From Now On, Say NO to Standardized State Testing!
Allow me to let you in on a little secret; standardized state tests have, in fact, been proven to be detrimental to students! Now, let’s talk about that.
The ACT and SAT, or American College Testing and the Scholastic Aptitude Test, are the two most commonly known standardized state tests. These two tests are taken under a four-hour time constraint and contain four different sections to test: science, math, reading, and writing. To be considered for enrollment at a college or university, one of these two tests must be taken. Following completion, the score provided to the student must be submitted to the specific college or universities admissions office, as these few digits are used by the admissions officer to make an “adequate” admissions decision.
Those few digits say close to nothing about a student, or how well they will academically perform at the college or university they are applying to! Both the ACT and SAT put a tremendous amount of stress, pressure, and anxiety on a student, and neither one of them value diversity. Outside factors, such as these previously listed, pose as a major disadvantage to student’s when taking this kind of assessment. For instance, some students may perform one way, while others perform a different way. Wealthier families may have access to preparation help for their children, while others may not. In addition, analysts have proven that when there is so much pressure put on a student to succeed, they naturally forget the knowledge they need to use to get them there. It is obvious that outside factors play a vital role in the academic performance of a student and the score they receive on the test chosen to complete, in which are not taken into consideration when these assessments are administered.
As a taker of these tests myself, I serve a great interest in the idea of standardized state tests effectively measuring student achievement and academic growth. With that being said, let me ask you this: how could a one day, four-hour test truthfully show how well a student performs academically? Well, the answer is: it does not, or it should not. One of the main aspects colleges look at in their future students are their ACT or SAT scores; although, sometimes a student’s ACT or SAT score can outshine other aspects that the student has to offer. Students spend countless hours participating in community service, extracurriculars, student organizations, and simply getting involved with their school in any way possible to stand out from others in their college application. From a personal standpoint, all of these actions taken voluntarily, along with an exceptional GPA and the enrollment in rigorous courses, should be the determining factor of whether or not they should accept a student into the school they are applying to.
Overall, a student’s intelligence should not be based off of a number, let alone one test. These tests are only one day out of a student’s academic career; therefore, they should not be used to determine a student’s academic success in the college setting. Standardized state tests do more harm than good for students in many ways — and that should no longer be kept a secret!
