Testing is an issue that has united parents, teachers, and students alike in anger and in outrage. The tests that students have to take have become increasingly important benchmarks for evaluating teachers and students, and have mounted increasing levels of frustration. The current model of standardized testing is affecting many students; according to an research done by Howard Gardener, about one-third of the fourth through eighth grade students in Louisiana will flunk these tests and be forced to take remedial courses or be forced to be held back.

One of the main problems with the standardized testing is that the tests are unable to adequately reflect ability. Rick Roach, a former school board member in Orange County Florida, says that there he is a  well-educated person.  He has a couple master’s degrees,  has been reelected four times as a school board member, and teaches 39 graduate courses at six universities.  When Mr. Roach took a standardized test to test its quality, it labeled him as a poor reader. This highlights the struggles that some students face.   If  tests are not able to accurately reflect the ability of the students properly,  it can lead to human consequences. This was the case in March of 2014 when  much of the student body in Florida failed to meet their required score in the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test, commonly known as the FCAT. Even though a  student scored a near perfect score in her Advanced Language Arts Class, she was asked to leave it due to her inexplicably low scores on the FCAT. This is only one case of many throughout the country.

We as a student body must acknowledge this problem which needs to be addressed. We must let our opinions about the value of standardized testing be heard.