The Fairness Of Academic Evaluation

1212 Words3 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: The effects of standardized tests on students

The Fairness of Academic Evaluation

American students used to pass from grade to grade with few complications. Getting into a college was effortless and acquiring degrees was a piece of cake. In 1983, A Nation at Risk was published and Americans realized how inferior their education systems really were. Due to the decline in test scores in American schools, education standards became much stricter and new intelligence exams were introduced. Presently, standardized testing, such as the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Testing Program (ACT), is a mandatory and important part of the college acceptance process. Although these exams test students on the same topics, genders have proven to be stronger in some fields and weaker in others. Men are typically stronger in mathematical and visual-spatial components, while women are stronger in verbal aspects of the exams. For these reasons, standardized testing is an unfair way of determining one’s intelligence though they are quite fair if combined with grades and activities in the college admissions process.

On the surface, the objective measures of today’s standardized tests sound sensible. In theory, they give every student a solid picture of achievement, and an equal opportunity for advancement. But after years of memorization and drills, what were once intellectually excited and motivated five-year-olds have become bored or grade-obsessed teenagers. Their thrill over accomplishing real tasks and exhibiting real skills is replaced with anxiety over upcoming tests and a concern for high grades. By giving the exams such importance, they are stripping the classrooms of all of the freedom of learning and encouraging the students to focus, not on what they want to learn, but what they have to learn to pass the exams. But isn’t accepting the pitfalls of societal norms a necessary part of growing up?

The transition from secondary school to college is an important step, not only to the person making it, but also to a nation committed to the education of its citizens in a technological world. In fact, the United States has one of the highest rates in the world of secondary students who go into higher education and earn college degrees. Taking assessment tests during high school helps students determine their strengths and weaknesses and choose suitable colleges. ...

... middle of paper ...

...e or religion, the chance to be judged on their performance on one exam. If we had a different test for every gender, race and religion everyone would be attending prestigious schools and our education standards would be low, yet again. Having standardized tests allows us to all receive the same questions and requires us to learn the same things. Isn’t that what tests and education are supposed to be about in the first place?

Amanda Tenedini 5

1) Dietz, Jacquelin. A Longitudinal Study of Engineering Student Performance and

Retention: Gender Differences in Student Performance and Attitudes. Online

Ethics Center. April 1995

<http://www.onlineethics.com/text/ecsel/abstracts/genderdif.html>

2) Johnson, Elizabeth S. College Women’s Performance in a Math-Science Curriculum.

Online Ethics Center. Spring/Summer 1993

<http://www.onlineethics.com/text/ecsel/abstracts/perfmathsci.html>

3) LeBold, William K. 1997. Women in Engineering and Science: An Undergraduate

Research Perspective. In Linda Dix (Ed.), Women: Their Underrepresentation

and Career Differentials in Science and Engineering, Proceedings of a

Workshop. Washington, DC: National Academy Press

Show More
Related

  • Standardized Testing Has a Negative Effect on American Youth

    1129 Words  | 3 Pages

    This is precisely the problem. Standardized tests are old and outdated, and the harm they cause to America’s education system by far outweighs the benefits. These tests were intended to monitor and offer ways to improve how public schools function, but instead they have impaired the natural learning ability of students and imposed upon the judgment of experienced educators. Although a means to evaluate the progress of public schools is necessary, it is also necessary to develop more modern and effective ways of doing so. Standardized testing mandated by the federal and state governments has a negative effect on the education of America’s youth.

    Read More

  • It’s Time to Abolish the ACT and SAT

    1047 Words  | 3 Pages

    A young girl is excited about graduating high school and attending her first year at college. She tries hard at school and receives above-average grades. She is an active student involved in student council, band, the drama team, and peer tutoring, but her ACT scores are extremely low, disqualifying her from many universities. The young girl represents many students who are not successful at taking standardized tests because they have not developed the advanced skills required to take a test like the ACT or SAT. An academically motivated and responsible student should not be prevented from attending college because a "standard" test is not his or her standard. The current methods of testing for the ACT or SAT should be abolished and replaced with modified and less "standard" questions to better measure a student's learning potential. In addition to different testing techniques, a student's learning potential should be a measure of a culmination of activities and methods; testing should be less important than other methods in determining a student's learning potential, if not the least important. Standardized testing must evolve to encompass a more diverse student population, and it should not be the primary factor in measuring learning potential.

    Read More

  • Opting Out Of Standardized Test Rizga Summary

    1021 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • The Pros and Cons of Standardized Testing

    1739 Words  | 4 Pages

    Standardized tests have historically been used as measures of how students are compared with one another or how much of a particular curriculum they have learned throughout the semester or year. Consequently, standardized tests are being used to make major decisions about students, such as grade promotion or high school graduation, and higher education evaluation. Various numbers of students across America have had to repeat classes because of the way standardized tests are used to pass or fail students. Although the tests require students to retain information until the end of the semester, I believe it is wrong to allow just a single test to decide whether an entire semester’s work will be rewarded with the credits that may have been well-earned. Some standardized testing such as the SAT, are not fair to students who may come from a poor educational background and do not retain information as their fellow peers. Students are at a disadvantage if they have test taking anxiety, which is a condition that many students suffer from “a feeling someone might have in a situation where performance really counts or when the pressure's on to do well” (Test Anxiety). Standardized tests give a false pretense of objectivity and consequently of equal opportunity. However, "the only goal of standardized tests is the scoring, which is done by machine" (Facts on Standardized Tests and Assessment Alternatives). It is made clear that the purpose of testing is to provide information to be used in conjunction with, not in pl...

    Read More

  • The Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing In Public Schools

    1026 Words  | 3 Pages

    Do you like being bombarded with the stress of having to take so many tests? In 1845 the US brought standardized testing in the subjects spelling, geography, and math into public schools (Standardized Testing 1). Standardized tests were made to swiftly assess students abilities (Standardized Testing 1). The No Child Left Behind Act in 2002 mandated testing in all 50 states. In the article, “Standardized Tests,” it states that “US students slipped from 18th in the world in math in 2000 to 31st place in 2009, with a similar decline in science and no change in reading” (Use of Standardized Tests 5). Blame of the decline in rates are on poverty levels, teacher quality, tenure policies, and increasingly on the pervasive use

    Read More

  • High-Stakes Tests are Detrimental to the Future of Our Children

    1090 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Problems With the ACT and SAT

    1379 Words  | 3 Pages

    So, using these long multiple choice exams are what college’s consider to be a reflection of a student’s grades during their first year at college. The test maker itself explains that grade point averages during high school paint a better picture than their tests ("The ACT: Biased, Inaccurate, and Misused" 1). College’s use these standardized tests as a quick measure of ability. However, a test cannot explo...

    Read More

  • The SAT and Its Role in Public Policy

    1432 Words  | 3 Pages

    Today, in the United States, standardized tests are administered every year by states to their Kindergarten-12th grade public school students. Different states place different weight on their standardized testing results where some states differ their funding based on results and annual improvement, whereas other states allow schools to simply gauge where their students are scoring relative to other schools in the state. These tests, however, are only standardized within one state. One of the few tests standardized throughout the entire country is the SAT, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, administered by College Board and required by, “More than 800 of the nation’s colleges and universities,” (Comras, 1984). This test will be the standardized test focused on in this paper. While standardized testing is that, standardized, and enables the comparison of one student to another, the meaning of the score does not equate to a test of intelligence. Therefore, while standardized testing should be applied in the education system, it needs to be more indicative of the material learned in school and should hold less weight than it currently does in the college admissions process.

    Read More

  • Dehumanization Of Standardized Testing

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    Since elementary school, students have been sharpening their No. 2 pencils, preparing to fill in the bubbles on their standardized tests. To younger children, these tests aren’t a very big deal. But little do they know that the tests they take in elementary school are practice for the biggest test they will take in their lives. This test is the ACT, or the SAT. These tests are a huge deal. Students’ results on these tests could change their plans for the future, and that’s a lot of pressure. So are these tests really all that they are made out to be? Are they really that important enough to stress about so much? Many people have started to say that standardized tests are hurting American schools, and that they put too much pressure on students.

    Read More

  • It's Time to Get Rid of Standardized Tests

    1416 Words  | 3 Pages

    ... the ability to govern themselves, if they are to have the ability to contribute to society, and be able to succeed in life, a proper education must be made available to them. Not an education of learning how to take tests, but one of knowledge. An education given to them that teaches them how to apply mathematics in their lives, to use the sciences to understand the world around them, and to be able to read an article, not only to read it, but to be enlightened by its meaning. The Public School is a place that students should want to go, hunger to go. It should not be a place of stress or fear due to an upcoming test. It needs to be a place where all have the freedom and opportunity to learn. Standardized Tests had their moment in time, now the focus needs to be turned to a more in-depth understanding of education by applying what is taught to our everyday lives.

    Read More

  • The Sol's Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing In Schools

    1900 Words  | 4 Pages

    Standardized tests, such as the SAT and the SOL, have been implemented for many years now for individuals in grade school to take. The SOL’s, or Standards of Learning tests, are Virginia’s version of standardized tests that students are required to take in order to pass a class, evaluating their knowledge on a specific subject. SOL’s are mandatory for students to take as soon as they reach third grade. Additionally, the SAT is a test taken in the final years of high school that colleges look at when comparing students for post-secondary school. People concerned with student’s education can come to the common consensus that education is important and there should be some way to compare a student’s achievements to one another. However, the process

    Read More

  • Persuasive Essay On Standardized Testing

    857 Words  | 2 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Against Standardized Testing Essay

    1331 Words  | 3 Pages

    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.

    Read More

  • Should Students Have to Pass Standardized Test to Graduate?

    782 Words  | 2 Pages

    One time I heard a teacher at my old high school tell a new teacher that their job is to teach to the test and nothing else. I did not really know what she meant, but I knew something about what she said sounded very wrong. I thought why are they just teaching us how to pass the test instead of just teaching us what we need to know? Later I found out that whether or not I graduate depends on passing the test. The idea of standardized testing to say whether or not students graduate is a bad one. Not just bad for schools, principals, and teachers, but it can mean the end of a student’s future before it begins. That means not only does schools suffer, but everyone in our communities, states, and country suffers. It used to be that students had to take standardized tests every year. The results of these tests said what school districts would get more money or less money for the next school year. And it would also tell schools and teachers if some students needed to be put into higher level programs such as gifted and talented or advanced placement courses or if they were having problems and should be put in special education.

    Read More

  • How Standardized Testing Effects the Education

    2676 Words  | 6 Pages

    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.

    Read More

More about The Fairness Of Academic Evaluation

Open Document