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The Truth About Standardized Tests
By Sara Humphrey, New Hartford
They affect many aspects of a high school student’s life, including entrance into college. Soon they will even decide if a student can graduate from many high schools. What are these things that decide such important things in a student’s life? They are scores from standardized tests like the SAT and CAPT. Standardized tests—tests where all students answer the same questions under similar conditions and their responses are scored the same way—have taken over American education.
Such crucial decisions such as graduation from high school should not be based solely on the results of one test. Many standardized tests, like the SAT, were designed so that only about half of the test-takers would respond correctly to most of the questions. Rather than gauge the quality of a student, their purpose is to rank. Standardized tests measure only superficial thinking rather than whether a student is a good learner. Most include only, or a majority, of multiple choice questions which leave a student no way to show what they are able to do with what they know.
Knowing a lot of facts, which is what standardized tests usually consist of, does not automatically mean a student is smarter or has any practical knowledge that is really important for them to know. Other aspects of standardized tests, such as the fact that these exams are timed and teamwork is not allowed, also prove that they are not a reliable method of determining a student’s intelligence. On timed tests the ability to work quickly and perform under pressure is held above any other skill. Students, if allowed to take their time and think clearly, would receive better scores. Also, even though most businesses and society as a whole value the ability to work with other people, teamwork and talking with other students during the tests are strictly forbidden. Standardized tests do not measure the most important real-life skills.
If standardized tests are permitted to control a student’s life there will definitely be a negative outcome. When a student is not allowed to graduate high school since they did not get a certain score on a standardized test, they will probably be required to repeat a year of school and will lose their self-esteem since they will not feel "good enough." The student will think that it is hopeless to even try and will not improve academically. Students who are put through this kind of a situation will most likely drop out of high school.
If the purpose of standardized tests is to make students who do not fit the "standard" feel worthless, then they should continue to be used in high schools across the country. However, if schools want to produce confident students who think for themselves, standardized tests are not the answer.
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