Mr/Madam President,

Has it ever occurred to you, a number on a piece of paper determines one’s entire future. Standardized testing is negatively affecting the lives of those who take and teach it. Mr./Madame President, standardized testing needs to be removed or reduced from American school's curriculum. Standardized testing is one of the many school related causes of stress for many students; and wastes an abundant amount of time which could’ve been used to educated the students.

Standardized tests are stressful, immense tests, which could develop anxiety disorders. Dr. Wendy Sapolsky of Carithers agrees; “We’ve seen increased anxiety over the past five to eight years.” says she while discussing how standardized testing can manifest itself (inside you) with ,interviewer, Rhema Thompson.“I mean, it’s just incredible.” she added, due to her concern of the effects of these tests. During these times, she frequently sees suffering from test-related anxiety, with symptoms ranging from stomach aches to panic attacks, in her patients. One of Dr. Sapolsky patient’s (Kate Wolfe) guardian ,Rebeccah Beller, found her daughter ,Kate Wolfe, experiencing severe symptoms after bubbling in her answers wrong on her 3rd grade FCAT. “I thought that I was going to get a low grade because of it because those would be counted wrong,” Kate said, knowing the consequences (possible retention) if having failed it.

Some argue that,“Standardized testing is important, because it measures the intelligence level of the student tested.”, without knowing the lies and misconceptions inside the sentence. The truth is - standardized tests do measure the intelligence level, but of what? With one’s entire future depending on the scores of a standardized tests, both students and teachers tend cheat due to abundant amounts of stress. During the 2013-2014 school year, 972 tests in Louisiana were thrown out due to violations; violations including district, administration, plagiarism, and erasure.

Addition to causing stress, standardized testing wastes an abundant amount of time. On average, students spend 20 - 25 hours during school, preparing for one standardized test. From the endless preparation to the actual tests, the time spent reviewing and testing could have been used in a more efficient way, like teaching. Angelo Parodi, a 5th grade teacher at John Eaton Elementary, complained that standardized testing wasted an abundance of his teaching time. "This is the first time we didn't get to the civil rights movement. We barely made it to World War II." he added.

Standardized testing needs to be removed, or reduced from American school curriculums. It’s a hassle for all those involved; teachers, students, and parents. It causes stress for some ,sometimes more than others, and wastes an abundance of everyone’s time.

Sincerely, Ella P.

Works Cited

@educationgadfly. "Bless the Tests: Three Reasons for Standardized Testing." The Thomas B. Fordham Institute |. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

@natwexler. "There's a Growing Feeling That Standardized Tests Are Taking Time from Instruction." Greater Greater Washington. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

"Test Anxiety." Home. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Thompson, Rhema. "Too Much Test Stress? Parents, Experts Discuss High-Stakes Standardized Test Anxiety." WJCT NEWS. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/standardized-testing-time_us_562e3953e4b0443bb56475b8