Should students take standardized tests to graduate?I once heard a teacher at my old high school say to a new teacher that his job was to teach to the test. and nothing else. I didn't really know what she meant, but I knew that something about what she said seemed very wrong. I wondered why are they just teaching us how to pass the test instead of just teaching us what we need to know? Later, I discovered that whether or not I would pass the diploma depended on passing the test. The idea of ​​standardized testing to determine whether or not students graduate is a bad idea. Not only bad for schools, principals, and teachers, but it can also mean the end of a student's future before it begins. This means that not only schools are suffering, but everyone in our communities, our states, and our country is suffering. It used to be that students had to take standardized tests every year. The results of these tests indicated which school districts would receive more or less money for the following school year. And it would also tell schools and teachers whether certain students should be placed in higher-level programs, such as gifted and talented classes or Advanced Placement classes, or if they are having problems and should be placed in a specialized education. Even at the time, the whole thought process of giving more money to higher-performing schools than to lower-performing ones seemed like a really stupid way to do things. Now students have to take tests every time they turn around. Testing doesn't just affect the money the government gives to the school district. This affects individual students much more. Students with low test scores cannot graduate even if they complete and pass all of their courses. Giving less money or no money to districts with low test scores while giving more...... middle of paper .... ..that's how we are. Everything begins at school and everything can end there because a student's future is written in education. It seems that standardized tests that determine whether a student graduates play a big role in keeping people undereducated by not giving money to schools that need it most. This ensures that students who attend poor schools will have a harder time accessing higher education such as colleges and training schools, meaning they will not have many choices in the job market. But someone has to operate the fry cooker at McDonald's, so the education system is set up so that future minimum wage workers will be ready to take their jobs when they are unable to take the test. Standardized tests, particularly state tests, which are high stakes for seniors, are a key element of this system of failure for already less privileged students...