Wait a second!
More handpicked essays just for you.
More handpicked essays just for you.
study habits introduction
An essay on good study habits
effective study habits introduction
Don’t take our word for it - see why 10 million students trust us with their essay needs.
Recommended: study habits introduction
High School juniors and seniors are frequently asked what they plan to do for their college education. While discussing their future in college, many relevant topics come into the conversation. One may talk about their grades and classes, paying for school, and their test scores. All of these have a very important impact on what a student will do for the next few years of their life. Unfortunately, in our society, test scores are an extremely important factor in the college admissions process. Students are highly encouraged to put forth a serious effort in order to achieve the best possible score. “To this day, most four-year colleges require applicants to take one or more of a number of standardized tests for admission, and your results play an important role in the relative strength or weakness of your college application. It is a necessary evil, one that must be conquered if you are going to get into the college of your choice” (Cohen, 115). The emphasis that is placed on this variable results in an unfair and inappropriate standard for acceptance. By examining the appalling circumstances surrounding standardized tests, in particular the SAT and the ACT, it is apparent that these assessments are inaccurate, maladaptive, and stressful due to their unreliability and lack of validity.
For any test to be successful, it must first encompass validity and reliability. A valid test is defined as actually measuring what the test says it measures. For example, an IQ test will actually measure a person’s intelligence. On the other hand, reliability is the tests ability to produce the same score repeatedly for one individual. Again, IQ tests produce approximately the same score for someone’s entire life. Standardiz...
... middle of paper ...
...sociation for College Admission, Counseling. "Report Of The Commission On The Use Of Standardized Tests In Undergraduate Admission." National Association For College Admission Counseling (2008): ERIC. Web. 07 April 2015.
Reeves, Douglas B.. Ahead of the curve: the power of assessment to transform teaching and learning. Bloomington, IN: Solution Tree, 2007. Print.
Sawyer, Richard, and Inc. ACT. "Usefulness Of High School Average And ACT Scores In Making College Admission Decisions. ACT Research Report Series 2010-2." ACT, Inc (2010): ERIC. Web. 07 April 2015.
Walberg, Herbert J. "Stop the War Against Standardized Tests | Hoover Institution." Stop the War Against Standardized Tests. Hoover Institution, 20 May 2011. Web. 07 April 2015.
Wiggins, Grant, and Jay McTighe. Understanding by Design, Expanded 2nd Edition. 2nd ed. Alexandria: ASCD, 2005. Print.
She explains how standardized tests, such as the one her students took, were designed with numerous interference techniques, included questions which were above-grade material, and were administered with inadequate time to answer the questions being presented. Stahlman goes on to express her frustration with a standardized test which was administered to her students by saying "I watched in horror as my precious students, who were gifted poets and writers, inquisitive scientists and mathematicians, lovers of books, remarkable artists, and caring learners, were forced to silently attempt to master a test that was designed to trip them up." (Stahlman 242) The author also states how these standardized tests seem to be high-stakes in nature due to schools being labeled and ranked according to their scores and teachers being rewarded due to their students achievement in these tests. This article serves as one of my stronger arguments for my case compared to my other sources, due to its exemplification of how the proliferation of such tests is alarming and how the standardized testing of students at such a young age is not appropriate due to their cognitive development. The article is also useful in the sense that is provides a valid and sound argument for the opposition of standardized testing. I will be implementing this source into my argumentative essay by providing examples from Stahlman's text on how bizarre standardized testing might seem when it comes to the assessment of students, especially at such a young age. It will also serve as a good source for proving how much of a bearing standardized tests hold on the assessment of not only students but teachers as
... 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.
Popham, W. James. "Why standardized tests don't measure educational quality." Educational Leadership 56 (1999): 8-16.
Ruthven, R. (2007, November 7). Is Standardized Testing Hurting Education? Associated Content. Retrieved March 16, 2014, from www.associatedcontent.com/article/438846/is_standardized_testing_hurting_education.html
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
Evans, Donia. "The Case Against Standardized Tests." The Meridian Star. 24 Nov. 2013. The Meridian Star. 01 Dec. 2013 .
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.
Stiggins, R. J. (2006, November/December). Assessment for learning: A key to motivation and achievement. Edge, 2, 3-19.
Since the release of the report by Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) in December of 2010 many in the government and community are searching for ways to reform the American education system to give American students the greatest opportunity to succeed. According to the report, American students are not testing as high as other nations in the world (Duncan, 2010). There are many contributing elements that have brought America to her knees in the education system, however, the obsession with standardized testing is found to be one of the most influential downfalls.
Getting into college requires students to make an assured grade on a standardized test called the American College Test. High school students begin in kindergarten preparing for tests; to make it to the next level you have to score a certain score. Pressure is forced upon many students when they begin sophomore year and begin to ponder the thoughts of college and life after high school. Once they have planned out their school, major, and work life after college, the school counselor plans a meeting to discuss the ACT. Students begin to be worried and anxious about grades and tests; all of these stressed students do not realize they have been passing test after test to score a good enough grade to get into college, where they will begin to take test after test to graduate college and even after college, these students will still be tested within their workforce.
Peterson, B. & Neill, M. (2014). Alternatives to standardized testing. Rethinking Schools. Retrieved from http://www.rethinkingschools.org/restrict.a sp?path=archive/13_03/assess.shtml
make it work? In C.A. Dwyer (Ed.), The future of assessment: Shaping teaching and learning
Standardized tests have been a controversial issue regarding whether they are helping or hurting students and their academics. People that are for standardized testing argue that the tests are fair because all students nationwide are learning and being tested on the same thing. Bruno, Kemmerling, and others agree that these tests are beneficial to schools, students, and teachers. Others who are against standardized testing disagree because teachers are only teaching to the test. Littky, Caines, and Hanford see the negative aspects of standardized testing and want to change how people perceive it. Both sides of the issue have a credible argument.
Jacobs, H. H. (1997). Mapping the big picture: Integrating curriculum and assessment. Alexandria, VA: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.
Stiggins, R., Arter, J., Chappuis, J., Chappuis, S., (2007). Classroom assessment for student learning: Doing it right -- using it well. Upper Saddle River, N.J: Pearson.