The fact that standardized test can decide one’s future intensifies the pressure bestowed on a high school student. Many people have different opinions towards these type of exams, ranging from college admissions required to use these exams for their admission process to some arguing against these exams not being an accurate measure of one’s true potential. Standardized testing in the college admissions process does not clearly emphasize a student’s knowledge and intelligence. I believe that these exams should not remain as an important factor in admissions decisions. The elimination of exam scores will create a fair admissions process, it will also help those who can’t afford the price these exams can cost, and will relieve the stress of many students.
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These exams tend to test and focus mainly on core subjects, hindering creative and out of the box thinking. I personally did not like any of my core subject courses I took. I saw this exam to be dull and boring base on the material in the exams and the time it took. Having to sit in a chair for around three hours, plus having to go over material I didn’t like made me question whether or not I should take these exams seriously. One’s true capacity and potential shouldn’t be measured through some exams but rather measured by what they have accomplished outside these standardized testing. Exams like these don’t measure the capabilities and outcomes a student would have in the future such as with school, or the workforce. In one of the assigned readings “No, the SAT is not Required” the author quotes a student who said “I just don’t like how they dictate your future” and “Very poor predictors of success.” These quotes tie in to how these exams can have a significant impact towards someone’s future. The fact that these exams can decide your future is just plain outrageous. All it is measuring is whether or not someone knows the exam
Standardized Testing. Mutter that simple phase in any school in America, and you will likely get a variety of reactions, from disgust to fear. Somehow, a system that was placed to ensure that there would be no child left behind has created a situation that forces many schools to do just that. Students feel that the weight of the world is on their shoulders, because if they mess up, it might lead to their teacher being fired, or their school losing funding. Many people believe that children do not think about these types of problems, but they see the effect their work can have, and blame themselves for it.
The Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) is an impelling test to get admission in most of the U.S colleges. All high school seniors during the time of December are actively preparing for victory against the four hour strenuous exam, the SAT. The reason is that SAT score determines the fate and dreams of students. Standardized test scores play a crucial role in student’s future as it is believed to address student’s ability to think, reason, and act so that they can be successful in college life. However, SAT is a huge burden to students and is a biased test.
The tests aren’t very accurate, sure you know how to fill in a bubble, but you don’t learn how to think for yourself. If the answer's not a b c or d you don’t know how to answer it. Standardized test are seriously crippling our critical thinking skills. Now the tests interfere with seniors eligibility to graduate. Students wait in agony for the results of these tests to come in and it adds more stress to an
In a country that promotes the ideas of grit, innovation, resourcefulness, and growth, I find it curious that American universities are still using standardized tests as an indicator of future success in college. Although standardized tests are only one factor in admissions to many colleges, they should not be used at all because they do not accurately predict the success of students in higher educational environments. Instead of using the SAT and ACT, admissions officers should put more weight on written essays, cumulative high school grade point average, extracurriculars, and letters of recommendation when deciding admissions. Although some may argue that the SAT and ACT offer a way of ranking students without factoring in grade point average, their ability to predict the future success of college students has not been demonstrated.
In the history of modern colleges, the SAT has been the most widely accepted standardized test by students. The SAT was first introduced in 1926, and since then it has been used by millions of college applicants to demonstrate their academic prowess. Following the creation of the SAT, there have been countless debates on whether it should be scrapped or kept due to its potential to unfairly discriminate against students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and its possible lack of correlation with academic success. Every year, more schools begin to shift toward test-optional, while many schools continue to use mandatory standardized testing. To fully understand and agree on an answer to this debate, extensive research must be done, and students
Standardized tests are very common in today’s modern society. They are used as a tool to measure a person’s performance and indicate how their estimated performance will be in a college class. Every year hundreds of students take the ACT or SAT in order to get accepted into their college of choice and to receive scholarships, but they fail to see the problems with these standardized tests. As more and more people take these tests, the national average score falls causing doubt in the extremely important system. This is leading people to question whether or not the ACT and SATs are accomplishing what they were created to do.
Even though you most likely weren't, if you were at Wesleyan University, one of the nation's top liberal arts school, you would see kids that looked like kids at any other college. You wouldn't see the difference. Wesleyan University has joined an accumulation of colleges that have dropped a standardized test as part of the entrance requirement. Six hundred more have diminished the weight of the test. As a result, many students from varying backgrounds can now attend this college.
These tests control what and how instructors teach. In addition, the students are limited in what they can write about. Au and Gourd give an example stating “…teachers report that how they teach writing, as well as the types of writing students are asked to perform are being controlled by high-stakes tests” (Au and Gourd 14-19). Instructors are showing their students a certain format that will be found on the test, instead of teaching them a writing style that can help through the years of essays to come. They are not giving studnets the tools on how to write, but they are showing the studnets how to pass a test.
The average American student takes about 112 standardized tests between pre-kindergarten and 12th grade (Strauss). A standardized test is any form of test that requires the student to answer the same selection of common questions in a consistent matter, which makes it possible to compare relative student performance. Standardized tests restrict creativity, waste time, and waste money. We should get rid of standardized tests in our school system. Standardized tests limit a student’s ability to express creativity.
Standardized Tests: It’s Time for Them to Go After months of standardized prep work and sitting in silence, Julia was excited to see how she performed on the SATs. Even though she had tried her hardest, she read “below the benchmark” for her age group. Maybe she wasn’t cut out for school, she thought. Unfortunately, this situation is normal as standardized tests have been used for decades to assess student’s academic achievements.
Why the SAT and ACT Tests Should Be Banned Every junior’s worst nightmare, the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT ) and American College Testing (ACT). It’s such a stressful test where you have to cram everything you have learned throughout middle and high school into one standardized test to determine your college entrance. Many students do not perform well on standardized test which pertains only of general knowledge which is unfair to many students. The students should not be penalized for poor test taking skills, stress and anxiety which may cause them to score low. College admissions should not be determined mostly by a test that does not measure a student’s potential and work ethic.
The use of standardized testing is ancient, dating back to the practice of making government prospects in China take examinations in order to test their knowledge of Confucian philosophy and poetry (Fletcher 2009). The idea of using standardized testing in college admissions first appeared with the introduction of the SAT in 1926, followed by the ACT, created in 1959. Growing in popularity, both tests were incorporated into the admissions process at many different universities across the nation. In more recent times, many people have questioned the relevance of standardized test scores as a major factor in admitting students into a university. This is due to the idea that standardized tests are not a suitable way to measure a student’s intellectual
Introduction Standardized tests may be used for a wide variety of educational purposes. For example, they may be used to determine a young child’s readiness for kindergarten, identify students who need special-education services or specialized academic support, place students in different academic programs or course levels, or award diplomas and other educational certificates. Thesis Statement Standardized tests should not be eliminated completely, but should rather be evaluated in addition to other factors such as grades, extracurricular activities, and volunteer hours. This would take pressure off of students during standardized tests, allow colleges to see how well-rounded the students are, and give students who are better in other areas
(Layton). We live in a world where a lot of emphasis is put on standardized testing. Standardized tests are used to determine if a person is able to receive a driver’s permit, meet graduation requirements, enter college or some career programs to name a few. These tests can even be used to determine which students receive scholarships. To say the least, there is a lot of pressure
It is estimated that 1.7 billion is spent on testing annually in the United States, now this money comes from the pockets of taxpayers and is spent on the testing. So if this money is coming from the people of the United States, one would think it would be invested into accurate testing to act as a reference for where are students are at. But, if these test results are indeed not accurate, what is the point of millions upon millions of dollars being invested into an endless circular process? Doing well on a standardized has little if any correlation to true mastery of a topic, or more crucially a student’s ability to apply the concepts to a real world setting. Standardized testing displays a student’s ability to sit in a crowded, distracting room, stay focused for the test’s duration, and use portions of their encoded memory to recognize an answer from a list that may be the correct one.