This I Believe Proposal

This I Believe Proposal:

Chloe Backman

Intro to Education

This I Believe

There is so much pressure put on students today to perform well on standardized tests. It is taking away from much of the time in and out of the classroom. But what about those students who are not necessarily the best test takers? Is their grades in school and extracurricular activities taken into account? According to my research these things do not matter as much as a score on a standardized test. The preparation is also starting as such a young age. Kids have started to prep for these tests that will pretty much predict their future. I believe that the focus should be drifted away from standardized tests and there should be more of an emphasis on using creativity in the classroom.

Months on end are spent studying and preparing for yet another standardized test and the scores have such an impact on a student. At a young level, children are forced to receive an education that is geared towards preparation for standardized test and they do not have many opportunities to explore outside of their text books. Many schools are also starting to cut back on things such as recess, art, music, physical education and anything creative or anything that will let a student relax. By the time a student hits high school they have to start taking tests such as the ACT or SAT. Those who score better are more likely to get into better universities and get more scholarship, despite their other activities and grades. This type of system does not accurately depict how well a student is going to do in life since some kids are simply better test takers than others. Creativity, perseverance, collaboration, and vision I feel are also just as important.

A personal example of my topic would be me. When it comes to testing I do not perform well. No matter how hard I study or how much preparation I do my score is simply never good enough to me. I took the ACT four times and my score barely moved. This has always been so frustrating to me because I do so well inside and outside of the classroom. My senior year I got consecutive 4.2’s on my report card. My extracurricular activities and leadership positions went on and on. Regardless of how well I did on anything else, it all came down to my standardized test when applying to college. That depicted how much money I would get or what schools I could get into. For my classmates that did well on the ACT they breezed through getting into any university that they wanted to. But for those who struggled had it harder. I believe that universities should look at other factors besides tests because there are so many other things that define a person. Placing so much emphasis on these tests can have such a negative impact.