I do not feel that students should be randomly tested and that teachers should take the full weight of these test results. I believe that all grade levels should be tested by governing school districts. If all students are tested every year, instead of twice in their elementary schools than the educational problems can be narrowed down.
It is not unrealistic to assume that many students do not always reflect the knowledge they have gained on tests, but a standardized test that does not influence their grades will be less threatening, and this will cause the test to more accurately reflect the student's level of education.
If testing is monitored and administered on a school district basis, problems in education can be determined more easily. If all the students in 6th grade are not doing as well, than the classroom comes into question, and results and changes can occur to improve this problem. If students are tested in 4th and 8th grade, than there is no sure way of discerning when and where the learning problem began.
I am aware that teachers are under pressure to make sure that their students do well on these tests and this can have a negative effect on education, but if all grade levels are tested than I believe that the true problems can be routed out instead of pushed onto other people.
The problem with education can not and should not fall into one poor teacher's lap. This is ridiculous. There are many people who are responsible for the education of the future generations, and if more people realized how important education is and their support of education is, than maybe there would be not issues with the education level of our youth.
Communities are responsible for student's education because they help decided what factors in education are focused on and they help fund schools. Students are also responsible for their educations, and their parents are responsible for teaching them to value education. Local schools are responsible for maintaining the best possible educational experience they can for students. School districts and the state are responsible for making sure the teachers and classes are prepared, and the federal government is also responsible for promoting and demanding that education be a priority.
For all of these reasons I do not think that random testing is good, and I do not think that teachers are can be solely blamed for the lack of learning in schools. I do believe that yearly testing in each and every grade can serve as a good judgment for what areas need to be improved upon, but I do not feel that without effort on the part of everyone the education levels in our country will increase.
