
Does the nationally imposed standardized testing system have a positive or negative impact on young students by creating a social requirement of how a student is supposed to learn?

There are several reasons I am interested in the research question above. Standardized testing has an impact or influence on every single student within the United States. It is also very interesting to see how blatant the abuse of power the government exercises of setting general standards can have a negative affect on people who do not reach these requirements. I personally disagree with the idea of social control based on my very own personal values. My values consist of the belief that not every single student has the potential to reach the requirements set. Every student learns at their own pace and level based on the characteristics they have. I have a large amount of personal experience with the standardized testing based on my educational journey before college. For almost 4 months during my years in high school, I spent time studying or reviewing for the standardized test. Personally, I did not do well due to the structuring and material of the test. I also graduated valedictorian of my high school and excelled throughout all my challenges. So despite the failures I experienced from standardized testing, I found personal success in school and other aspects of life. These personal experiences only further my certainty when persuading the audience in understanding the truth of standardized testing. Also, my personal experience with the topic can be my qualification to write about the research topic. I was a student who was directly affected from the topic at hand.

The central claim of the article by Laura-Lee Kearns, "the construction of 'illiterate' and 'literate' youth: the effects of high-stakes standardized literacy testing, Race Ethnicity and Education", is to show the negative affects that standardized testing has on students. The individuals that cannot complete the challenges successfully, are deemed lesser than or not good enough. Also, this same person will find it more difficult to find success just because of the failure to reach the educational level expected. For example, this idea can be compared to a game of dominos. After the first dice falls, they seem to continue to fall one after the other. Some of the major values of the article consists of the ethos that is being represented. The author of the article reflects on personal research of actual students that were negatively affected with standardized testing. The value of students learning information at a pace suitable for them is one value that could be assessed. The author of the article deems to be very credible and furthers the success of my project. Though, the author's research gives possible room to be biased and not understand the overall goal at hand. 

There are a few central claims made in, "States Listen as Parents Give Rampant Testing an F", by Lizette Alvarez. that support the project at hand. One of the major pieces of evidence is that the standardized test only test students on math and reading subjects. This alone gives many people who struggle in one of those two categories a major disadvantage when wanting to be accepted into college and get a degree. Also, this article shows how standardized testing affects the information teachers teach to the students. Instead of teaching real world knowledge that will be useful, the teachers must focus on the useless challenges involved in the standardized test. One interest this article stresses is the lack of actual learning because of the flat line requirement placed over the high school educational field. The author of the source seems very passionate about the topic at hand. The article used has a copyright and can be recognized as a legitimate source to use when trying to understand the negative affects of standardized testing.

The article listed above also further shows the audience of the negative affects of standardized testing. It states how every individual demonstrate academic achievement the same as anyone else. Some students excel with the current process and some do not. This allows for the students who are excelling to have an advantage over others due to the socially constructed standardized test. These advantages consist of attending a better college, getting a better job, and etc. These two personal advantages alone play a major part in each and every life. To further this point, these examples that can last someone's entire life can be affected by taking the national standardized test provided. The author of the article is credible due to the information being from a psychology book. This definitely makes the pieces of information credible and very important information for the research question stated above.

The research argument that comes from the process of standardized testing is "arguable" because there are many pros and cons that can both be defended passionately. The topic can be argued both for and against based on the amount of information on both side. Some agreements of the standardized test are that it provides the most equality among students. Also, it is the most effective way to rank students. Some disagreements have to do with the negative affect it has on individuals who cannot succeed on the test. Also, the ideas of social control by the government of its' students. The different perspectives do not change my personal opinions or lessen the influence of the articles given. As seen, the nationally imposed challenges faced from standardized testing can negatively affect young students.
