The rush of adrenaline as you quickly try to read the last questions on the ACT booklet when your teacher says “One minute left.” Your hands are sweating and the pencil in slipping, the teacher announces “Pencils down.” Throughout the four years of highschool, the school system prepares students for the country wide standardized tests. Depending on what the state requires, students either have to take the SAT or ACT. Schools start putting standardized test on students starting in elementary school and progresses in high school. Highschool starts preparing students in their freshman and sophomore year making them take practice tests of the SAT and ACT in preparation for the actual test that they take junior and senior year. These tests are supposed to measure the students performance in an educational setting and their understanding in certain subjects. They are also said to measure students achievement. This is an issue because these tests can decide the students future. Many colleges use these scores to predict weather or not that student gets into that college. But how well do these standardized tests represent a students problem solving capabilities or academic strengths? How well can they actual show student achievements? Standardized tests are not effective in measuring student achievement.
According to StudyUSA, “A standardized test is a test given to students in a very consistent manner; meaning that the questions on the test are all the same, the time given to each student is the same, and the way in which the test is scored is the same for all students.” Standardized tests are given to students all across the United States. They start giving these tests to students starting in elementary school. Once the student reaches high school they then have to take the ACT or SAT depending on where they are located. ACT and SAT are standardized tests used to look at the students readiness in academics for a higher education along with achievement. They say these tests evaluate students from other states, difference schools, take different courses, and get different grades. The ACT and SAT test over four categories them being, english, math, reading, and science, along with an optional writing test.
What does achievement mean anyways? Achievement means so much more than a test score. Standardized tests use the scores they get to decided several things about the student. They decide whether or not the student needs tutoring, what school level they should be in, and whether or not the school needs to be closed or investigated. Schools give students tests over certain subjects such as reading, writing, math, and social studies. If the scores from these tests are lower than expected, they must reevaluate the teachers and the students to pinpoint where the problem is. They also use these score to determine if the students qualifies for a highschool diploma and college readiness. These rules were set by No Child Left Behind and the Barack Obama administrations. They together have created a blueprint for the tests. According to NCTM News, “Achievement is all the outcomes that students and teachers attain. Achievement is more than test scores but also included class participation, students course taking patterns, and teachers’ professional development patterns.” These standardized test have no way of showing and assessing what the teachers and students attain. A multiple choice test has no way of proving a students problem solving or critical thinking abilities. Standardized testing it meant to measure student achievement. With these tests students are made to take, only a portion of what they know, such as goals of the education, are measured. Some things that the standardized tests can’t measure is creativity, motivation, curiosity, enthusiasm, empathy, leadership, and much more. These are the achievements that standardized tests don’t measure, yet they are the most important.
Standardized test have taken over kids lives and the way they look and treat tests. Tests like the ACT and SAT are told to be extremely important for students futures. Colleges judge your admission based on this score. Along with some future jobs and employers. With all that pressure on them to succeed and get a good score, causes these kids to spiral and do anything they can to pass and get a good score. Students would resort to drugs to help them stay concentrated and study for these tests. They would stay up for hours preparing and studying for these tests. They call these ‘study drugs’ and most of the time being Adderall. Students would even go to lengths of cheating to avoid failing. Not only has the pressure of not failing come over students, they have also come over teachers as well. Some teachers have resorted to cheating as well. If most students do poorly on these tests, it could affect the school and the teachers jobs.
According to American Test Anxieties Association, “About 16-20% of students have high test anxiety, making this the most prevalent scholastic impairment in our schools today. Another 18% are troubled by moderately-high test anxiety.” With all that pressure of how important some of these standardized tests are, it had led some kids to get overcome by testing anxiety. Test anxiety is very common in students. Lots of students will freeze up or blank on problems because of this fear to fail. Many kids with testing anxiety end up getting a poor score. Another reason this anxiety sets on them is because these tests are timed. Having a timed test makes it harder on those with anxiety and ADHD to concentrate and get through the test. Many people, like myself, need time to correctly read the question and evaluate it before answering. Having a timer going down right in front of your face is not helpful.
Standardized testing has caused lots of debate over the effectiveness and what these tests can actually prove. People believe standardized test measure student achievement for college readiness. They say the highschool can set them apart from others by providing them with AP courses and extracurricular programs. They set them apart by showing there intelligence and qualifications. On the other hand, there are kids that do not have the opportunity to be in AP courses and extracurricular programs that their school offers. Another reason people believe these test are effective is because of teacher evaluations. Education.cu says “Students in grades 4 and 8 taught by teachers with masters education scored higher on standardized math and reading assessments than students whose teachers hold only a bachelor’s degree.” Not all standardized test are effective enough to rate them on teaching performances.
Going on with teacher evaluations, teachers feel the need to teach curriculum based on the test. With the school and their jobs on the line for students getting appropriate grades on these standardized tests, teacher are wanting to teach the curriculum for the test. An obvious reason on why these tests are not effective is because many standardized test such as the ACT and SAT are multiple choice that are scored by machines. Multiple choice questions are too simple and can’t prove much about the student. Unlike open-ended questions which provide the students to display their knowledge and problem solving skills. Many say that these tests provide consistent materials that are used to help control for variances in the states and schools. But some families pay hundreds of thousands of dollars to help prepare their students for these tests that don’t accurately measure students qualifications or achievement.
With all the debate over standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT some colleges took the action to eliminate ACT and SAT score to prospective students. The University of Chicago recently took that initiative this past year. According to Chicago Tribute, “The University of Chicago has announced it will no longer require ACT or SAT score from U.S. students and becomes the first top 10 research university to join the ‘test-optional’ movement.” Universities are eliminating the ACT and SAT score because the tests are unfair in measuring student qualifications and achievement and makes it difficult to create more diversity on campuses. The University of Chicago is still allowing kids to send the score in but it is now optional to students. Instead of sending their scores in they have the option to send in their transcripts and/or send in nontraditional materials such as video introductions for their application. The vice president and dean at University of Chicago wants to make sure they are being fair to every group of students and that they all have the possibility of making Chicago their new home. Many colleges are following along with the test-optional movement because it is helping the diversity on campuses. Many students that enrolled at the University of Chicago has either perfect or nearly perfect scores and while they were impressive it made other students not want to apply thinking the school had an intense focus on the test scores and not other things on the application. By making these test scores optional for students more people have applied and are being evaluated on things higher than just a score.
Standardized test are not effective in measuring student achievements. By getting rid of standardized testing or improving it, schools and future employers can get a better look at what one student can really show and provide at a college or job. By not forcing students to take these tests, they can work on how they can really prove themselves in the future. They can focus on their normal school classes. Standardized tests cannot accurately measure a students achievement and what they can do. Colleges have made the initiative in joining the test-optional movement. Giving students the ability to apply to colleges without being judged by their test score and being able to show what they want to do at that university. Judging someone based on a number from a standardized test does not show and tell you much about the student and their ambition for what they are passionate for.
