Adam Sobel Week 11 - Why I Dislike Standardized Testing

     I don't think there is anyone out there who truly loves standardized tests like the SAT or ACT, but everyone just kind of accepts that they exist and take them anyways. I have always wondered why so many people accept them because they really aren't reliable predictors of anything for college.

    One thing that standardized tests claim to predict is future success in life. However, they are often very bad at doing so with only a 0.5 correlation with measuring future success with high scores. The SAT and ACT are good at discovering future academic success in college (the SAT adds 15% more predictive power than grades alone), but your future exists past college. These tests can't reliably measure perseverance, conscientiousness, or interpersonal skills, which are all traits determined to be important in most careers. The SAT and ACT show nothing to colleges about what kind of a person you are (if you study hard, if you like to hang out with friends, what your interests are) which is something that colleges have become much more interested in these days.

    Another reason that I hate standardized tests is that they cause way to much guilt or competition among peers. I recently took the SAT for the first time, and I also recently got back my score. My brother took the SAT last year and got a great score and is going to a great college now, but when he heard my score, which was slightly higher, he still looked sad. This made me feel guilty because it felt like I was trying to overshadow him when I just wanted to do well on the test. I also know that other people see these tests as competition and that if they don't do as well as someone else, then they aren't good enough. However, these tests have no actual measure on intelligence or success. I'm a straight-A student, but my first time taking the SSAT in middle school I got a really low score because I'm HORRIBLE at taking tests. I always panic and waste time, and I felt so bad that I got a low score even though the scores don't actually measure anything but your test taking abilities.

    Overall, I don't truly understand the point of standardized tests. They cause to much competition and hurt feelings between peers, and they don't actually measure anything about the persons future. They show nothing to the colleges about what type of student they would be accepting or rejecting from their campus. I'm very glad that many colleges have stopped accepting testing scores or have made themselves test optional because I don't think these tests are truly effective in colleges for determining the type of people that we are.

Do you like standardized tests? Why or why not?

Motivating Your Child for SAT and ACT Test Preparation Efforts

Comments

  1. AnonymousNov 29, 2021, 8:28:00 PM

    I completely agree with you, standardized tests don't accurately measure life success at all. They're also horrible because you can't really study for them, even though we do practice to prepare, we still don't know exactly what the test is going to ask.

    ReplyDelete
  2. AnonymousNov 30, 2021, 5:03:00 PM

    I hate standardized testing so much. I completely agree with all the reasons you listed why they really aren't important, helpful, and are really annoying. I can tell you that I do terribly on these tests. I have gotten really bad grades on all the standardized tests I've taken. Then schools and people judge you based on your scores. When really our scores don't reflect who we actually are and how smart we are. Even though I do really badly on those types of tests, I still have very good grades in school and am in all very high classes. They are really unfair, and I am super happy, like you said, that colleges care less about those scores and more about the person and their classes.

    ReplyDelete
  3. Michael HakimNov 30, 2021, 7:27:00 PM

    I don't like standardized testing either. I feel like they are meant less to assess your smarts and more to asses your test-taking! How does that help us in the real world?

    ReplyDelete
  4. AnonymousNov 30, 2021, 10:59:00 PM

    I dislike standardized testing too! I agree with all the reasons you have mentioned. I also believe that it adds unnecessary stress to already overworked students.

    ReplyDelete
  5. AnonymousDec 3, 2021, 2:12:00 PM

    I totally agree with you. Standardized testing sucks! They don't give any real information to colleges about students and all they really do is assess how well students are at test-taking. Personally, I hate the fact that standardized test focus on assessing test-taking because you can be a straight A student, but suck at test-taking.

    ReplyDelete

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