It's Time to Get Rid of Standardized Tests

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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...

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