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Standardized Tests should be banned from public school in the United States (I cannot speak for other countries, I am not a product of their respective school systems). I'm not arguing whether or not they're an accurate measure of learning, or their effectiveness. The thing that makes me angry, is that the makers of the test are deciding what I learn.
My math teacher has skipped entire chapters of the textbook, areas that aren't covered on the standardized test. What I am allowed to learn is being controlled, what I am allowed to study is being bordered.
It gets worse, much worse. The test makers begin to control what I learn, they standardize it. This reflects upon the teachers, forcing them to conform, and teach the test. When teaching becomes standardized, when everyone is taught the exact same way, when we lose that precious diversity, thoughts are unborn, ideas are unborn, and we cease to learn from each other.
Education should teach kids how to think, not what to think.
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