old notices Miss Marple’s arrival with the observation â€Å"I do believe that’s old Jane Marple. Thought she was dead years ago. Looks a hundred† (Christie 4). Cordelia Grey is only twenty-two-years-old in An Unsuitable Job for a Woman, but it is not just the difference in their ages that separates the two women, it is the difference in time. Although At Bertram’s Hotel takes place in London in 1955 and An Unsuitable Job for a Woman takes place in London and Cambridge in 1972 the focus on time each novel has is quite is quite different. Bertram’s Hotel stands proudly in the mid-1950s looking backwards to an England that no longer exists except in the memories of the elderly and English films. The management has created an artificial, refined world that caters to the aging members of Edwardian England who fondly recall their youth and to whose Americans who want to visit the â€Å"real† England: hopefully the England from before World War I, but certainly the England from before World War II. Bertram’s has changed over the years, but looks â€Å"precisely as it had looked in 1939—dignified, unostentatious, and quietly expensive† (Christie 1). Miss Marple arrives for a visit after having previously stayed there when she was fourteen. Miss Marple brings with her not only her memories of her previous visit, but also a lifetime of memories of the people from St. Mary Mead who she has observed for a lifetime and has learned to recognize anomalies in the actions of others and has developed the habit of â€Å"picking† at these peculiar actions until she has revealed the reason for the action. In this process, Miss Marple has solved a large number of murder mysteries (Christie). The 1972 world of Cordelia Grey differs greatly. Rather than focusing her interest backward at a childhood without a mother and most often without her father being part of her life, Cordelia Grey looks forward. She lives at a time when a young woman living in London has the opportunity to work in an increasing variety of careers. Despite this relaxing of social attitude toward the role of women in England, Cordelia has stumbled into the detective business, a most unsuitable career that she intends to master (James). Unlike Miss Marple who has a treasure trove of memories to guide her in her investigations, Cordelia Grey has had a short live and has had almost no training to work as a detective. Although technically a partner, Grey’s training has been limited to basic training in the use of fingerprinting and similar techniques. Her real training has been the often-repeated litany remarks of her late partner Bernard G. Pryde. Pryde was fired from the CID section of the Metropolitan police because of his inability to put together facts and solve cases. He had however taken to heart the teachings of Superintendent Inspector Adam Dagliesh and always had a proverb at hand to help with the current situation. Miss Grey calls these to mind as she proceeds throughout the investigation (James 56, 211). Miss Marple appears to have spent her life at home, working in her garden except for occasional trips such as the two to Bertram’s and a trip to the Caribbean that had been paid for by her nephew. Her world is St. Mary Mead, a microcosm sufficiently diverse to have allowed her to develop a keen sense of observation that is adequate to the world outside St. Mary Mead. Cordelia Grey, however, has lived in a series of foster homes after her mother’s death while giving birth to Cordelia. Her father was a fascist poet and not much of a father at all, prompting Cordelia to conclude that the six years she spent at convent school due to a clerical error were â€Å"the most settled and happy years of her life. (James 68). The similarities between the two are quite striking. Both women are extremely intelligent though Miss Marple often appears as a twittering and reminiscing old lady (Christie 36). While at convent school Cordelia Grey had learned that she was smart and that â€Å"she needn’t to conceal her intelligence, that cleverness which a succession of foster mothers had somehow seen as a threat.† She was offered a chance to take her A-levels with the hopes of a scholarship to Cambridge, but was forbidden to do so by her father who unfortunately chose to appear at the time (James 68-9). Miss Marple and Miss Grey have a strong attraction to what is orderly and proper. Miss Marple always awakens early; she has her breakfast at eight-thirty and enjoys a â€Å"real breakfast† with â€Å"proper eggs† (Christie 33-35). Even though her partner has died, she attends to the business, even though there are no clients, â€Å"cleaning, tidying, rearranging . . .† (James 22). She carefully plans what clothes she should take with her to Cambridge while she conducts her investigation (James 43). When the investigation is over Miss Grey takes the time to finish spading the last two feet of the garden row the murder victim had failed to complete before his death, as if it were one more unsettled task that needed to be completed. Finally, these women are tenacious as terriers. If either of them notices something that is not quite right they will fuss at it and fiddle with it until it makes sense and is reconciled to their satisfaction. Ultimately both Miss Marple and Miss Grey are, in some respects, different faces of a modern, female Janus, the two faced god with each face pointing in opposite directions. The elderly Miss Marple steadfastly faces back in time toward the Edwardian England she remembers and prefers; the young Miss Grey who eagerly faces forward, looks hopefully toward the future. Despite this different temporal orientation, each woman keeps one, boldly curious, wandering eye firmly in the present time and location. Each woman notices the unusual in the midst of normalcy, seeks lies in the midst of truth, and discerns the sinister among the innocent. Despite the great differences between them, they are in many ways kindred sisters or perhaps kindred grandmother and granddaughter. Both women successfully engage in activities deemed â€Å"unsuitable† work for a woman. Despite this they succeed in discovering and righting the wrongs even though the men around them have failed to do so. Works Cited Christie, Agatha. At Bertram’s Hotel. New York: Bantam Books, Agatha Christie Mystery Collection, 1987. James, P. D. An Unsuitable Job for a Woman. New York: Charles Scribner’s Sons, 1972. How to cite Miss Jane Marple and Miss Cordelia Grey, Essay examples

Perception Of Death Essay Example For Students

Perception Of Death Essay Trying to understand a poem when first reading it is very difficult. One mustread the poem several times to understand the authors point. It is important toconcentrate on grammatical structures and rhyme schemes. This essay will comparethe work of Dylan Thomas Do not go gentle into that good night tothe work of Andrew Hudgins Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead.Both works concentrate on their fathers, as they become closer to death. Theauthors of the respective poems have different views behind the worddeath. Within the poem Do not go gentle into that goodnight, Thomas speaks on how one should value life. He feels as though lifeis something special and should not be taken for granted. Moreover, he believesthat one should keep their head up and believe that there will be a brighter daytomorrow. The refrains: Rage, rage against the dying of the lightand Do not go gentle into that good night symbolize the thought. Onthe other hand, Hudgins views death as something that is very special, astepping stone in life. He feels that death is a continuation of life, insteadof the end of life. Lines 3-5 of Elegy for My Father, Who Is NotDead says, In the sureness of his faith, he talks about the worldbeyond this world as though his reservations have been made supports thetheory. In addition, the tones of the poems are comparable. Each poem reveals alonely and sorrowful tone. In Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead,line 14 says, Hes ready. I am not. I cant just say good-bye as cheerfully asif he were embarking on a trip reveals that the passing of his fatheris something that he is not ready to handle. He knows that the passing of hisfathers will bring sadness, loneliness, and a sense of emptiness to his hearts. Likewise, Thomas would feel the same way is his father was to pass away. Finally, the poems have contrasting themes; Thomas feels death as a horribleexperience, while Hudgins sees death as a joyous experience. For example, thepoem Elegy for My Father, Who Is Not Dead views death as a cruise toa place that is promised to be joyous. Also, it indicates that the son wouldeventually repeat the journey of death the father took. On the other hand, line4 of Do not go gentle into that good night says, Though wise men attheir end know dark is right... Thomas sees death as something dreary anddark. The author does not see death as a mark in life, but rather the end oflife in all aspects; mentally, physically, and spiritually. Thomas believes thatdeath is like being blind, and not knowing what is going on. In conclusion, bothpoems express different views of death. Thomas feels that death as somethingthat is dreary, while Hudgins views death as a joyous occasion that is just astepping stone of life. Each poem reveals that the sons are not ready for theirfathers death. The authors feel that their fathers should try everything toavoid death. Also, the authors not that their lifes would not be the samewithout their fathers beside them. Death is a word that can be interpreted inmany different ways.