Explaining the importance of Standardized Testing to Parents

Imagine Math Made Easy with MathImagine. If needed, MathImagine can provide information and communication tools for schools to discuss sensitive topic to parents. This can assist with rallying support from the parents and community to help our students excel in mastering the grade level curriculum.

Media outlets are eager to sensationalize the frustrations many parents have expressed with standardize testing such as the Common Core and STAAR tests. These viral posts and news broadcasts are filled with family frustrations from the hours of needed homework by struggling students trying to master complicated subjects. We are here to support you and say the struggle is worth it. In order to ensure our youth will have career opportunities in the future, we have to rethink our approach to learning. The results from the most recent testing, the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA), show that teenagers in the U.S. rank 31st in math; 24th in science; and 21st in reading falling below average.

Prior to the No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 (NCLB), teachers struggled with scattering priorities and limited resources to teach challenging subjects, such as math, to young students. Since the NCLB Act, teachers were given defined priorities and more resources to ensure children entering 5^th grade know more math and science than they were previously learning.  We needed to reset the expectations that math and science are far more important as they are the foundation of learning more complicated problem-solving strategies in the future. These students need to spend more time learning practical skills so they will thrive when facing more complicated topics in high school and well beyond.

93% of studies on student testing, including the use of large-scale and high-stakes standardized tests, found a “positive effect” on student achievement, according to a peer-reviewed, 100-year analysis of testing research completed in 2011 by testing scholar Richard P. Phelps[i]. We are modeling countries like China that have a long history of testing and are leading the world in educational achievement. Since the inception of these tests, the US test scores continue to rise (refer to the chart by the PEW Research Center, right).

If you know a student that is struggling to meet the standard test requirements, ask your school for more information and tools that will aid in your student learning the material. Imagine math made easy!

[i] Richard P. Phelps, “The Effect of Testing on Achievement: Meta-Analyses and Research Summary, 1910–2010,” Nonpartisan Education Review, Apr. 2011