Standardized Testing Persuasive Speech

Good afternoon. I am Angel Rushing with the Rutherford County Schools board. Today I am here to discuss why we should implement passing a standardized test into the graduation requirements. Now, I’m aware that with you all being students graduating soon it may seem like an unfair idea, and I understand why one might feel that way. Although, I won’t go into too much detail right now, I will acknowledge that there are flaws within standardized testing and later I will address and explain a few ways to fix them. However, I do feel that it would be in the best interest of students to make passing a standardized test a graduation requirement for a few different reasons, but I will focus on the two I feel are most important today, which are, to prevent

The best way to go about this is through a standardized test. A standardized test is an equal and fair assessment to determine a student's knowledge of specific standards. I did a poll to see how students felt about standardized testing being a graduation requirement and many pointed out that they believed it was unfair and GPA should be what determines graduation. The problem with this is highlighted in an article by edutopia.org on no-Zero grading policies where educator, Rachel Kent, points out that “Many students learned to subvert the system and would do nothing two quarters [of the] year, collect their 50s, and do well during the next two quarters and on the final,” This comment goes to show that GPA cannot always be used to determine if a student truly knows what they were taught. As long as students maintain high grades in at least two quarters, those high grades can overshadow the low grades a student may have made due to not knowing and understanding the content. This would allow a student to advance while missing important information they will likely need later. In the same article, Christina Arenas, who is a college professor notes that, “High school students are often shocked when they get Ds and don’t move on or coast through.” She then raises a question and gives advice to fellow

In my poll, 93% of you said you planned on attending college, and many schools and scholarships rely on test scores to select students to admit as well as give scholarships or grants to. The Princeton Review made a chart showing several schools that guaranteed a merit scholarship to those who met a minimum threshold. Here you will see the College of Saint Bendict and Saint John’s University only requires a minimum of a 20 ACT score with a 3.56 GPA to receive a $16,240 merit scholarship. That’s free money earned by passing a test and maintaining grades in school. Not only are test scores used to give scholarships, but they are also used to help refine the long list of applicants and choose who to admit into schools. 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