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Standardized Testing Argumentative Essay

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Standardized tests, like the SAT and ACT, attract the attention of thousands of high school students every year, the majority of them striving to achieve a good score, as they know it may increase their chance of getting into their dream college. However, as time goes on the debate on whether or not colleges should use standardized test scores for admission is becoming increasingly popular. Colleges should not use a student's standardized test score for admission for a few key reasons; standardized tests don't truly measure a student's intelligence, not every student excels at taking tests, and standardized tests are classist.
To start off, standardized testing should not be used for college admission because they are not a good way to show …show more content…

There is a clear relationship between a student's economic background and test scores. In addition to this, “Many well-resourced students have far greater access to test preparation, tutoring and taking the test multiple times, opportunities not afforded the less affluent”(ProCon) When a student comes from a higher economic background they are provided with privileges that other students may not have. Act prep, private tutors, etc. are just some examples of how wealth creates division in standardized testing. Although many students score well on these tests without the help of tutors or prep classes, having these extra opportunities is sure to help students score higher. In addition, research finds that “The children of the affluent score higher on average than those of lower income groups”(Finneran). When it comes to standardized tests, it is seen that they seem to favor those of higher classes, and It’s absurd for colleges to use standardized test scores when determining a student's admission when uncontrollable factors can make a major difference in how they score on the test. Although some may argue that certain standardized tests were originally created to give all students an equal chance at getting into college, due to the nature of today's world, the inclusivity the test strived to provide is gone. Consequently, standardized tests can no longer be seen as a way to give all students an equal chance, in fact, they only create more division. All in all, due to how unfair standardized tests can really be for students, colleges should not use these test scores to determine student

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In Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers, Gladwell discusses how kids from poorer areas start out at the same levels of proficiency as kids from upper class families, but the wealthier kids generally do better than the poorer kids on standardized tests down the road. Gladwell comes to the conclusion that the gap in performance on standardized tests is generally determined by how kids spend their summers. He found that the the poorer kids are left to play with friends in the summer, while the upper class families hire tutors and take their kids to museums. After about ten summers of accumulating advantage, the wealthier kids are more prepared to do well on the infamous college entrance exams. While the wealthier kids have been groomed for these tests since the start of their school careers, the kids from disadvantaged backgrounds are, once

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Standard testing is a very controversial and important subject because it deals with the progression of the American education system. The practice of these assessments has been highly scrutinized not only for the way it has changed the format of classrooms, but also for its accuracy, pressure, and abundance. In 2001, standardized testing became federally mandated through the No Child Left Behind Act by former president George Bush Jr. According to research from the Council of the Great City Schools, students have been taking “an average of 113 tests from pre-kindergarten through 12th grade” (K. Hefling). These numbers have increased to the point where parents have opted for their children to not attend standardized exams.

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But test prep is only part of the picture, with much of the test-score differential originating far before any student even thinks about standardized testing. From the beginning, Biamonte (2013) explains, students from higher-income families have more opportunities: they attend better, higher-funded schools with more rigorous curriculums, AP classes, and dual credit, all of which impact standardized test performance. Consequently, higher-income students have an advantage over their lower-income

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Introduction Standardized tests may be used for a wide variety of educational purposes. For example, they may be used to determine a young child’s readiness for kindergarten, identify students who need special-education services or specialized academic support, place students in different academic programs or course levels, or award diplomas and other educational certificates. Thesis Statement Standardized tests should not be eliminated completely, but should rather be evaluated in addition to other factors such as grades, extracurricular activities, and volunteer hours. This would take pressure off of students during standardized tests, allow colleges to see how well-rounded the students are, and give students who are better in other areas

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In the history of modern colleges, the SAT has been the most widely accepted standardized test by students. The SAT was first introduced in 1926, and since then it has been used by millions of college applicants to demonstrate their academic prowess. Following the creation of the SAT, there have been countless debates on whether it should be scrapped or kept due to its potential to unfairly discriminate against students from lower socioeconomic backgrounds and its possible lack of correlation with academic success. Every year, more schools begin to shift toward test-optional, while many schools continue to use mandatory standardized testing. To fully understand and agree on an answer to this debate, extensive research must be done, and students

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Some studies show that wealthier students that score high on the tests have taken numerous prep classes and even had private tutors come in and help them prepare for these tests, which cost hundreds of dollars, and lower-class students cannot afford them which puts them at a disadvantage no matter how smart they may be.(Soares and Ovaska). Soares ' research has found that tests like the ACTs and SATs put low-income and minority students at significant disadvantages and have resulted in a lack of diversity at the nation 's four-year colleges, including public universities in the University of North Carolina system. He thinks high school grade point averages (GPA) would give admissions counselors a better grasp of a student 's abilities without the gender and racial biases that test scores carry. Soares shared his thoughts recently with N.C. Policy Watch, and told us why he thinks North Carolina 's public university system should turn its back on the ACTs and

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Standardized tests are very common in today’s modern society. They are used as a tool to measure a person’s performance and indicate how their estimated performance will be in a college class. Every year hundreds of students take the ACT or SAT in order to get accepted into their college of choice and to receive scholarships, but they fail to see the problems with these standardized tests. As more and more people take these tests, the national average score falls causing doubt in the extremely important system. This is leading people to question whether or not the ACT and SATs are accomplishing what they were created to do.

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One of the most requested college admission test are the ACT and SAT, Most 4 year universities require that before a student can be considered for admissions, he or she must submit a copy of their SAT or ACT scores. These tests are both known to be anthropologically biased in the sense that students from a low-income middle class or minority type backgrounds', with learning disabilities are rejected of retaining their diploma(s), put into remedial educational program, More likely to receive a "dumbed-founded" curriculum. With that being said, they would be tested on heavily rote drill and test practices, many will end up dropping out. But on the other side we have the upper-class White children with more income are more likely to be given

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Expensive SAT books and preparation courses with private tutors are a good indicator of inequality in our education system. But in the meantime, these tests provide accurate comparisons between different sub-groups. The sub-groups provide schools with data on socioeconomic status to develop better programs that will help improve their scores. Unfortunately educational inequality exists everywhere and some kids go to private schools, while others don’t have enough money to buy books. But only standardized testing can help these students who are in need, by developing services directed at improving their

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They also believe that this strongly biased . … at a time when diversity is critical to our society. In their opinion, wealthy students are essentially more prepared for standardized tests through better life experiences, such as first class schools and test prep tutors. These opponents also support the notion that testing adds too much stress to student and teachers alike.

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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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