Arguments Against Standardized Testing Essay

For many years, there has been a great deal of controversies on whether standardized tests should be used for college admissions. Standardized testing started in America over 50 years ago and are today, more pressure-packed and ubiquitous than ever before. The first standardized test was developed in 1959 by Professor Everett Franklin Lindquist. Many admissions counselors depend on a student’s ACT and SAT scores a great deal when determining if they should accept the student or not. Though many feel that these tests are a good thing and should continue to be used, others disagree due to the numerous problems that have been discovered when reviewing students SAT and ACT scores. Many feel that the tests are unfair and this is why standardized

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

A new study may bring up arguments that the average test scores of African-American students trail those of white students not just because of economic disadvantages, but because some parts of the test result in differential scores by race for students of equal academic prowess. "The confirmation of unfair test results throws into question the validity of the test and, consequently, all decisions based on its results. “All admissions decisions based exclusively or predominantly on SAT performance—and therefore access to higher education institutions and subsequent job placement and professional success—appear to be biased against the African American minority group and could be exposed to legal challenge," says the study, which has just appeared in Harvard Educational Review.” (Jaschik) The presence of racial patterns on the SAT is not new. The average reading test score for African-American students on last year’s test was 429, 99 points below that for white students. And while white students ' scores were flat, the average score for black students fell by one. “Statistics like these are debated every year when SAT data are released, and when similar breakdowns are offered on other standardized test.” (Jaschik) Along with evidence of racial bias on the SAT, it is also said that standardized tests harm a student’s