No More Standardized Testing

 College Standardized Testing Page Written By: Steven Harris

The National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) reports that the test preps can be good investments for relearning the material (Jaschik). Some people also believe that the material covered on standardized tests tend to help them learn, and understand concepts better. The ACT, and SAT are not authentic assessments because they test knowledge out of content.

Popular opinion holds that the ACT and SAT are good predictors of college success. Scholarships are awarded based on scores, which can lower the price of tuition. However, students with high GPAs can also receive scholarships. Although the SAT is designed to predict first year college grades, recruiters can just as easily look at GPAs, and make the same prediction.

            Conversely, some argue that the ACT and SAT have always been poor predictors of college success. Instead of being forced to take the ACT and SAT, students should be able to use their progress in school. Students’ GPA has assignment average scores, average quiz scores, and average test scores complied. The GPA tells almost everything that colleges want to know (National Center for Fair and Open Testing).

It has been reported that 800 colleges’, and universities have recently dropped the standardized test requirements for admission (Zhao). The Fair Test Public Education Director Bob Schaeffer stated, “We expect the ACT/SAT optional list to continue growing as more institutions recognize that the tests remain biased, coachable, educationally damaging and irrelevant to sound admissions practices” (qtd. In Zhao). This is saying that people are getting more of an education without the ACT or the SAT. These colleges are doing the right thing.

It has been reported that the reading, math, and science part of the ACT tend to be poor predictors of college success (Briggs). Because these sections require test takers to answer questions about five passages, and seven graphs that you have to look at. How can this possibly give colleges a complete idea as to how well students know these subjects?

The SAT tends to be about the same thing as the ACT, but it has more concepts. ACT tests English, math, reading, science, and writing. SAT has Literature, U.S. History, world history, Math level 1&2, Biology/EM, chemistry, physics, French, French with listening, German, German with listening, Spanish, Spanish with listening, Modern Hebrew, Italian, Latin, Chinese with listening, Japanese with listening, and Korean with listening. The other thing that has been different between the 2 has been the test scores. The ACT goes between 1, and 36. The SAT goes between 1, and 999.

The SAT 1, and 2 have recently been addressed as the weakest indicators for college success (National Center for Fair, and Open Testing). SAT 1 has a 4% success rate in its predictions, while the SAT 2 boasts a 9.3%. Combined, these tests are accurate up to 11.3%, which leaves almost 90% of the variation in grades unexplained. Do these tests really tell colleges anything. In light of this evidence, I see no reason to take the SAT. It doesn’t show college professors what we can do when we get into college. It only shows we can apply some of what we have already learned.

Works Cited

Zhao, Emmeline. "SAT, ACT No Longer Required For Admission To 800 U.S. Colleges And Universities." The Huffington Post. TheHuffingtonPost.com, 28 Nov. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.

Admin. "Standardized Tests for College Students: SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT." Standardized Tests for College Students: SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, LSAT. N.p., 2 Apr. 2012. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.

Mathews, Jay. "Report Finds 2 of 4 Tests in ACT Poor Predictors of College Success." Washington Post. The Washington Post, 19 July 2011. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.

"SAT I: A Faulty Instrument For Predicting College Success." The National Center for Fair & Open Testing. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Feb. 2013.

"About the Tests." - What Is the SAT & SAT Subject Tests. N.p., n.d. Web. 28 Feb. 2013.

"The SAT Is a Poor Predictor of College Success." National Center for Fair and Open Testing, n.d. Web. 20 Aug. 2007.

Jaschik, Scott. "Test Prep Courses Are a Good Investment." N.p., n.d. Web. 20 May 2009.

Fletcher, Dan. "Standardized Testing."Time U.S. n.p., 2013. Web. 11 Dec. 2009.