Kelly Gallagher's "Readicide"

Kelly Gallagher has put to words exactly how I feel about standardized testing. Approaching standardized testing from the mindset of a student, I have long felt that the use of standardized testing within schools as it currently stands has done more to detract from my actual learning than it has to benefit it. Classroom after classroom has spent valuable time teaching me how to read through trick questions to figure out what they are actually asking rather than teaching me the material that the test is supposed to be assessing me on. Just as Gallagher says, the overemphasis on test-taking is detracting from our students growth as not just readers but also as scholars of other areas as well. When reading through the lens of taking a test, students will be uninterested in what they are reading and thus the quality of their learning through that reading will deteriorate. One thing that Gallagher makes a point to mention is that he is not against having standards for students to reach towards, but the problem lies in there being too many standards for a student to have time to truly grasp at any of them. Teachers are forced to prep their students as much as they can for these tests and ensure that enough of them pass or it reflects poorly on the teacher. This time spent in forced preparation takes away from weeks worth of valuable learning time where the students have actual opportunity for growth. Gallagher also makes a point to mention how standardized testing doesn't do anything to help students who are struggling with their reading, rather it forces schools to set aside their struggling students need for more help. In pretty much every way you look at the equation, standardized testing as it is right now only detracts from students learning and their abilities as readers.