The Large Number of Tests Taken by the Average High School Student

Totally Too Many Tests Typically, the average high school student graduating in the spring of 2015 in the state of Texas will have taken roughly 35 state-mandated and college entrance exams. Every single one of these tests, including, but not limited to, the SAT, ACT, PSAT/NMSQT, Subject Tests, TAKS, and STAAR exams are considered to be standardized tests. By standardized, these means they were all administered and scored precisely alike, and give an average score. As our society advances and the need for highly intellectual individuals rises, so does the amount of aptitude and achievement tests one must take in order to succeed in their educational career, we should begin questioning the significance, benefit, and difference of a few of these widely administered standardized tests. As the children of the testing generation grow and start preparing themselves for college, there are several tests in which they are to take in order to get into college. One of these standardized aptitude tests is the Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT. It has 10 sections, lasts roughly three hours and forty five minutes, and tests critical reading, writing and mathematics (Webb). The SAT is quite similar to the PSAT/NMSQT which is not only a practice SAT, but opens many doors to the juniors that do well by giving them the opportunity to advance in the National Merit Program and eventually receive a scholarship not only from the program, but potentially from colleges, in hopes of building an exceptionally intellectual student body (Webb). It is obvious that the junior year of high school, students are filled with many decisions including which college entrance exam to take. “The SAT is considered by many college admission offices to be a more desirable measure of a student’s intellectual ability, and hence, of their ability to succeed at their college or university (Webb).” In theory, the original idea for the SAT was to provide colleges with one common principle that can be used to compare each of their applicants. However, misuse of the test by districts and states has begun to give the public a skewed view on how unprepared many of the students are for college. As some states begin to force the entire student body, including those who have no intention to attend any higher educational programs, colleges or universities, the overall measure of high school readiness has dropped and produced poor results (SATs Poor Measure of Overall HS Population). Comparable to the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the ACT originally standing for American College Testing is a two hour and fifty-five minute test with an optional thirty minute writing portion. It tests the student’s abilities in four sections: English, Reading, Math and Science, and writing if the optional portion is taken. The ACT is accepted by most colleges as an adequate college entrance exam and lately, there has been a rise in the number of test takers of the ACT. With the rise of test takers, “a drop occurred in the average composite score among high school students, making the 2013 average a 20.9, the lowest it has been in eight years (Adams) .” There are many possible reasons to this drop, one could be the fact that 2% more of the students representing the class of 2013 took the test, roughly 1.8 million high school students. Similar to the SAT, many states are forcing this college acceptance exam upon all of their students. Including the students who lack college-going plans may contribute to the lower scores, “Michael Cohen, the president of Achieve, a Washington-based organization that was instrumental in the Common Core State Standards says that the country continues to graduate large numbers of student who lack the academic skill to succeed in postsecondary education and training programs (Adams).” One major myth in college admission is that one bad standardized test score is the end of your hopes and dreams, and this is exactly how Amy Adair felt during the fall semester of her senior year. She took her ACT three times, slowly doing worse and worse each time she took it. Adair was a straight-A student who took challenging courses like Advanced Placement, Dual Credit and Pre-Advanced Placement courses, she happened to be involved in many extracurricular activities such as sports teams and band, and also obtained a phenomenal teacher recommendation from one of her favorite and most influential teachers. Because of her overall portfolio, Calvin College in Grand Rapids, Michigan, also known as Amy Adair’s dream college, accepted the well-rounded student who happened to have a lower test score (Adair). This student is a prime example of how these college entrance exams fail on showing how well or even how poorly one student will succeed in college. College administration wants a well-rounded student, therefore one with a weak test score with strengths in the other areas such as grades, courses taken, recommendations, and other activities when choosing between the high numbers of applicants. Standardized tests are just one factor of many that affect you in the admissions decision. Schools also consider your high school GPA, academic transcript, letters of recommendation, interviews, extracurricular activities, and personal essays; these can make or break you as well. But, if there are so many other factors in the admissions process and standardized tests are just another factor, why does our society hold onto the belief that an inadequate score equals a low intellectual individual? As our society continues advancing, we need to learn about what we are putting our children through and how generations are varying as well. Test standards and major research groups such as the National Academy of Sciences clearly state that major educational decisions should not be based solely on a test score. Standardized high-stakes tests punish the students, as well as the teachers, for things they cannot control. It pushes students and teachers away from learning, and at times even away from school because it restricts, misrepresents, deteriorates and deprives the curriculum while fostering forms of instruction fail to engage students and support high-quality learning. In a standardized high-stakes testing environment, the limit to educational improvement is largely dictated by the tests, but the tests are a poor measure of high-quality curriculum and learning. In particular, the emphasis on testing hurts low-income students and students from minority groups. These tests are one of the determinants of if a student will go to college, pass a grade, or even graduate, and these tests are not always correct examples of how our students nationwide are learning. If they are not actually doing the job they are supposed to, why do we over test our students?

Work Cited
Adair, Amy. “Good Student. Bad ACT: would my low test score keep me out of my top school?” Campus life’s ignite your faith Oct 2008: 92+. General OneFile. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.
Adams, Caralee J. “Most Students Aren’t Ready for College, ACT Data Shows; Average composite scores dropped.” Education Week 28 Aug. 2013: 6. Academic OneFile. Web 12 Nov. 2013.
Gewertz, Catherine. “SAT Future: Alignment to Standards; New College Board leader shaped common core.” Education Week 23 May 2012: 1. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Nov. 2013
“SATs Poor Measure of Overall HS Population.” USA Today [Magazine] Dec. 2010: 3. General OneFile. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.

Cited: Adair, Amy. “Good Student. Bad ACT: would my low test score keep me out of my top school?” Campus life’s ignite your faith Oct 2008: 92+. General OneFile. Web. 12 Nov. 2013. Adams, Caralee J. “Most Students Aren’t Ready for College, ACT Data Shows; Average composite scores dropped.” Education Week 28 Aug. 2013: 6. Academic OneFile. Web 12 Nov. 2013. Gewertz, Catherine. “SAT Future: Alignment to Standards; New College Board leader shaped common core.” Education Week 23 May 2012: 1. Academic OneFile. Web. 12 Nov. 2013 “SATs Poor Measure of Overall HS Population.” USA Today [Magazine] Dec. 2010: 3. General OneFile. Web. 12 Nov. 2013.