Standardized Test Scores Research Paper

The Students Behind the Numbers ACT, SAT, GPA; three acronyms that every student dreads because the acronyms are commonly associated with the stress of college applications. Applying to college is a process that many high school seniors despise. A majority of college applications require students to submit numbers that define them: GPA, class rank, and standardized test scores such as the ACT or SAT. In fact, the SAT exam was first offered in the late 1930’s to help students without family connections or money be acknowledged by top Ivy League schools (Westervelt). Newly formed colleges and universities followed the decision of the Ivy League schools and implemented the SAT which increased the pressure on all students. The expectation to succeed …show more content…
Standardized test scores are a way to nationally compare how students achieve on a particular test. However, it is difficult to evenly compare scores because the environment of every test center is different. Also, it is only truly equitable to compare test scores of the same date because the difficulty of the test varies. Due to the inequity of standardized test scores, an increasing number of schools have been implementing a test optional policy where applicants are not required to submit their scores of any standardized test (Lash). The policy decreases the incentive for schools to teach students how to test and now teachers can focus on what they should be teaching, an overall education. Diversity is increased when the test optional policy is administered due to the fact that students using the policy are frequently minorities, women from a lower socioeconomic background, or people with learning disabilities. Additionally, President Obama discussed the test optional policy in January 2014 in his pledge to raise the number of low income students in postsecondary education. Many students are grateful for the policy as it allows them the option to not worry about the effects of a bad test score. Evy Borkan was a high school student in California who had a good GPA but feared her SAT score would hinder her postsecondary education options. When Borkan discussed the test optional policy she explained, “I just liked the fact that they were putting into question the merit [that] the SAT scores can have on an application” (Westervelt). Borkan hopes that more colleges will introduce a test optional policy to applications to encourage greater diversity in schools across the United