Dear Mr./Madam President,

What if there was a world where children didn’t have to take standardized tests. That world would have children that are calm and relaxed, not stressed and worried for the tests the next day. They aren’t worried about the tests that are used to determine their future. When you become president, the first thing to do is to eliminate standardized testing. Standardized testing needs to be gone because it doesn’t let students get feedback and standardized testing isn’t authentic.

Standardized tests don’t let students get feedback and because of that they don’t help students get better where they messed up. Sometimes the test scores aren’t even given back until the middle of the summer which, unless the students will learn the same thing that the next year, gives them no chance of learning it better. Josh Marowitz says “We receive no feedback at all. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong as a teacher, or what I could do differently next year...Nobody ever comes away from the testing knowing what he or she did wrong or how to improve.” to the New York Times and many agree with him.

Some might say that it tests the students’ overall capabilities in a subject but the students know what to study so they could just learn what they are told is going to be on the test. Plus the students are under extreme pressure and could forget what they were supposed to know in the heat of the moment. The fact that they are tested in this one-time event makes it unpredictable and many of the students don’t deserve the grade they get. It’s not an effective way to test what students really know. You should look at their grades from throughout the year and then determine whether they really deserve that grade. So it doesn’t really test students’ overall capabilities, just how much they can remember on the specific subject that day.

Standardized tests also aren’t authentic. They don’t prepare students in any way for life outside of school. The curriculum does not teach them what they need to know and they won’t take 52 question tests that quiz them on how well they know physics while you’re working at a restaurant. Students can’t get help or look up things on the internet, they can’t talk and have a limited time to finish it. They Jonathan Pollard says “People who are worried about reality and the 'real-world' ought to realize that artificial exercises such as standardized tests are unrealistic, and do nothing whatsoever toward preparing students for life outside of the classroom.”

Congratulations on your new job and I hope you’ll do well. But as I said before, the first thing you have to do when you enter office is to get rid of standardized testing. Some believe that standardized testing is good and while it could be in some ways, it’s mostly not. It doesn’t let students get feedback and it isn’t like real life. Therefore standardized testing is a bad way to test students and there shouldn’t be anything like it.

Sincerely, Ian V.

Works Cited

By Definition, They Are Not Intended to Measure Creativity, Which Is Important for Some Things, like Composing Music, but Not When You Are Doing Math or Driving a Car, for Example. And Even If You Are Composing Music or Creating Some Other Artistic Work, You Have to Master the Basics, Such as Scales for Music, or Perspective for Art. "15 Reasons Why Standardized Tests Are Worthless." |. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

"Standardized Testing: Measuring What Matters Least." Standardized Testing: Measuring What Matters Least. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Xinyi. "Why Standardized Tests Are Bad?" EnkiVillage. 28 Apr. 2016. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Http://greengarageblog.org/author/greengarageblogadmin. "12 Primary Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing." Green Garage. 21 Jan. 2016. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Http://parentsacrossamerica.org/author/pagrundy/. "Why More Standardized Tests Won't Improve Education." Parents Across America. 02 Sept. 2011. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

Https://www.facebook.com/pages/Derrick-Meador-Teaching-Expert/263569520343031. "6 Reasons Why High Stakes Testing Should Be Eliminated." About.com Education. 22 Aug. 2016. Web. 04 Nov. 2016.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/02/17/opinion/how-useful-are-standardized-tests.html?_r=0 Wed. 04 Nov. 2016