Lelac Almagor's Argument Against Standardized Testing

Junior and senior years of high school are the most stressful time for students when you combined advanced classes, sports, and other extracurriculars. While trying to maintain a high collegiate level GPA, students must also deal with the stress of taking standardized tests, specifically the ACT and SAT. Many students will have to take both exams multiple times, not only to complete college applications but to ensure they score high enough to meet that college's requirements. Supporters believe that standardized tests are useful when determining a student's intellectual and academic level, and I have found that looking at this view to be eye-opening. Students, including myself, respect that supporters want students to do their best and
People who advocate for standardized tests say they are inclusive and non-discriminatory because they ensure content is equivalent for all students. Lelac Almagor, who advocates for the positives, standardized testing, wrote an article titled “The Good in Standardized Testing,” in the Boston Review. Almagor writes that “[T]esting doesn’t produce the staggering gaps in performance between privileged and unprivileged students…[t]esting only seeks to tell the truth about those gaps.” I appreciate the commitment of these teachers who find new ways to prep kids for standardized tests, rather than complain and not teach the kids. Supporters believe that standardized tests are not narrowing the curriculum, rather they are focusing it on important basic skills all students need to master. Therefore, considering these views, it is understandable as to why standardized testing is seen to be a great indicator of a student’s future academic
Being a student who has taken the ACT and SAT, I agree that standardized testing is a good way to prove a student’s intelligence and that it does not discriminate. By analyzing previous points, we could come to a common ground to make testing more individualized for each student by way of online testing, but at the same time measure a students intelligence. “The Best of Both Worlds,” written by Jack Schneider, Joe Feldman, and Dan French, informs of a way in which teachers pull kids at random times to “amass a body of evidence and experiences so they can develop common and research-based grading practices within and across grade levels, departments, and schools…. ultimately creating consistent expectations of standards performance levels with a grading and reporting system that reliably and accurately reports that performance.” By understanding the beliefs of supporters, it is clear that the main goal is to provide a test that demonstrates how well a kid will do in college. Combining the ideas of straightforward and non-discriminatory testing, with an individualized approach, we can reach the goal of making sure students leave school well educated before going off the