Standardized Tests: What is the Standard?

Why the government wants to force standardized testing on young students is beyond me. I've been teaching for eight years and each year I dread the spring because of all of the testing we have to do.

People talk about how they don't like teachers "teaching to the test", but what they don't realize, is that teachers hate it even more than they do. We are forced to "teach to the test". Not by administration, but by the government. If our students score poorly on these standardized tests, like the Iowa Test of Basic Skills, the State Department of Education or another politically run office, will label that school as academically inferior. This labeling hurts the school, the students, teachers and even parents. It's not fair and should not be allowed to continue.

Unfortunately, schools even use the scores to help decide whether a child passes to the next grade or not. It's not the only determining factor, but it is a factor. Grades, observation, and other performance methods are considered, but many times, the standardized test will be the deciding factor.