Standardization: Pros & Cons

Standardization tests are developed by a company or book. They are not always the best assessment, in my opinion. These tests focus on what the students know based on what the teacher covered, which was based on a criteria from the state or some higher decider. I can understand why this testing is so great for most subject areas, but in no way, shape, or form can I understand why it is so highly regarded and referenced. As a visual learner, this test was always the death of me. I dreaded taking my standardized tests in grade school because there was never anything on their related to the arts. My best test of perfomrnace and knowledge is not from a standardized test written by a company of people who do not know me or a book that cannot understand the individuality of all learners. This would all be why art is not included on the standardized tests. However, these tests were still the deciding factor of where I applied to college, where I got into college, and the path my future was going to take after high shcool. The company that wrote these tests or the book that is referenced for writing these tests cannot and should not be deciding my future or fate. I should be doing that. People put such a high presure on the outcomes of these tests that they forget to look at the indicidual taking them. If you went off of my ACT or SAT scores, you would never have thought that I would now be a soon graduating senior at a prestegious university or that I was about to begin my masters program. There is so much that a standardized test misses out on when evealuating a students knowledge or capabilites. Most students do far better in a normal classroom with normal grading systems as a test of their abilities and knoweldge. Unfortuanetly it has yet to be taken seriously that grades are a huge factor to consider as well. Just because I did poorly on my standardized test does not mean that I did poorly in my classes. I always got good grades and in college now I am above average in my GPA. This is also how many students are, but we have yet to understand that it is importnat too.