Levine claims that schools are starting to expand the quality of the student body by the rate of the students standardized test (22). Colleges are not looking to get students who do not apply themselves, but also, colleges are making it harder for the poor students that are trying to better their education. Along the same lines, Graff reminds us of the competition of comparing test scores in school (249). Graff explains, in school scores are made up by one’s reading ability, instead of, like in sports, the actual competition itself or arguing (249). Overall schools are using test scores as a way to compete with education instead of looking out for the best interests of the
Pharinet follows with a string of rhetorical questions for readers to begin to reflect on this idea. “Why do we rely on SAT scores and high school transcripts? Why doesn’t every school have an open admissions policy?” (Pharinet 680) It is simply because not all people are up for the challenge.
The United States test scores are dropping drastically, especially in math and science. Out of 36 top countries the U.S. is ranked last in math, and ranked 28th in science. One of the apprehensions is that we have an extraordinary amount of technology, and kids are easily distracted and do not use them for learning purposes. Another apprehension is that parents are starting to get a little easy going when it comes to schoolwork. I believe that parents should set priorities straight in their children’s life.
Carnoy, Loeb, and Smith (2003) found a weakness in the relationships between TAKS scores and other outcomes such as high school graduation rates and scores on college entrance exams. Other researchers (Klein, Hamilton, McCaffrey, & Steecher, 2000) analyzed increases in scores in Texas on the NAEP, increases that they state political leaders attributed to the accountability system, and found that Texas score improvements in mathematics at grade 8 are not significantly different from those of other states that did not have strong accountability systems in place. In fact their data show evidence that the achievement gap between white students and underrepresented minorities actually increased. Some argue that the data show that the accountability program actually negatively impacts schools that were already academically behind before the implementation of the accountability system (Fassold,
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
In addition to that,the Federal law policy of implementing penalties on districts that fall short of 95% students taking standardized tests may prove worse for that particular district as far as education aids are considered. If students are given choice to opt-out,then the wealthier and middle class may opt-out and reduce the funding available for students who are still interested in taking tests. So,the issue must be addressed accordingly leaving everyone happy rather than some part of people happy. So as to conclude,the policy makers or political leaders should consider this issue in a holistic approach and should not give the flexibility for students to opt-out of annual tests as it retains the conventional education standards of the country which in turn may help build a fairly considered society.
Senate Bill 1543 that became effective August of this year works to protect students who did not complete a typical high school program from being treated unfairly when being considered for admission to a university. A student who submits evidence of completing an education following the same standards, specifically including standards on standardized testing scores, than they must be equally considered as a student who did graduate from a public school. In order to determine this student’s would-be rank in a high school class if it is a factor in determining admission, the institution must decide that student’s rank based on the average graduating students rank with similar testing scores on the standardized test
A students ACT and SAT score is just one portion of many college applications. Colleges and Universities look at GPA, an essay, and letter of recommendations to determine a student’s admission. Many people believe that the importance of the ACT or SAT score depends on the college and what other things the student has to offer (Drinkworth, 2015). The ACT and SAT tests can be an important factor in college admissions because they tests are on all subject areas, math, reading, writing, and science. Since each area is graded separately and the score is later averaged out it shows how the students does overall in the general
SATS and ACTS have been used for numerous years as a way to gauge a student’s academic success while in college. Students have the choice which test they would prefer to take and most colleges do not prefer one test over the other. There are a few key differences between the SAT and ACT, which may make one test more suitable than the other for those taking the tests. Many studies have proven that the SAT and ACT are not the best judge of future success, and that colleges should focus their applications more on past grades and accomplishments to decide which students should be accepted to their university. SATs and ACTs are not an effective measure of college readiness and future academic success.
They argue that the real issue lies with the fact that colleges rely too heavily on the SAT in admission decisions. Scores of studies have shown that the SAT and ACT are poor indicators of students’ future success in college. Despite this, many colleges will still use these tests to weed out students who scored low, students that they predict will perform poorly in college, regardless of their levels of achievement, academic or otherwise, outside of standardized testing. This results in high numbers of students of color, who traditionally score lower on standardized tests, getting left out of the admissions process - because they’re being predicted not to do
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
“Opting Out of Standardized Tests Isn’t the Answer.” The New York Times, 14 Aug. 2015,
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.
These feelings create a mindset that can lead students to achieve lower scores. Most professional testing associations in the U.S. would deem these tests as “unfair” because they are affected by a “measurement of supposedly irrelevant constructs” (Ford and Helms, 188). Unfortunately, this argument has not altered the use of standardized tests as they continue to lessen the chance of African American student
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.
