When it comes to education, the United States is ranked among the lowest developed countries. Since the mid-1800s, the American system has used a method known as standardized testing. This is an administered test that covers certain topics and usually includes multiple-choice and sometimes open-ended questions. The form of the test is always the same for all candidates. The United States copied this method from other countries that seemed to be doing better than them, such as China, Finland, Singapore and others. America has constantly competed to be at the top, which is why it developed these tests to improve the intelligence level of its countries, but it is still ranked at the bottom. The failure of the education system is due to the unsatisfactory quality of teachers, increasing poverty and the mandatory use of standardized tests. Instead of making improvements, they lower the level of education. The government should not place such importance on these tests because they limit Americans. Standardized testing is part of the reason America is still at the bottom of the education pyramid. In 2001, the No Child Left Behind Act was passed by President Bush and Congress, mandating standardized testing in elementary and secondary schools each year. There is no way to be certain that these tests are improving our nation. Yes, some people succeed and achieve good results, but many fail. People cannot be promoted to the next grade level or graduate if they do not succeed. There are people who never succeed and end up not graduating from high school or dropping out. These exams measure short-term memorization and critical thinking, but they are not really intended for long-term memorization. Teachers now “teach to...... in the middle of a sheet...... must limit our concentration on the test. It seems the government only cares about test scores rather than how well a student performs in class and understands the information. The test can be useful for knowing what and how much material students are learning, but teachers are very concerned with simply trying to teach what will be on the exam. They need to be able to have the time to teach the subjects in more depth so that students can not only recover their knowledge, but also maintain it. The United States is trying hard to move up from the bottom of the list, but instead it is getting even worse. Instead of being so concerned about competing with other countries, the United States should simply focus its attention on changing its country. Standardized testing should not be the primary focus, rather than student understanding and retention..