Many studies have been conducted on various aspects of standardized tests since Horace Mann invented the idea in 1845. The idea of Horace Mann's behind standardized testing was that instead of oral tests at the end of each year, students should instead have their knowledge assessed through written exams. Although it was beneficial at the time, standardized testing has been transformed into something it was never intended to be. Politicians control these tests and the curriculum taught each year, rather than teachers themselves creating and controlling the curriculum. Additionally, politicians almost created a standardized test intended to deceive the student. Although standardized testing may be a beneficial testing system, it was created within a corrupt system designed to eliminate those who are not necessarily as capable of taking tests as well as other students and to demean students into believing that they are not good enough to continue their studies. education. Say no to plagiarism. Get a tailor-made essay on “Why Violent Video Games Should Not Be Banned”? Get the original essay Educational Psychology Review contributor Carole Gallagher (2003) tells us that “using a common test, he [Horace Mann] hoped to provide objective results. information on the quality of teaching and learning in urban schools, monitoring the quality of teaching, and comparing schools and teachers within each school” (p. 84-85). When first implemented, Mann found that there were “large gaps in the knowledge of Boston schoolchildren” (Gallagher, 2003, p. 85). Mann found that the science oral exam fell far short of the knowledge that a standardized test could provide. With an oral test, a student could simply memorize a few sentences, and from a teacher's perspective, it appears that the student understands the material. With Mann's proposal for a written test, students were forced to learn the material, hence such a large gap. the student was ready to move on to the next grade level. “Mann's proposals for additional testing were considered in the hopes of obtaining a foolproof method of determining which students were ready to advance to the next academic level” (Gallagher, 2003, p. 85). Gallagher (2003) goes on to compare this method. to Darwin's theory of survival of the fittest, telling us that "increasingly diverse courses and teachers' subjective judgments made the task of evaluating students more complex" (p. 85). Essentially, teachers, by increasing the complexity of assessments, were. eliminate children who were not necessarily prepared for the exam. This was, in theory, the beginning of the downfall of standardized testing. It's no secret that tests such as the Scholarly Aptitude Test (SAT) or the American College Test (ACT) are incredibly difficult, stemming from information that students could have learned many years ago . The SAT and ACT have become the standard by which colleges decide whether or not to admit a student. It has become crucial, and almost a necessity, to succeed. these standardized tests. Xiaomin Qiu, one of two authors of Global and Local Regression Analysis of Factors of American College Test (ACT) Score for Public High Schools in the State of Missouri (2011), examines possible reasons why a student might score well /poor exam results. the ACT. “Education-related extracurricular activities, such as reading in the library, doing homework, or participating in sponsored clubs and sportsby the school, are also beneficial to academic performance” (Qiu et al., 2011, p. 65). Qiu (2011) continues to explain that the above statement is true, provided that the time spent on these activities is not long. Who (2011) examines "relationships between test scores and education-related personal attributes, such as valuing education, attitude toward learning and academic behavior as well as problem-solving skills and in interpersonal communications” (p. 65-66). She finds that there is a correlation between "positive personal attributes contribute to academic achievement through their effects on the amount of effort and time students devote to school work and study" (Qiu et al., 2011, p.66). Ultimately, Qiu (2011) finds that higher involvement in extracurricular activities and attributes that value education contribute to higher scores on the ACT. Although this shows correlation, it does not show causation. Often, students are not always completely satisfied with their academic involvement, and some do not swoon at the sound of academics either. Our next problem comes from student performance on standardized tests. In some schools, students' standardized test scores can decide whether a teacher can get a pay raise, a salary deduction or even lose their job. This can sometimes be beneficial, but there are times, more likely than not, that a quality teacher can be affected by how well their students perform on these tests. Larry Kuehn, contributing author to Our Schools/Our Selves (2010), writes that "it is no coincidence that the use of standardized test scores to attack teachers is a global phenomenon...the school district's standardized tests Los Angeles for elementary students are used to define “value added” produced by the teacher” (p. 69). Teachers are evaluated based on the performance of their students. The idea that the problem might lie with the student rather than the teacher is overlooked and is generally seen as leaving the fault with the teacher. The performance of low-income schools is a significant factor in standardized test scores. Mark Wilson, the author of The Revised SAT Score and Its Potential Benefits for the Admission of Minority Students to Higher Education (2015), examines the effects on scoring in low-income schools. “Notable differences in the validity and predictive power of SAT scores and high school grades by race have been supported by numerous studies” (p. 6). Wilson (2015) finds that performance on tests like the SAT and ACT can unfortunately be distributed by race, with some outliers. Wilson (2015) also finds that both variables “often overpredict the performance of African American and Hispanic students” (p. 6). Dana Goldstein, the author of Teacher Wars (2014), addresses this question in more detail in chapter eight of her book. “Teachers in urban Houston and Dallas performed lower on standardized tests than the average sixteen-year-old student in the suburbs” (Goldstein, 2014, p. 169). It's unfortunate that scores can sometimes be affected by demographic makeup, but that's the reality. Keep in mind: this is just a sample. Get a personalized article from our expert writers now. Get a Custom Essay Although there are a number of solutions that have been invented, virtually none have been successful in changing the weight of standardized tests, nor in changing the quality of education that schools receive at.