A wise man by the name of Albert Einstein once said, “Everyone is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid” As a junior in high school who has taken numerous standardized tests since elementary school, I am very perturbed in how fair or just standardized testing is. With all the controversy going on today about standardized testing, what society fails to realize is that standardized tests are neither fair nor objective and that their use only deteriorates the education system because they cause teachers to cheat, discriminate against lower income and minority students and they do not effectively measure student achievement. Instead of having standardized tests,
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After doing research, Joseph Soares a vocal critic in the use of standardized tests in college admission processes and a sociology professor at Wake Forest University has concluded that college entrance exams such as the SAT and ACT put minority and low income students with significant disadvantages that result in a lack of diversity in four year colleges. In some research done by Soares on UNC- Chapel Hill, North Carolinas flagship university he states that, “No. UNC-Chapel Hill 's student population has the same economic composition of an elite private college. At UNC-Chapel Hill, 72 percent of undergraduates come from families with incomes in the top quartile of North Carolinians; the national average for private colleges is 79 percent. Also at Chapel Hill, only 12 percent of students come from families in the bottom half of North Carolina’s incomes.” (Qtd. In Standardized Tests Discriminate Against Minority and Lower Income Students) So essentially why students from higher income families have better chances of getting in to four year universities in this case UNC- Chapel Hill than those from poorer families is because college admissions have a higher weightage on test scores rather than high school grades, generating a student body that is biased toward students from higher incomes and against those from lower incomes as well as racial minorities. …show more content…
Although many believe that a student’s test scores have a direct correlation to their achievement, however this is not the case, a student’s achievement and their test scores are two different things. For instance, Joan Harris a teacher that has taught for more than twenty-five years and whom is recognized by the National Association for the Education of young children stated that,“ Contrary to popular assumptions about standardized testing, the tests do a poor job of measuring student achievement. They fail to measure such important attributes as creativity and critical thinking skills. Studies indicate that standardized tests reward superficial thinking and may discourage more analytical thinking. Additionally, because of the small sample of knowledge that is tested, standardized tests provide a very incomplete picture of student achievement.” (Qtd. In Standardized Tests Do Not Effectively Measure Student Achievement) Judging one’s achievement by their test sources is not reliable because they do not provide information on the student’s demographics needed to evaluate their achievement such as how successful the school or program is and the teacher’s competency as well as the grades that the student has
After doing research, Joseph Soares a vocal critic in the use of standardized tests in college admission processes and a sociology professor at Wake Forest University has concluded that college entrance exams such as the SAT and ACT put minority and low income students with significant disadvantages that result in a lack of diversity in four year colleges. In some research done by Soares on UNC- Chapel Hill, North Carolinas flagship university he states that, “No. UNC-Chapel Hill 's student population has the same economic composition of an elite private college. At UNC-Chapel Hill, 72 percent of undergraduates come from families with incomes in the top quartile of North Carolinians; the national average for private colleges is 79 percent. Also at Chapel Hill, only 12 percent of students come from families in the bottom half of North Carolina’s incomes.” (Qtd. In Standardized Tests Discriminate Against Minority and Lower Income Students) So essentially why students from higher income families have better chances of getting in to four year universities in this case UNC- Chapel Hill than those from poorer families is because college admissions have a higher weightage on test scores rather than high school grades, generating a student body that is biased toward students from higher incomes and against those from lower incomes as well as racial minorities. …show more content…
Although many believe that a student’s test scores have a direct correlation to their achievement, however this is not the case, a student’s achievement and their test scores are two different things. For instance, Joan Harris a teacher that has taught for more than twenty-five years and whom is recognized by the National Association for the Education of young children stated that,“ Contrary to popular assumptions about standardized testing, the tests do a poor job of measuring student achievement. They fail to measure such important attributes as creativity and critical thinking skills. Studies indicate that standardized tests reward superficial thinking and may discourage more analytical thinking. Additionally, because of the small sample of knowledge that is tested, standardized tests provide a very incomplete picture of student achievement.” (Qtd. In Standardized Tests Do Not Effectively Measure Student Achievement) Judging one’s achievement by their test sources is not reliable because they do not provide information on the student’s demographics needed to evaluate their achievement such as how successful the school or program is and the teacher’s competency as well as the grades that the student has