The Pros And Cons Of SAT Test

The educational expectations placed upon schools today continues to exceed. With the pressure growing increasingly tiresome by higher up school officials, both teachers and students find themselves stuck in the middle with no possible way out. Of all the many standards schools are held to, there is one that stands out above all. This standard has the ability to bring a school down to its knees if taken lightly and shatter any academic dreams students may have if not passed. The process is referred to as standardized test. Children who are in grades 1 – 11 are subjected to take these test. While high school seniors for example, often find themselves worrying about the SAT and, ACT test in order to gain entrance into colleges they wish to attend.

This test however, students are subjected to a “multiple-choice test in four subject areas which includes English, mathematics, reading, and science” (Ingersoll 7). The test is designed to measure students “current levels of educational development in these subjects.” If the student chooses to take the written section of the test which is in fact optional, he or she will be scored and measured by their skills in planning and writing a short essay. Both colleges and universities depend on these scores heavily, and in some cases it causes students who seek to further their education to miss the opportunity of a life time. At some point throughout this process, one must ask, are standardized test heavily depended on a students’ academic career plan? After experiencing first-hand the power these scores possess, I for one believe that schools place too much power and judgment into the SAT, ACT, and other standardized test exam scores. According to Jasmine Evans, an education mentor that believed the reason standardized test are being ramped up, is due to the adoption of the No Child Left Behind Act. The act was aimed to hold all schools and education systems to a higher standard based on the tests scores students

According to Ben Bernstein this theory causes a “disconnect between what the teachers are providing and what the students are really learning” (302). Because of this, schools begin to find themselves being forced to make these tough decisions about what classes to offer or accommodate for the time being spent preparing for standardized tests. Subjects such as art, music, and certain physical sciences for example that involves “The 7 Styles of Learning”, often times find themselves being excluded outside the loop of standardized testing and due to this nature, experience being eliminated from schools. Once that happens students (like myself), who enjoy to experience hands-on, visual, and physical learning fall behind in the shadows of education if they aren’t able to grasp the learning techniques for successful test taking