This has had the unintended consequence of increasing the dropout rate, as students who fail to perform and to be promoted leave the schools altogether. Many good, creative teachers also drop out, frustrated with the stringent controls placed upon their teaching style.
ELL (English Language Learner) students are at a particular disadvantage for taking standardized tests, given the frequently arcane wording of the exams. The tests are often poorly written, and students are made to feel as if their worth as a human being and their whole future rests upon doing well on these very arbitrarily designed tests. Teachers perhaps understandably impose such performance anxiety upon their pupils, and the relationship between student and teacher is damaged, as teachers focus more on test-taking strategies than creativity or teaching new material. Also, teachers spend more time grading papers and administrating tests than getting to know...
Finding patterns, making connections, and coping with open-ended questions are skills that will make the next generation of scientists and computer engineers, not being overly beholden to the idea that mathematics should be difficult, and that quantitative subjects are better if they are taught in a 'traditional' way. Traditional methods only strive to make students fit into a traditional world that is rapidly ceasing to exit.
Works Cited
"Standards for school mathematics." National Council of Teacher of Mathematics. NCTM.
May 12, 2009. http://standards.nctm.org/document/chapter3/index.htm
