Isaac Curry

Professor Richardson

English Comp II

17 March 2019

Annotated Bibliography

My essay will be about how the implementation of standardized testing has actually been

a detriment to education instead of moving it in the right direction. I want to see what made the

government think that the standardized tests were a good idea. I also want to see what the

teachers think of the tests and how they made have had to change their teaching styles. There

have been standardized tests in schools for over fifty years, the question is why are these tests

hurting education so much more than the past tests?

Strauss, Valerie. “34 Problems with Standardized Tests.” ​The Washington Post​, WP Company,

19 Apr. 2017,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/04/19/34-problems-with-standard

ized-tests/?noredirect=on&utm_term=.f6a5841f8403​. Accessed 2 March 2019.

The article “34 Problems with Standardized Tests” by Valerie Strauss, written on April

19, 2017 and posted on The Washington Post states, that teachers judge a students education

better than a test. For example, there is an English test in the state of Florida that all third graders

must pass to move on to the fourth grade. This test is like any other large test but the

consequences of failing this test is massive, if students fail they must retake third grade. Many

parents believed this way of schooling wasn’t right and they went to court and tried to sue the
school district to get the law changed. Yet, the judge ruled in favor of the school district and the

law still stands. Strauss disagrees with the logic behind the standardized test, she believes

students should be able to move on by what grade they got in the class. The teacher knows the

student better than anyone, and their professional opinion should be taken into account instead of

being ignored because of what a test says.

This article is targeting parents and even young adults still in school to try to bring

awareness to this issue so that there can be change. The article gives a lot of great evidence to try

to convince the reader that standardized testing is actually hurting education. Since this is a

pressing issue that is still looming today the article also tries to add a sense of urgency to act now

and change the education system for the better.

The author of the article is Valerie Strauss and I know that she’s credible because she is a

teacher herself and has worked with the standardized tests for many years. The article is credible

because it has a lot of statistics that show how the tests have been hurting education. Also, there

are quotes from the judge that ruled the case between the school board and the parents.

The information that I gathered in this article will be used very well in my research paper.

The article has very sound logic that is backed up with legitimate evidence. I believe I will use

the quotes from the court case in my paper since they show how pressing the issue of

standardized testing is and how it can hurt the education of countless kids all over the world.

Zimmer, Tim. “The Effects of Standardized Tests on Teachers and Students.” ​The Classroom,​ 10

Jan. 2019,
 www.theclassroom.com/effects-standardized-tests-teachers-students-10379.html​.

Accessed 2 March 2019.

The article “The Effects of Standardized Tests on Teachers and Students” written by Tim

Zimmer on January 10, 2019 and posted on theclassorrm.com, states that standardized tests place

great physical and emotional stress on teachers and students alike. The article starts by listing the

reasons that standardized tests were implemented in the first place. This includes evaluating in

whether students will be able to thrive in this educational environment in the future as well as

giving the government data on which school systems are struggling. It then transitions into how

students can be hurt by taking these tests. For example nobody likes to take these massive tests

and they seem to suck the fun out of school making kids dislike school and learning. There is

also how teachers must change their teaching style because they have to cram in a bunch of

content by the end of the year so that their students can pass the tests.

I believe the focus of this article was more on how the students are teachers are affected

by the big tests instead of just listing off number and this was quite refreshing. The target

audience for this article was the parents who are uneducated on the matter of standardized

testing. This article was more meant to inform the reader about the harm the tests are causing.

The Author Tim Zimmer is quite thorough and has a lot of evidence to back up his

claims. The claims being made are more fact than opinion in this article which makes it very

reliable for me. Also the large amount of teachers that took the surveys make me think that they

are qualified to give their opinions on this topic.

This article is very relevant for a number of reasons, one being that it was written earlier

this year. Another is that there is data from teachers in the article making it quite reliable. I
believe I will be most likely to use the information from the teachers in my article because they

are the most qualified group of people to comment on standardized tests.

“Why One Harvard Professor Calls American Schools' Focus on Testing a 'Charade'.” ​Chalkbeat​,

24 Jan. 2018,

www.chalkbeat.org/posts/us/2018/01/19/why-one-harvard-professor-calls-american-scho

ols-focus-on-testing-a-charade/​. Accessed 3 March 2019.

The article “Why One Harvard Professor Calls American Schools' Focus on Testing a

'Charade'” written by Matt Barnum on January 24, 2018 and posted on chalkbeat.org, states that

the standardized tests have been misused and hurt the students more than helping them. Daniel

Kortez is the Harvard professor who wrote a book about standardized testing and hows it needs

major changes. There is also a Q&A with Koretz in the article as he tackles different aspects of

standardized testing. Such as how the No Child Left Behind initiative really hasn’t improved the

test scores at all, it’s just caused more stress for the students and the teachers. He also says that

the preparation for the tests has caused the students to fail even more because the review doesn't

teach one of the most important parts of test taking, time management.

The article is mostly used to inform by trying tp pick the brain of this Harvard professor

that has a lot of knowledge on the subject. This article is good for parents to read because they

can become more informed on how their kids are taught and what they are expected to know. It’s

also good for the government to read because this professor is very respected in his field and

brings up many good points that should be listened to.

 Even though Kortez didn’t write the article all of the information on standardized testing

comes from him. He is very reliable because he is a professor and he has been in the field of

education for a very long time. Kortez does a very good job of backing up his claims with valid

information that makes his statements even more convincing.

This article was released quite recently so it has very reliable information. I think this

article was really good for my topic because it showed me how to take a more objective

approach to my paper. Koretz is very good at explaining his point while also taking the other side

of the argument into account. I think I could use any number of the great quotes that Kortez used

in this article for my paper so that it will have very strong evidence.

“The Paradox of Standardized Testing.” ​Kappanonline.org​, 24 Aug. 2018,

www.kappanonline.org/starr-leadership-paradox-standardized-testing/​. Accessed 3 March

2019.

The article “The Paradox of Standardized Testing” written by Joshua Starr on August 24,

2018 and posted on kappanonline.org, states that standardized tests make learning less fun while

also limiting a student’s creativity. Starr starts off the article with how he sends his kids off to

school everyday and always wishes that they would work hard and have fun. Yet, as the time of

standardized tests approaches his kids get nervous about the big test. He assures them that the

test really doesn't matter and as long as they try their best they will do fine. While the tests might

not matter at their current age this statement isn’t true as the kids get older and they must pass

the tests to graduate from High School. Starr says that he is lucky that his kids do well in school

but he always thinks about the misunderstood kids who fail these tests and get held back. It’s not
the kids letting themselves or their parents down by failing the test, it’s the education system that

lets the kids down by making the tests so high stakes.

The purpose of this article is to have a more sympathetic approach on the issue of

standardized testing. The author is in the education system himself being a superintendent so he

feels powerless when trying to get things changed because the government writes the rules for

how schooling is done. He also comes at it like a nervous parent who just wants their kids to do

well, even though the tests are pretty daunting. I think this articles take on the issue is quite

refreshing and his appeal to pathos really works out well.

The author is a superintendent and a parent which I think is very valuable in this case. He

can look at why the government thinks the tests are necessary but he can also have suggestions to

fix them so that all of the kids can thrive. Starr says with the way the curriculum is solely

focused on getting the kids ready for the test is a great detriment to how the kids feel about

learning and school. School is starting to feel more like a job rather than a fun time in a child’s

life and for this reason the test needs to be changed.

I will use the information in this article in more of an emotional way because the author

does a great job of appealing to the readers emotions. With the stories of his nervous kids that

just want to make their parent proud really gives the article emotional weight. The information in

this article will be more difficult to use because there is little facts with statistics in this article.

Blazer, Christie, and Research Services Miami-Dade County Public Schools. “Unintended

Consequences of High-Stakes Testing. Information Capsule. Volume 1008.” ​Research

Services, Miami-Dade County Public Schools​, Research Services, Miami-Dade County

 Public Schools, 1 Jan. 2011. ​EBSCOhost​,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=​https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=eric&AN=ED536512&site=eds-live​. Accessed 2 March 2019.

The article “Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Testing” written by Christie

Blazer on January 1, 2011 and posted added to the Sinclair Library, states that high stakes testing

needs to be dramatically changed because it has many negative effects in the education of young

adults. Blazer starts off the article with the mention of how standardized testing was supposed to

help students, for example, it’s meant to make them work harder and give teachers a list of the

kids strengths/weaknesses. However it has really made students develop a resentment towards

school and learning because everything feels so focused on the test. Also, teachers feel restricted

because their lessons have to focus on the test and not on the kids having fun. High stakes testing

has failed in improving education and it needs to be changed before more kids fall victim to

these unfair and intimidating tests.

The purpose of this article is to inform the reader about how standardized testing has

failed the kids and how it can be improved. The author suggests solutions such as having less

tests so that the kids aren’t under pressure so often. Blazer also mentions how the tests shouldn’t

be used as the sole measurement of how well a student is doing in school. It should be a

combination of the teacher and the tests because the teacher gets to know the students learning

style better than anyone.

The author is a young student and I believe she is qualified to write the article because

she has had to take all of the tests that are causing so much trouble. She can give her experiences

taking the tests first hand and elaborate on how they can be improved. She also has pages and
pages of evidence to show all of the ways kids are being negatively impacted by these tests. She

also gives credit to all of the sources at the end showing the credibility of the sources themselves.

I can use any number of different quotes from this article because there is a lot of

evidence. Since this evidence is backed up by the citations I know it’s reliable. I would say that I

would use the information about how standardized testing narrows the curriculum of students

and that this needs to be changed.

Kuehn, Larry. “Standardized Testing Is a Global Issue.” ​Our Schools / Our Selves​, vol. 20, no. 1,

Fall 2010, pp. 69–75. ​EBSCOhost​,

sinclair.ohionet.org:80/login?url=​https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&d

b=ehh&AN=57147091&site=eds-live​. Accessed 2 March 2019.

The article ​“Standardized Testing Is a Global Issue”​ by Larry Kuehn written in the fall of

2010 and added to the sinclair library states, standardized testing is a global issue where teachers

are being attacked because of this test saying that they can’t teach well. The standardized tests

are putting a huge amount of pressure on teachers to make sure that the students do well so they

look good. If a student does bad on a standardized test the blame goes straight to the teacher

instead of going on the poorly made test. This way of schooling is just plain wrong because

students and teachers alike are under a huge amount of pressure because of the standardized

tests.

The purpose of this article is to make the reader feel like standardized testing needs to be

changed so that the kids can have a better schooling system. The article is meant for any person

who has gone through this terrible education system so that it can be changed. The article also
emphasizes that this is a global problem and if we can band together change will be made but we

become too detached from the education system once we graduate.

The author is a teacher who has had to live through the pressures that are were put on him

by his school district. He is qualified to speak on the subject because he knows how stressful the

tests are for teachers and students alike. This is why his call to action is so convincing because he

can stand up for the teachers who are treated unfairly because a test says they can’t do their job.

Teachers are what makes education so fun and rewarding, not standardized tests.

I could use many different quotes from this article because it has a very strong pathos

appeal. Also since Kuhn was a teacher himself his information is valid and he knows how

teachers get mistreated better than anyone. I could also use the information about the problems

all over the world since the tests have taken over the lives of almost all students all across the

world. The idea of standardized testing being a global problem is very good for getting people to

come together and make a change.

Strauss, Valerie. “Efforts to Reduce Standardized Testing Succeeded in Many School Districts in

2017. Here’s Why and How.” ​The Washington Post​, 6 Dec. 2017,

www.washingtonpost.com/news/answer-sheet/wp/2017/12/06/efforts-to-reduce-standardi

zed-testing-succeeded-in-many-school-districts-in-2017-heres-why-and-how/?noredirect

=on&utm_term=.0677610f09af​.

The article “Efforts to Reduce Standardized Testing Succeeded in Many School Districts

in 2017. Here’s why and How” written by Valerie Strauss on December 6, 2017 and

printed by the Washington Post, states that there have been recent reforms of
standardized testing but there is still much work to be done if kids can have a better

learning experience. Strauss mentioned some previous works that she read when writing

this article and says that these works were influential in bringing about change in

standardized testing. Some one of the works she mentioned was the book that Harvard

professor Daniel Krotez wrote titled “The Testing Charade: Pretending to Make Schools

Better.” This is that same Harvard professor that was mentioned in one of my earlier

articles. His books have been one of the driving forces to get the tests changed since they

were best sellers and many people became educated on the standardized test situation.

The article also mentions ways that the reformers won and got the tests changed slightly

in the favor of students. Strauss encourages more cases like this to be taken up all over

the world so that education can be improved for all children.