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Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing Requirements

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Pro: Public High Schools Lowering Standardized Testing Requirements When considering the quantifiable number of students applying to college each year, roughly in the tens of millions, colleges become swamped with numerous applications. The main method colleges use to compare these applicants is through standardized test scores, from SATs and ACTs, which assist them in weeding out the less qualified applicants. What are the circumstances behind the current system? Why is it that we need to improve the current standards of the education of high school students entering college? What are the consequences of passing unequipped students? Public High schools should refrain from lowering standardized testing requirements due to vast influx of applicants, …show more content…

However, with the numerous counties spread across the United States, counting in at 3,007- the diversity amongst their methods of teaching is impossible to compare in a college’s admission office alone. So, the chosen method of comparison is their standardized test scores. Granted, they take the student’s grade point average into account, but this score does not determine a student's knowledge of basic information that a college requires. Each county has different set of rules and requirements regarding their student’s schooling. For example, one county may have leeway amongst student’s grades by rounding grades up that are .5 away from a letter grade. However, others will have a strict policy only accepting grades in their own respective range. Certain counties can also make classes exponentially harder by instituting a common core that is far more difficult than a county adjacent to it. We need to better improve the education of these high school students taking these standardized tests. The factors determining the GPA of an individual student are countless and impossible to compare to every other student in the United States. So, the comparison of students with their standardized test scores is qualified. So, you have to keep in mind: every student receives the same test, every student receives the same questions; every student receives an equal chance of proving their intellectual …show more content…

According to Gerald Graff’s Hidden Intellectualism “students harbor intellectual resources-- "street smarts"--that go untapped by formal schooling.” This is a qualified argument, however he neglects to address the ever-pressing problem of a student’s determination. A student may be a genius, but if he or she is not properly motivated, then there’s no reason for a college to go out of it’s way to accept him. Especially when they’re considering thousands of other applicants who are more qualified and have more motivation. If the student was able to “tap” into his/her street smarts, then they should have been smart enough to understand that doing well in school and the tests is a must if they want to enter a good college. However, this problem is instantly solved when their standardized test scores are compared. As previously stated, there are too many factors involving each individual’s education in the numerous counties, so their intellectual aptitude is tested when they take these standardized test scores. It’s a test that measures their cumulative knowledge that they attained all throughout high school, and colleges are able to effectively pair them up together to see who’s the most qualified to study on their campus. When they have these applications, colleges don’t know a person’s life story, they don’t know one’s faults or their shortcomings. All they see are scores that determine how hard-working and

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Schools put pressure on students to meet the standards with the consequence that it will later on affect their college and their career. Thus comes along standardized testing, (SAT or ACT) in which these exams force

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Leslie Rayburn is a teacher in Santa Cruz, California, and she, too, believes that this is unfair to students, and to teachers who are graded based on their students’ grades. She explains that, ‘the children who perform poorly on multiple choice standardized tests (but perhaps might perform well on an open-ended form of test) are labeled as “less intelligent’ and the school suffers” (Rayburn) Since progress of a student is mainly viewed based upon the outcome of standardized test scores, the lower-performing students are seen as “not college- ready”, which creates a roadblock to a student about where they may want to attend college. The fact of the matter is that no two students are the same, learn the same, or test the same, so standardized tests are inaccurate measurements of a student’s full learning capability and

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This is certainly an important factor: because high schools have differing grade scales, plus some amount of grade deflation or inflation, having a nationally consistent test is useful. However, while the SAT may be standardized, it is far from equitable. It has been found to have significant bias, particularly income-wise: as Biamonte (2013) found, the difference in average SAT scores between the lowest and highest income groups is nearly 130 points per section, adding up to a hefty difference across the test’s three sections. This disparity is partially explained by the use of aforementioned coaching methods; test prep classes and tutoring services are often pricey, a score-boosting luxury only available to those in higher income brackets.

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The idea that one test can accumulate all of one student’s academic abilities is no longer accurate. Today, the standardized tests that are used not only discriminate against the non wealthy families, it also is not an accurate reading of all of one’s abilities in and out of school. The tests also have become such a huge focus in the classroom that it is beginning to take away the process of learning in a classroom and being replaced with memorization to get good test scores. The standardized tests do not need to disappear all together, however the tests need a lot of revising if the states continue to use them as they do

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Requiring standardized tests could ensure students are fully prepared for college and give them better opportunities once they make it there. In 2020 the University of California Standardized Testing Task Force did a yearlong review of testing as a college admissions tool, and found that, “The value of admissions test scores in predicting college success has increased since 2007, while the value of grades has decreased, due in part to high school grade inflation and different grading standards.” This is just another thing that goes to show grades are not the most reliable factor when deciding whether a student is ready for

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More often than not, children who fail these tests can not afford necessary materials to be able to get a quality educations. Like Kohn said, “guess who can afford better test preparation” (Kohn 601), just like poor families, there are poorly funded schools that also can not afford to give the students the education they need. These are obstacles that are frequently looked over by college admission counselors. “ The more that poor children fill in worksheets (in an effort to raise their test scores) the further they fall behind affluent kids who are more likely to get lessons that help them understand ideas” (Kohn 601). Even if there is a good effort to get these students prepared for the tests, it results in being behind on their schoolwork.

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In an article called “Why high school exit exams are a waste of time” by Stan Karp, the Secondary Reform Project for New Jersey's Education Law Center, says that “high school students that miss the mark of exit exams are the people that are pushed out of University Admissions into the streets and prisons”(Why high school exit exams are a waste of time). If we are pushing every child that can’t make a mark into the streets just because they are not gifted in Math or English, we are only creating a future full of failed potential. It is important to know that engineers and doctors are not the only happy people. In An article from the Student Resources in Context, says that although test scores are slowly rising only one third of students are deemed college ready. The fact that only a third of students are getting a higher education shows all of the wasted potential in the two thirds of students.

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We say we should never judge a book by its cover, a motto that all colleges should follow since their admission process is solely based on a swing vote of a test score (SAT). The SAT also known as the scholastic aptitude test is the most highly regarded test which thousands of students all across the country will have to take once in their high school lifetime. A determinate factor that Colleges use, to determine if a student is a good fit for their university. But how can colleges determine if a student will excel and be successful from their university based on their SAT scores? This very question has posed many arguments saying that colleges should diminished this test as it plays a big role in college application process and gives those who live in economically comfortable families a greater edge over others who aren’t well off.

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Standardized testing has become one of the most popular types of testing in U.S. public schools to date. Students take numerous standardized tests throughout their childhood schooling. (Studies show that a typical student takes an average of 112 mandated standardized tests between Pre-K and 12th grade.) While standardized testing is one of the main procedures that Universities use to judge incoming students, it is not proven to be the most effective way to convey a student’s actual intelligence level. The U.S. should not focus so heavily on standardized testing because it is not a complete accurate measurement of a student’s intelligence.

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Colleges currently over emphasize the need for high standardized test scores and deter students by competitive admission and excessive tuition. Colleges and schools put too much emphasis into standardized test scores. According to Scott D. Wurdinger, a professor of experiential educational and leadership

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In today’s society, a large amount of emphasis is placed on getting good grades. Day in and day out students are told that getting good grades is detrimental to their future. Unfortunately what many students are not told is that their intelligence is not defined by the marks they receive, but rather intelligence is defined by so much more than a letter on a report card. Albert Einstein once said, “Everyone is a genius, but if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing it is stupid.

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