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Standardized Testing Argumentative Essay

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There are two standardized tests that are popular in America, the ACT and the SAT, both focusing on testing different areas of the brain, these are the tests that help to determine a student’s college career. The ACT, American College Testing, was developed in 1959 a linguist and college professor. The ACT is on a grading scale of 0-36 with 215 total questions and testing time is four hours. The test is geared towards accumulative knowledge, bringing up topics from fifth grade to a student’s junior year in high school. The ACT is more prevalent if a student is applying to schools in the south and midwest, however it can be put on any college application. The other test is the SAT, Scholastic Aptitude Test), founded in 1926 by the College …show more content…

By the end of World War II it became a standard test for seniors to take and remained unchanged until 2005 until it was changed yet again to the test it is today. The scale for the SAT is 0-1600 and the test is geared towards logic, it is commonly accepted on the east and west coasts, but just like the ACT can be used on any college application. (Fletcher)

The intention of these tests is most likely good, however the tests have adverse effects and the pressure to get good scores has turned these tests into a nightmare. Most would think the standardized are strictly measuring students, however the tests also evaluate teachers. There would never be a teacher forced to take one of these tests but they are measured by their students’ scores. The teacher’s Adequate Yearly Progress, or AYP, is measured by the students’ ACT and SAT scores; this is a system that is implemented by the No Child Left Behind Act. Scores from mostly minority and poor areas are likely to fail the Annual Yearly Progress target, making their teacher look bad. In response to that problem schools are starting to take low-achieving students out of tests to keep the school’s scores up, which is very illegal. This program gives outside authorities the final

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