Pros And Cons Of Standardized Testing In The United States
COLLEGES: WELCOME, NOW GIVE US ALL YOUR MONEY Standardized tests have a similar purpose for colleges as there was for students, but there are also more benefits for colleges using standardized tests. Tests like the SAT and ACT are the most common college “entrance” exams where colleges choose what ranges of scores they are willing to accept. The only way for a college to know what kind of potential a student has, and if he will excel is by using standardized test scores. Without access to many records or other academic progress reports, colleges have no other way of knowing the differences between students relatively quickly because standardized tests usually account for the variations in schools’ curricula across the world. Even so, regardless
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Chronicle of Higher Education journalist Ben Gose reported, “The SAT is accused of relying on a narrow set of analytical skills for predicting whether students will do well in college” (Gose). Moreover, Gose is implying that the emphasis on standardized test scores direct relation to doing better at certain colleges has become a measurement for colleges choosing students. In addition to his position, colleges also look very closely at introductory tests like the PSAT/NMSQT. The National Merit Scholar Qualifying Test (NMSQT) is paired with the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), usually taken in October of the student’s junior year of high school. In other words, the PSAT is a SAT test before the actual SAT test. The PSAT is the chance for a student to become familiar with the SAT format before the actual SAT; however, this test is also the NMQST which determines the nation’s top PSAT score holding students and makes them Nation Merit Scholars. National Merit Scholars look extremely impressive to colleges, influencing the colleges to give the scholars benefits in the form of scholarships. So before the student is even ready for the SAT, the PSAT seems to hold a higher significance for colleges, as far as giving scholarships, to students before they even start filling out college applications. On the downside, there are students who are unprepared for the PSAT, since they also had to focus on regular schoolwork, so it seems unfair that this is one of the few tests that impact one of a student’s scholarship
Chronicle of Higher Education journalist Ben Gose reported, “The SAT is accused of relying on a narrow set of analytical skills for predicting whether students will do well in college” (Gose). Moreover, Gose is implying that the emphasis on standardized test scores direct relation to doing better at certain colleges has become a measurement for colleges choosing students. In addition to his position, colleges also look very closely at introductory tests like the PSAT/NMSQT. The National Merit Scholar Qualifying Test (NMSQT) is paired with the Preliminary Scholastic Aptitude Test (PSAT), usually taken in October of the student’s junior year of high school. In other words, the PSAT is a SAT test before the actual SAT test. The PSAT is the chance for a student to become familiar with the SAT format before the actual SAT; however, this test is also the NMQST which determines the nation’s top PSAT score holding students and makes them Nation Merit Scholars. National Merit Scholars look extremely impressive to colleges, influencing the colleges to give the scholars benefits in the form of scholarships. So before the student is even ready for the SAT, the PSAT seems to hold a higher significance for colleges, as far as giving scholarships, to students before they even start filling out college applications. On the downside, there are students who are unprepared for the PSAT, since they also had to focus on regular schoolwork, so it seems unfair that this is one of the few tests that impact one of a student’s scholarship