Universities across the world attach inessential pressure on students for college entrance exams. American universities lay on a vigorous amount of stress on first year freshman students to make an excellent grade on their college entrance. Universities should accept all applicants for the first semester to see if they can thrive in college academics.
The reason this method of accepting students should be enforced is because not all students have the strong capabilities of taking tests like other students may possess. We should not take away the dream of higher education. "Test makers still assume that knowledge can be broken into separate bits that people learn by absorbing individual parts. Cognitive and developmental psychologists understand that knowledge isn’t separate bits that people (including children) learn by connecting what they already know with what they are trying to learn. If they cannot actively make meaning out of what they are doing, they do not learn or remember (FairTest).”
College entrance exams do not fully see the knowledge and talent the student truly obtains. We need to extract the knowledge they have and expand their capabilities. “Employing standardized achievement test to ascertain educational quality is like measuring temperature with a tablespoon. Tablespoons have a different measurement miss than indicating how hot or cold something is. College entrance exams have a different measurement mission than indicating how good or bad a school is. College entrance exams should be used to make comparative interpretation that they were intended to provide. They should not be used to judge educational quality (Popham).” Popham has very valid point. We should not use these test to measure intelligence. We sh...
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...crimson.com/article/2014/1/21/harvard-admissions-white-house/>.
FairTest. What's Wrong with Standardized Tests? 22 May 2012. 17 March 2014. .
Lewin, Tamar. "A New SAT Aims to Realign with Schoolwork." The New York Times 5 March 2014. 17 March 2014. .
Ludden, Jennifer. Going To College May Cost You, But So Will Skipping It. with Paul Taylor. NPR. NPR. 21 February 2014. 18 March 2014. .
Popham, W. James UCLA Emeritus Professor. Why Standardized Test Don't Measure Educational Quality . March 1999. 17 March 2014.
Watkins, Heidi ed. Dropping out of School. Ed. Heidi Watkins. Detriot: Greenhaven Press, 2013. 17 March 2014.
Miltich, Matthew. "Standardized Testing and Assessment Do Not Improve Education." Education: Opposing Viewpoints. New York: Greenhaven, 2005. 151-54. Print.
... 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.
Even with material being taught incessantly, standardized tests can not accurately measure a student’s ability. The tests are “single-target—meaning that every student, no matter what level of achievement or ability, course selection, or cu...
Standardized tests have been used to see how much a child has learned over a certain period of time. These tests have been a highly debated issue with many parents and just people in general. In the article “Opting out of standardized tests? Wrong answer,” the author Michelle Rhee argues that people should not be trying to opt out of standardized tests because it allows the country to see how much a child has learned and the things they need to improve. On the other hand, in the article “Everything You’ve Heard About Failing Schools Is Wrong,” the author Kristina Rizga argues that standardized tests are not an efficient way to measure a student’s intelligence.
Zinsser’s work entitled “College Pressures” intent to expose a critical flaw within the educational system, in hope that it will encourage students to relax when it come to their academic success. Zinsser’s is doing more than illustrates a difficult situation, he is enforcing new ideas and principle just as: academic freedom and freedom to explore career opportunities without judgement and criticism from the school system and their parents. By enforcing these principle Zinsser’s hopes to awaken a new era where students are free from pressured sales tactics from both parents and society when come to academic success.
Almost every person who has graduated from high school has taken the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT), which is generally used for college admissions. We all remember the stress of taking a test that could affect our future educational plans. Now due to the “No Child Left Behind Act” of 2001, this kind of test is now being administered to children from the 3rd to 8th grades as a way to determine if the school or teachers are educating them properly. High-stakes standardized tests of this nature should not be used to determine the educational abilities of either schools or the teachers.
Some students simply do not test well, others try their hardest and still cannot reach the impracticable standards set for them. The individuals who create these tests do not understand the pressures of being a student, or the struggle to answer thirty-five questions in a compressed time period. One test cannot accurately measure the intelligence of a student.
Standardized testing scores proficiencies in most generally accepted curricular areas. The margin of error is too great to call this method effective. “High test scores are generally related to things other than the actual quality of education students are receiving” (Kohn 7). “Only recently have test scores been published in the news-paper and used as the primary criteria for judging children, teachers, and schools.”(2) Standardized testing is a great travesty imposed upon the American Public School system.
In the fall of every year, high school graduate begin this journey toward personal success, whether living on campus or with parents. There is a sense of maturity many of them feel when beginning this journey with the goal of graduating college and receiving the best credential possible to getting a well-paying job. “She Can Play That Game, Too” by Kate Taylor. Demonstrate a very important issue many college students face when beginning of this exciting journey. T...
Many first-year college students face problems as they enter a new educational environment that is very different than that of high school. However, the common problem is that many first-year students become stressed. For many students, college is supposed to be the most fun time of their life; however, their fun can be restricted if it is limited by stress and other mental illnesses. According to the National Health Ministries (2006), stress is caused by “greater academic demands,” the feeling of being independent from family, “financial responsibility,” homesickness, being exposed to meeting new people, peer pressure, “awareness of one’s own sexual identity,” and the abuse of drugs and alcohol (p. 2). However, the causes of first year students’ stress mainly include academic demand, parents, finances, and peer pressure.
In “College Pressures” from The Seagull Reader: Essays, William Zinsser examines the societal ideology of obtaining a degree from a university being the only path to financial and social success. Zinsser also discloses to his audience the encumbrances that college students face while enrolled in a higher education facility. The author’s main point is that college students should not be heavily pressured throughout their college career, for college is a time to relish the educational experience that comes with higher education. In his referential essay that is developed by description, William Zinsser effectively uses emotional appeal and rhetorical questions.
One of the central struggles among college students today is that they are required to compete against one another to appear exceptional. In frequent cases, students are trying so vigorously to appear favorable on paper in order to be accepted into a prestigious school or to be hired for a higher-paying job. Additionally, students are required
As child growing up some of the frightful memories include a visit to the dentist; an evil man with scary drill whose solve purpose is to hurt you or the first day in elementary school you finally leave all behind the cozy classrooms and nap times of kindergarten and enter the big leagues. All of these are considered a cakewalk compared to standardize testing. Since the start of elementary school students in the United States are taught to test. In many instances students are held back or placed in remedial classes because of lower grades. But many don’t realize that some students are not great at testing taking and because of the lower grades some educators believe that these students are lower achievers. This leads to lower self-esteem and encourage students to drop out in later years. Also students are forced to memorize information merely as facts without sparking their creativity or enhancing their knowledge.
Kohn, Alfie. The Case Against Standardized Testing: Raising the Scores, Ruining the Schools. Portsmouth NH: Heinemann 2000.
One of the reasons why standardized tests are used is for measuring a child’s scholastic performance. But how accurately do they do this? A standardized test is made up of consistent questions and procedures for scoring and administration. They are always made according to identical rules so the procedures are the same for everybody who takes the tests. They come in many forms: on paper, on computer, questionnaires, etc. These tests are very contentious because many people have different opinions about them. Some critics feel that the tests help parents and teachers act as guides to assist students on expanding their knowledge in a particular subject. They are also needed to enter Ivy- League schools which further explains why international schools and schools in the United States take them. However, most do argue that these tests do not take into consideration a child’s traits and what the child can give. The tests judge students based on their performance on that day, not on their growth as educational participants, and places many in stressful situations due to the amount of studying needed to prepare for the tests. Standardized tests give scores that predict how “smart” a person is, although intelligence comes in many forms. To a large extent, standardized testing is not an effective way of measuring a child’s intellectual potential because it focuses mainly on the performance instead of the child’s growth and it doesn’t take into account the child’s personality and what they have to give. On the other hand, they can be necessary because they act as guides to help parents and teachers aid children on what they don’t have knowledge on in a specific subject.