Most standardized tests only test a student on three or four areas. Not every student is going to be intelligent in those specific subjects. According to Barron’s, a test prep organization, “The SAT is a 3 ¾ hour exam, divided into 10 sections- 3 Writing Sections, three Critical Thinking Sections, three Math sections, plus an experimental section” (Barron’s). Some students excel in different areas that are not tested on a certain standardized test, and therefore their ability in those areas is not accurately evaluated. The three main testing areas on the SAT are math, critical reading, and writing. Some students are very intelligent in history or science, and those areas are not tested over. Many students have been denied by colleges based on test scores, when really they were intelligent, just not in those areas of study.
Scores received on a standardized test do not correctly reflect the students’ true intellignece or their ability to learn. In reality, “some students simply do not test well many students are affected by test anxiety or do not show their learning well on a standardized test” (FairTest). Taking a standardized test for most students can be extrememly stressful and intimidating. The pressure to do well is immense, because more times than not, the score received determines the student’s collegiate future. The pressure causes many students to freeze when taking the test, which influences their answers, which causes their score to drop. On the contrary, some students go into a standardized test and guess on many of the answers and end up doing well, when really they are not as academically inclined as some students who may have taken the test and not done well.
There are many students who are denied admittance into college because their standardized test scores did not meet the requirement of the college they applied to. Students should not be denied college acceptance based solely on standardized test scores: “[b]ottom line is, your score won’t get you in, but it could possibly keep you out of super selective schools” (Wheatt). While standardized test scores help colleges get a feel for a student’s academic ability, they do not show a student’s full academic potential or intelligence. Standardized test scores should be taken into account but should not be the sole evaluator, or be looked at as the main aspect of a students academics. Many students work exceptionally hard during their high school years, to maintain good grades, only to take a standardardized, such as the SAT, and discover their scores are inadedequate, and are rejected from the college they chose. This is not fair to those students who have worked hard and have done their best through high school. Standardized testing should not be used as a punishment to students who do not test well.
Colleges have become way too dependent on standardized tests, and place too much trust in their results. For all the hard work that students do throughout their high school years, one test should not determine their college acceptance. While the SAT and other standardized tests like it are good indications of a student’s ability, they should not be relied on as the determining factor. There are many factors to a student’s intelligence and one test cannot accurately reflect their true potential.
Works Cited
Barron’s Test Prep. “Frequently Asked Questions about the SAT Test.” 24 June 2010. .
Fair Test. “The Dangerous Consequences of High-Stakes Standardized Testing.” 17 December 2007. 22 June 2010. .
Wheatt, Dalia. “SAT/ACT Scores and College Admissions.” 22 June 2010. .
Standardized Testing: Not a Good Idea
By: Kristina Thomson
