Is Standardized Testing Really Necessary?

Ever since I entered high school, I have had the major goal to graduate and go to college. My dad always says, "The time will come when you grow up, and you'll have to decide what you want to do in college." Now I'm a junior and it's creeping around the corner.  

In order to attend college, I have to take either the ACT or the SAT. But leading up to those tests, are other standardized tests. All these tests are part of the path that will help get one into a good college, so why go to four years of high school just to take one certain test that determines if you get into the college you want?

College is a place where you decide what you want to do and who you're going to be as you grow up. But the thing that stands in most people's way is either the SAT's or the ACT's. Although some colleges do not require you to take the ACT/SAT, higher ranked colleges require a great score in order to enroll.

Why don't the colleges take the average grade point throughout your four years in high school, instead of one test score that decides your fate for going to college? Standardized tests have a lot of cons to them, such as the level of stress they put on a student and how the tests aren't measuring the full quality of what education is about.

The amount of stress that is put on students may cause them not to perform well on the test. When preparing for a test, studying is essential so your brain can relearn what you've been learning for the past four years. But a side effect of preparing for the ACT/SAT may be throwing up, or in some cases, the pressure can lead to tragic decisions.

On some of the standardized tests issued in some states, there's a section that explains what to do if you feel like you're going to be sick. Just having that warning on some tests should signal a red flag that this much stress on a student is not worth the outcomes. Studying is indeed good, but overdoing it can lead to consequences such as doing poorly or even suicide.

The tests are supposedly based on what students have been learning throughout their high school career, such as math, reading, language and science. But what they don't measure is the quality of your behavior.

It doesn't ask any questions about loyalty or responsibility, two behaviors that matter in the work force. According to late education researcher Gerald W. Bracey, PhD, qualities that standardized tests cannot measure include "creativity, critical thinking, resilience, motivation, persistence, curiosity, endurance, reliability, enthusiasm, empathy, self-awareness, self-discipline, leadership, civic-mindedness, courage, compassion, resourcefulness, sense of beauty, sense of wonder, honesty, integrity." This educator identifies important behaviors for working but they aren't assessed on any of the standardized tests.

Some people say the tests help you plan for the future and help colleges find you. But why go through four years of high school to take a test that determines if you can go to the colleges that want you? It's a test that only measures students' knowledge on certain subjects, not on the bigger picture, the students themselves.

Other people may ask what the higher-ranked colleges should look for in students to make them more unique. I think if a student has a steady 3.5 GPA or greater, that person should stand out enough to these colleges. Yes, the tests do a good job in portraying outstanding students but looking at their GPA for their four years would be more accurate, especially if they didn't do so well on the standardized tests.

Other people may argue that the reason the ACT is good to take is because there are drastic differences in the quality of high schools throughout the nation. An "A" or "B" can stand for really different things at different places.

This is a good point, but students who take Advanced Placement (AP) classes and keep a good grade point average, should stand out to higher ranked colleges like Harvard. The type of classes a student takes and the grade that student gets, should be a good reference for the student.

The standardized tests, like the ACT/SAT's, are a misrepresentation of the knowledge students have been learning for four years. Instead of using a test to get students into college, I think they should take the average grade point throughout the student's four years of high school. It would show what subject the student excels in, the grade the student gets for attending class/behavior and it also shows the progress from the freshmen year to senior year and one's efforts to become a better and brighter student. I think this would be an excellent alternative to the tests because it would show a bigger spectrum of the students themselves.

Work Cited: "ProCon.org-Standardized Tests" ProCon.org. http://standardizedtests.procon.org/.