Imagine you have this dream of where you want to go to college and what you want to major in but that dream is put to a halt when you can’t get one single test score. Just because you have dream of where you want to go to college doesn’t mean that you are necessarily going to be able to go there which is sad. Because colleges rely so much on test scores, those dreams that kids once had can be stripped away in an instant. Colleges have started solely relying on standardized test scores like the ACT and SAT to determine if students get accepted or what scholarships they will receive. I personally have been affected by this in the way that for a scholarship my high school GPA is high enough but my ACT score does not meet the required criteria. Just because students can’t get a high enough test score doesn’t mean their GPA doesn’t mean something or they are not all around a good student and person. Therefore, tests like the ACT and SAT should not be as valued in the college selection process. If colleges aren’t going to look at GPA then the hard work we put in in high school doesn’t really matter, therefore high school GPA needs to be put into consideration more. According to Dean of Admissions for Bates College William Hiss who recorded statistics between students who …show more content…
If you struggle in one or two areas on the ACT it will affect your composite score. The way standardized test work is you have multiple different subjects that will be tested within the test itself, and then the score is an average of what you received in all of the different areas. Say on the ACT you do average on the math and science sections but do poorly on the english and reading, because you did bad on two of the sections it will affect your overall score. I don’t believe that it is fair to grade someone in something they might not be strong in, and the test mean so much in the long
... a tedious process, but the change can have immense, positive effects for the future college student. The ACT and SAT that supposedly measure a student's learning potential through multiple-choice questions should be replaced by a test of a student's desire to learn determined through the analysis of essays, recommendation letters, and school or community involvement. This change can result in a more academically motivated freshman class. Standardized testing in its current form does not accurately measure most students' learning potential. It does not allow for diversity and creates a huge hurdle for many potential academic achievers. An adjustment to a diverse, open testing format of the ACT or SAT and a stress on the student's other academic accomplishments can accurately measure the student's desire to learn, therefore measuring the student's learning potential.
One of the main reasons that colleges have stopped looking at SAT scores is because there has recently been much speculation about the test being biased against certain groups, these groups being African Americans, Latinos, women, and those of a lower socioeconomic status. Also, some colleges are not placing an emphasis on the test anymore because the College Board has admitted that the SAT is designed so that only one half of those taking the test answer correctly. (Alfe, 2002)
Standardized testing has been proven to be biased towards those of ethnic and socioeconomic disadvantaged groups. Wealthy students become more prepared for standardized tests through better life experiences, such as top-quality schools and test prep tutors. Steven Syverson implies that students with high SAT scores are presumed to be “bright” and encouraged to consider the most selective colleges, with no regard to their academic performance in high school (57). Those students that were considered elite, but did not perform well their parents suggested to admission counselors that they were “not challenged” in high school (Syverson 57). According to Marchant and Paulson, race, parent education, and family income were found to account as much as 94% of the variance in scores among states (85:62). Students that belong to multiple disadvantage categories suffered greatly in the scoring criteria. The majority of students with socioeconomic disadvantages are discouraged from attending college. However, those that choose to further their education are more than likely the first ones in their family to attend college. Due to the large debate involving the admissions process using the SAT score, more colleges have adopted the SAT Optional policy because it is “consistent with their institutional mission and
Thousands of students around the country and around the world will be preparing for the SAT and ACT tests while trying to maintain a high GPA. These tests will potentially have a significant impact on students' lives. Some will be taking these tests for the second or even third time to get that 1500 out of 1600 or that 33 out of 36, that they long desire. These flawed tests are not truly able to measure how well students will perform in college as they are supposedly used to predict. A single test that students have to wake up for at six, seven in the morning on a Saturday and travel to some random location to take a difficult test should not impact the student's chance of getting into college, let alone predict how well they will do in college.
Thus for standardized testing to be legitimate, that statement must be true, otherwise standardized testing would be a very expensive and pointless test. In a study conducted by William Hiss, he sampled 33 universities and over 123,000 students and concluded that SAT scores are a poor predictor of college performance which he defines as college culminated GPA over the years. By plotting a scatterplot that compares college GPA with SAT scores, he found no reliable correlation between SAT scores and college GPA. In fact, studies undertaken by the College Board indicate that the SAT adds only modestly to the prediction of student’s success. Interestingly, Hiss found out that high school GPA is the best predictor of college GPA. According to Hiss, “kids who had low or modest test scores, but good high school grades, did better in college than those with good scores but modest grades.” (Hiss) Hiss elaborated on this saying “a pattern of hard work, discipline and curiosity in high school shows up ‘as highly predictive, in contrast to what they do in three or four hours on a particular Saturday morning in a testing room.’”(Hiss) Looking at high school grades shows much more information that just how well the student did in a particular class. It shows whether the students were challenging themselves with advance placement class and
Although the SAT seems like a good measure and is used by many colleges and universities, it is not a good way to measure a student's ability and should be abolished because it has some problems. The ideas that show the problems are the not-balance fact between black students and white students that have taken the SAT, the fact that shows that a student's parent's income affects a student's SAT score, the fact about the incorrectness of the SAT scores that some students took in October 2005, and about the score which does not measure someone's ability or future.
As a senior in high school, I have had more than enough exposure to standardized tests. The ACT, PSAT, ITBS, and countless others have tracked my scholastic progress for the last nine years. Each test takes weeks of preparation for just a few hours of actual test taking. Yet these tests only measure basic subjects such as math, science, and English. What these tests fail to track is students’ abilities to problem solve, empathize, and be honest. Skills that are vital parts of a functioning society. Creating a test that treats the student as an individual would yield better results, and would create a better learning experience for all.
Garcia-Pelayo2students, one can find oneself surprised when we learn that each state spends roughly “$1.7billion a year” (Ujifusa 1) on standardized testing. Money for standardized testing if being spentbefore students even set their eyes on a college application, and definitely before they start fillingout their applications. Standardized tests are expensive, and usually required too. Unless astudent knows for sure that the school they’re applying to, and getting accepted to, does notrequire standardized tests, spending those $65 dollars is almost inevitable. What most studentsconsider “back-up schools” might not need high grades, but at the very least they need thesatisfaction of knowing that you took a test and that they have a number by
On the contrary, there are better ways to determine if a student has a keen success in their education. According to a study conducted by The National Center for Fair and Open Testing observed that “students with higher high school GPAs performed better in college, regardless of drooping test scores in their records” (Brown 1). This research means that Standardized Testing
Most high-school students do not enjoy studying and taking college entrance aptitude tests, such as the SAT and ACT exams. But how would these students like it if colleges made these two tests optional, or even removed it as criteria for college admissions? The SAT and ACT exams are aptitude tests taken by high school students. The SAT (Scholastic Aptitude Test) tests students on critical thinking, math, and writing and the ACT (American College Testing) tests students on English, math, writing, reading, and science.
Colleges put a lot of focus and emphasis on standardized test scores. Colleges think standardized tests test the true knowledge of a person. The makers of the ACT say the ACT is not an aptitude or an IQ test. It is said that standardized test questions are directly related to what students have learned in their high school
While you’re sitting there reading this, there is probably a student at their desk, sweating, shaking, maybe even crying because they are about to take a test. And not just any test, a standardized test. Standardized tests are assessments that are set up where students take the same test so they can be graded on whether or not they meet a certain “standard” set by the state. The students must meet the standard to pass their grade and the school, overall, must meet their own set standards to be held accountable to taxpayers. Because standardized testing, like the STAAR, determines the outcome of students and schools in one day, and something that significant shouldn’t be determined in such a short amount of time, it should be taken out of schools.
It’s an age-old question. Do standardized tests really show what students know? Some may think they are a great way to measure education and others may think that one test does not justify a child’s knowledge. What is this test exactly? A standardized test is any test that requires all test takers to answer the same questions, or a selection of questions from a common bank of questions, in the same way. They are used to “judge” or “measure” the knowledge or skills that students learn in school. The problem with these standardized tests is that they measure all students on the same material, leaving out special skills the student may have. It also puts a great deal of stress on a student to know that they will be timed on these questions that
In the early 1930s, James B. Conant, president of Harvard University, decided to develop a test for admissions, that was reliable way to measure student achievement without taking into consideration who the test taker was or what background they came from. According to Kevin Finneran, editor of Issues in Science & Technology, Conant believed that through administering the same test to all applicants for admission, factors such as family wealth, which private or elite academy the student may have attended, and any benefits their attendance would bring to the university would be removed from the decision making process. While his colleagues believe this would provide a real excuse for excluding those they did not particularly want entering Harvard, they were soon proved wrong as an increasing number of underprivileged students began scoring very high on tests and ultimately earning acceptance into the university.... ... middle of paper ... ...
If you are a university looking for knowledgeable students, than their American College Test scores just may be their automatic acceptance ticket into your school. Why look at a student's four-year, long-term evidence of self-discipline, hard work, and intellectual curiosity in their overall GPA average over one test? Throughout high school, teachers may tell you that your GPA is how to get into college, but universities are only looking for ACT scores. Colleges might as well forget all your long, hard work at school to keep high grades and testing scores if the ACT is what is only taken into consideration. Students could not possibly demonstrate their accurate knowledge through their 4.0 GPA average, but only through their low ACT score.