Graduation Speech For College Admissions Officers

Throughout high school and college we will go through a vast amount of testing but why? Testing is used to show a person’s amount of knowledge on a particular subject. Usually it’s for one specific subject and not a majority of them, the standardized tests include all testable subjects as in English, math, science, writing, and reading. However, before we can all begin our college careers we have to take one of two tests, the ACT or the SAT. These two tests determine the college you get into, the amount of scholarships you will receive, and even whether or not your will be accepted into any college.

Test taking seems to be a negative aspect to every student’s life. No student is alone in the struggle to gain a good test score in order to get into the college of their choice because of their standardized test scores. They can do well in high school with a good GPA and put forth tons of effort but they may not good at taking tests. Some of it might be bad test anxiety or stressing out when the test is timed. Standardized testing is no longer a good indicator of college success because; standardized testing is biased against certain groups, testing adds too much stress to student lives, and impedes the assessment of other very important skills.

There is a strong irony in our emphasis on standardized testing in a country that promotes diversity among career options for students. Tests are mandated throughout the country and students spend days preparing for the multiple exams they have to complete. Many students pay hundreds of dollars for tutoring and prep materials to improve their scores on these standardized tests. Even school syllabuses have shifted to help prepare for the big standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT.This frenzy behind standardized testing is understandable however, since colleges put a lot of weightage on standardized test scores and the government hands out thousands of dollars of scholarships to both students and schools based on the results of these exams. The Washington Post estimates the market to be a two billion annual business.

Standardized testing has been around since the early 1900’s. Today, it determines a high school student’s future. Every year juniors in high school start to prepare months in advance for the SAT’s and ACT’s. Along with the test itself, comes stress that is not necessary. The debate of standardized tests defining a student’s academic ability or not has become a recent popular controversial topic. Many colleges and universities are starting to have test optional applications because they are realizing that a single test score does not demonstrate the knowledge of a student. There is more value in a student that should rule an acceptance or rejection. In the article, “SAT Scores Help Colleges Make Better Decisions” Capterton states, “The SAT has proven to be valid, fair, and a reliable data tool for college admission” (Capterton). Capterton, president of the College Board, believes that the SAT’s and ACT’s should be used to determine a student’s acceptance because it is an accurate measure. What Capterton and deans of admissions of colleges and universities don’t know is the abundant amount of resources upper class families have for preparation, the creative talents a student has outside of taking tests, and the amount of stress they put on a 17 year old.

I have the distinct pleasure of welcoming all of you into the National Honor Society, a group built off of high standards of achievement, not only in the area of academics but also in character and leadership. I congratulate each of you and your parents.

Throughout high school and college we will go through a vast amount of testing but why? Testing is used to show a person’s amount of knowledge on a particular subject. Usually it’s for one specific subject and not a majority of them, standardized tests administered in schools today include all testable subjects as in English, Math, Science, Writing, and Reading. However, before we can all take the next step and begin our college careers, we have to take one of two tests, the ACT or the SAT. These two exams demine the college you get into, the amount of scholarships you will receive, and even whether or not your will be accepted into said college, all determined by the score you receive.

Imagine a test capable of making or breaking a student's chances of getting into his or her dream college. Imagine a test score that can be easily influenced, but only through thousands of dollars worth of coaching. Now imagine that same test but biased towards certain crowds of students while also being incapable of accurately predicting their futures. Is this the test you want for colleges to use in order to distinguish students? This is the SAT—famous for the unnecessary pressure it presents to students as well as the unfair disadvantages it presents to many others. Since these SAT scores are extremely artificial, SAT tests are not an accurate predictor for future success.

Not only does standardized testing limit students from attending the college of their dreams, it also puts a large amount of stress on students and teachers and the test do not test for necessary skills needed in the real world. With this current system, students are limited to what schools they can get into. By only allowing students with a certain score into a school, this makes it unequal to all students. This then does not allow students that have potential in classes at that college to truly be happy at the college they end up in. The test seems to determine an individual’s potential by their ability to retain information they learned in years past. Not every career will require in depth knowledge of algebraic formulas or scientific methods taught in school, therefore, to require students to test high on the ACT or SAT when the career they want to pursue may not require certain knowledge that is tested seems illogical. By making standardized tests less important in determining college admission, all students would have equal opportunity to attend the college they want.

Colleges and universities such as Iowa State need ways to evaluate applying students which really show their potential as college students. A three hour-long test cannot reveal many traits of successful students. Qualities like good study habits, a positive self-concept, the ability to set goals, and real world knowledge are not shown in a test like the SAT (Fairness). Another problem with the SAT is that today so many preparation methods exist; the tests aren’t really a true showing of what a student knows. There are many companies who claim their product can be that miracle teacher that boosts a student’s score and get them into the college of their dreams. Should colleges really be base this large decision on knowledge that can be just "picked up" in four short weeks or an entire twelve-year education?

                Our school system has taught us that we should be good at test taking, answering multiple questions, and how to write essays. For a lot of students during their high school career SAT or ACT was a really important part in their life. Many students rely on their test scores

These formal exams test both what has learned and what the teacher has taught. Unfortunately, they accomplish neither. A well known fact about standardized tests is that a typical student can take the same test twice and, each time, and receive different scores. This past year, In fact, I found myself taking the ACT test 3 times before I got a score I was satisfied with. However, the accuracy of such a test is questionable. Additionally, if you were to look on the shelves of a library, you will find a selection of books on preparation for each different standardized tests including ACT, SAT, AP Testing, GED to name a few. The point of each of these being how to prepare yourself. Logically, the best way to prepare for a test should be to study the included material. However, this idea no longer applies. Success on standardized tests involves students practicing ways to control their abundant stress and utilize their short given amount of time for every section or helpful tactics for memorization. Performance on the tests depends less and less on an existing knowledge than it does on an ability to beat the system. The anxiety, distraction, and emotional distress play a great number into a student’s ability to perform well as he or she sits to complete the test. Under this unhealthy pressure, the odds are completely against them. In spite of promising intellect and determination, the most efficient learner can fail. Then how can standardized test actually measure what a student knows or doesn’t

An argument of this nature is described by Jeffrey Penn, a reporter for the New York Academy of Sciences, who states, “Despite some limitations and the intense criticism by opponents of standardized testing, colleges and universities can reliably use admissions tests to screen applicants”. He continues this argument by arguing that tests like the SAT are good predictors of how well a student will do in college. Though there may be correlation between the two, test scores are no nearly the only factor in college admission or success. There are a vast number of college courses in existence and success in many of them have nothing to do with how high a student scores on the SAT. On top of that, these tests are not always accurate for a number of reasons. Diane Andrews, an individual chosen to represent the organization FairTest, points out that, “An individual's score may vary from day to day due to testing conditions or the test-taker's mental or emotional state”. A strong student who works hard in school could be dealing with something personally or just have a small fluke and have their test score cause colleges to turn them away. So much emphasis should not be placed on standardized tests such as

No one’s future should be determined by a test. Many colleges accept students based on their test scores. Standardized test does not accurately measure student’s ability to think or learn. These tests are unfair to bad test takers, people with test anxiety, and people that weren’t encouraged to excel.

First, standardized tests only measure a very small amount of what actually makes education meaningful. According to Gerald W. Bracey, a late education researcher, these tests cannot accurately measure other important qualities of what make humans, humans. These qualities include individuality, creativity, passion, curiosity, and resourcefulness, to name a few. These qualities play no role in determining our future when it comes to education. Sure, you have a choice of what field of work you would like to go into, but in reality standardized tests ultimately limit your choices. The creator of standardized tests, the maker of the multiple choice tests you know today, Frederick J. Kelly, even said “These tests are too crude to be used, and should be abandoned.” This shows that even the man in charge of these tests, believes that they are too hard on the kids and should be gotten rid of.

Hello, we would like to welcome and thank all of you for being here with us tonight to celebrate our high school graduation . It truly is an honor to be surrounded by so many significant people who have impacted our lives immensely throughout our highschool years. We would like to thank the wonderful people here tonight that we have the privilege to call our parents. Whether you are a mother a father, grandma or grandpa, or an aunt or an uncle; we are here, graduating today because of all of you.