Dear President,

The standardized test companies make billions of dollars every year on their tests and books. I know education is very important, but is it worth the money to make every student take these tests when they don’t even do that much for the schools? Every student takes multiple standardized tests every year and they barely do anything for us. Not to mention all of the stress that comes with these exams. These tests are also not made by geniuses, they are made by regular people whose jobs are to write these questions.

As a student who takes these tests every year, I can say that they aren't very fun. Not only are they not fun, but they barely do anything for us. It seems like I am taking the same old test every year without any point. Do my teachers even look at these scores? What would they do with them if they did? Will colleges ever see how well I did on these tests? Who knows? These tests are made to seem like a big deal, but are they really?

These tests can be very important for students. According to http://standardizedtests.procon.org/ students will do anything they can in order to do well. This includes cheating and taking performance. Even teachers can get in on the cheating by giving their students a distinct advantage. When these tests are said to be important, it puts huge amounts of stress on the shoulders of both the students and teachers. They are so stressful in fact that a standardized test called the Stanford-9 includes directions on what to do if a student vomits on the test.

These tests also do not value many important things in life like creativity, diversity, and knowledge on some certain topics. Based on a standardized test, you can never tell who is or is not creative. Creativity is a very valuable skill in life that isn’t even measured during these tests. These tests also do not take diversity into account. The same test is given to everybody, no matter the opportunity or learning abilities. Some people have an advantage while others have disadvantages.

I know that many people value these tests and they have some valid points. Like how this is the only or best way to tell if the teachers are doing a good job. While this is true, teachers could make their own tests or the school could make them. Also, when people say that this is the only way to receive feedback on how the student is doing, a teacher could write a short letter describing the progress. Also, people may think that it is the best way to learn information. In reality, teachers are drilling the test info into the students heads and missing out on other important information.

Overall, I believe that standardized tests cause more troubles than benefits and should be reduced overall. They are way too expensive considering what they do for us. They should probably be severely reduced or at least reduced with modifications that can benefit the students. We take too much time preparing for these tests when we could be learning more important things.

Best regards,

Logan Woods, 10th Grade, Mendota Heights, Minnesota