The leaves are turning from a summer green to the array of orange, yellow, and red hues. The fall has begun, but this means so has the college application season. Thousands of high school seniors are racing to testing centers last minute to gain extra points on their ACT and SAT scores. American College Testing (ACT) and Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT) are college entrance tests giving ways for high school students to gain acceptance into college and earn merit scholarships. Typically Ivy League colleges require their students to score in the top 0.1% which means earning perfect scores on their ACT or SAT test. So when the fall season rolls around, students are cramming all night before the tests trying to memorize the tricks and ways to …show more content…
So poor scores by the students on standardized tests will give a district lower ranking. This causes schools to be strictly teaching to the standardized tests curriculums. So many schools and teachers focus on teaching how to perform well on the standardized test rather than other important subjects the students are passionate learning about. Students then start to utilize memorization techniques and creative ways to learn on how to beat the test rather than studying on history and sciences where there is potential to grow as a student and learn (Concordia University). These infamous tests put unnecessary stress on the students, teachers, administrators and even school districts. Some students are able to pick up the tricks easier than others, so they score higher. Therefore, the ACT and SAT do not test the intelligence of a student nor the abilities of a student as the test does not follow a high school curriculum, rather ACT and SAT are stressful tests for easy comparison nationally.
Moreover, standardized tests, ACT and SAT, are created as a fair comparison between all students as the test is written at the same time for all students each month, administered with consistent instructions, same allotted timing and scored in the same manner, but there are confounding variables that affect the scores of the students (Poulsen). When a student enters a testing area, their identity is replaced and they become a barcode: a
The standardized tests not only affect the students, but everyone else that is involved. It affects students by causing them stress and if they are unprivileged they do not get the tutoring and help that the privileged ones do (Reddell). Privileged children can get tutors to help teach them more about a topic. The unprivileged kids can get free tutoring at school but some are too embarrassed or scared to go ask for help. A kid should not be embarrassed about asking for help on a subject they are having troubles in they should be able to go to any teacher and not have other students around them making fun just because they are getting help because they do not know something. These tests have caused so much stress on not just students but also the teachers (Reddell). Students get more stressed over these tests than teachers do. They know that they need to try their best and it puts a ton of weight on them. Even though they can retake the test that does not mean a senior can. If a senior is to take these tests and fail then they have to come back either for summer school or back for a whole other year. It is not fair to a senior if they fail the test and have to come the next year or even during the summer just because he did not pass. A test should not be the reason he does not get to go to college that year and has to
This first reason that colleges should stop using the ACT/SAT is that some people are simply not skilled in taking standardized tests. Cecelia Simon confirms that “Some students really struggle with standardized testing, and their scores don’t reflect their abilities.” (Simon). As simple of a problem as this sounds, there are logical reasons behind poor test taking. One of the main reasons exists when test takers are busy and have other things on their minds causing them to become distracted. For example, if James has a chapter test in his precalculus class the day after he plans on taking the ACT, he is going to be distracted while taking his ACT. Since he was distracted, his score will not be accurate in relation to his
A root cause analysis (RCA) is a “systematic approach to understanding the causes of an adverse event and identifying system flaws that can be corrected to prevent the error from happening again” (Huber & Ogrinc, 2010). The root cause analysis is used to determine why the problem occurred in the first place and to identify the cause of a problem using a specific set of steps (Mind Tools, n.d.). The RCA team which consists of interprofessionals who are knowledgeable of the issues and processes related to the incident and the people who are involved in the incident should be formed first before the RCA meeting takes place (Huber & Ogrinc, 2010). In the given scenario, the team includes the emergency department (ED)
Standardized testing has been ruling over the lives of students, making or breaking them in their education without fair judgement. Tests like the SAT and the ACT count for way too much when applying to colleges, which in turn limits the student 's capabilities to thrive in an environment that would benefit them. There are many problems within a standardized test that deems them to be unreliable as a true test of knowledge. Although designed to test groups of students on intelligence, standardized testing neglects to fairly acknowledge the abilities of each unique student which reflect their true capabilities.
Students are overwhelmed with school, work, extra-curricular activities, family, etc. Perhaps standardized tests are a major contributor to students’ stress. A standardized test is any test scored in a consistent manner and requires test-takers to answer identical questions. Among the most common include the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and the American College Test (ACT). According to the article “Standardized Testing Has Negatively Impacted Public Schools” from Opposing Viewpoints in Context, the beginnings of standardized tests occurred during World War I when the American Psychological Association developed a “ground-administered test” to eliminate inefficient recruits (Solley 3). Today, standardized tests are necessary for college admission. Just last month, in March of 2016, College Board, the non-profit organization responsible for administering the SAT, altered the format of the test. It is now formatted more similar to the ACT and includes an optional essay reducing the score from 2400 to 1600. Many advocates argue standardized tests accurately measure academic intelligence and hold teachers and schools accountable. In today’s society, standardized tests have become the norm, and unfortunately, people overlook their negative effects despite research substantiating arguments about their disadvantages. Standardized tests are disadvantageous because they hinder education and contain bias.
Standardized tests are an unreliable measure of student performance. This is because students go by a certain curriculum in school, but the wording on the tests
Nearly half of Penn State freshman that may be seen on the first day, will not be there through the first semester. 46 percent of college freshmen drop out of college their first year (Higgins). Why are nearly half of all students dropping out, when in order to be accepted they had to meet ‘college readiness benchmarks’? One of the most well-known benchmarks is the SAT. In fact, 1.7 million students took the SAT in 2015, which is higher from the previous year of 1.67 million (Adams). These numbers are very large due to the fact that most colleges and universities require students to send their scores as part of the application process. Although most require SAT scores to be admitted, SAT scores are unnecessary
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
Have you ever thought about what college you want to go to after high school? In order to get into that college, you must be accepted. Colleges look for a numerous amount of criteria in order for you to get accepted, and one of those things colleges look for is your standardized test score. The standardized test is a test administered and scored in a consistent, or “standard”, way (edglossary.org). Seeing that you must get a high enough score on the test in order for your dream college to accept you, the tests are difficult, but are very worth it at the end. Colleges have been accepting students into their school with standardized test scores for more than 50 years, and with that being said, it has seemed to work pretty well (content.time.com). In the end, standardized test scores show that you deserve to go to that college, and is also a way of showing that you’ve worked hard for so long to accomplish something huge.
Standardized tests do not asses skills when their questions are generalized for an entire population. Most of the time, the tests are not in conjunction with classroom skills and behavior. These tests asses for general knowledge and understanding of students rather that their actual abilities. Since the questions are general in nature, it becomes very difficult for teachers to know how to improve the students understanding of a particular subject based on just general information. This leads to teachers “teaching to test” rather than educating students in a proper way based on the real needs of the classroom. Another reason these tests do more bad than good is the fact that teachers actually have a test booklet instructing them on what to do if a student vomits during a test. Students study so hard for these tests and simply cannot handle the pressure. So in the end, their final scores reflect not their abilities, but the influences of their surrounding factors instead.
Throughout history, college has been a staple for people in America. Young high school graduates continuing their education to guarantee themselves a successful future in a career they feel passionate about. College helps build and expands one’s mind. Not only do students learn more in classes, the build social skills and critical thinking. Students attending college grow in all aspects of the mind. For most students in the 21st century, it has become somewhat of a norm to apply and continue education after high school. Every student wants to push themselves to achieve greatness. The rush of college applications includes a lot such as: writing essays, applying for scholarships, and taking the SATs. The SAT is a worldwide recognized test that
The ideal student that I am looking for must have these following qualities. Their GPAs need to be above 3.5 and the TOEFL minimum is 105 and SAT minimum is 1300. They must be one of the top 5 students in the class and they mustn’t have Fs for their any one of their subjects. They would better have taken part of all kinds of social activities or at least one summer school. It is better for them to know some special skills or know how to play a few kinds of musical instruments or be good at sports. They need to be very familiar with their teachers and counselors and they are required to submit well written essays and at least one recommendation letter from their foreign teacher.
The SAT is a standardized test widely used for college and university admissions in the United States. It was first introduced in 1926, and its name and scoring system have changed several times throughout the years. Many students around the world that want to pursue post-secondary institutions in the US make it a point to write the SAT at least once in their high school career to better their chances of getting a higher score. This test has three parts to it – one reading, writing and one math. In order to achieve the best score that they can possibly get and be placed in the highest possible percentile, students may decide to attend SAT preparation classes starting from the early years of High/Middle School. The unfortunate reality of these extra preparation courses is that they are quite expensive, and due to this, they mostly cater towards to higher or higher-middle class families. Courses that provide extra preparation such as Ivy Global are not very affordable to many families and so students. According to many statistics and news reports, the higher the test taker’s family income, the higher their scores in the test. This has been a topic of great controversy as we have grown in the modern society
What’s your ACT score? Students are branded with their ACT and SAT scores in society. Today’s education is heavily leaning on standardized tests. An average students takes over one hundred standardized tests in his or her school years. Standardized tests are used to measure and test the knowledge of students in a particular subject in a quick and easy way. These tests are also used to see the extend and skill of students for qualifications of certain colleges and scholarships. Some of these standardized tests include the ACT and the SAT. But do these test fully measure the strength of knowledge these students have practiced for their whole lives? Standardized testing does not allow students to fully and completely show their strength in education and instead results in breaking down students mentally and physically.
Every year, hundreds of thousands of students across the nation are required to take many standardized tests. Which are used to determine student’s achievement, progress and growth. These tests supposedly say the outcome of how much knowledge a student has or has not learned. The stakes are high all because of a test score. Standardized tests may determine a pass or fail status for grade levels through K-12 or admission into colleges if you are taking an ACT or SAT standardized test. It is unfair and a very unreliable method to use to measure the performance of students. Standardized testing methods creates more harm than good and should be revised because many students, teachers, and schools suffer from this annually.