QUARTER 1
Ace Paragraph
Argument Essay
Argument Essay
Kristine Arukwe
Phillips
Ap English
08 October 2018
Standardized Tests vs. Intelligence
Standardized tests have been around for years with the intent to assess students overall intelligence. As student's approach their junior/senior year they take these standardized test required for college admission. Students must study for these test containing material they probably learned in previous grades and have forgotten or even base their studying upon guessing what has been on previous standardized tests in hopes to recognize a similar question. For weeks students wait for their results, which is scored based upon the number of right answers chosen, nothing more or less. Which then the result will determine their academic future. However, the question becomes can one test truly calculate a person's intelligence?
No! These standardized tests, required for college acceptance, only add pressure and prevent creativity in students. The weight of these standardized test on a students academic future only adds pressure to the situation and causes bad test taking. Instead of actually remembering the information needed to answer the questions the weight of the test remains on a students mind. This pressure of needing a good score for college acceptance causes students to cheat. Whether the cheating is done with a device not permitted during the test or copying from a neighbors paper, the risky action tends to take place and is common in these settings.
Another factor that standardized testing lacks in is valuing creativity. Many students, especially high school students are vibrant, young, curious and full of creativity. Whereas standardized tests value artificial learning so students aren't tested on their experiences or artistic abilities, instead only on skills that can be learned in a textbook. Colleges look for creative and out of the box students to take on new discoveries and inventions, however if standardized tests discourage creativity there won't be any innovative individuals to uncover the unknowns in the world. So society itself is contradicting what it wants for future generations for supporting standardized tests.
Then why is standardized testing still a requirement in 2018? Administrators who don't agree with these statements will say standardized testing isn't the sole information looked at when accepting/denying a students application. However, it's still a huge part of the elimination process. Many acceptance administrators for colleges are instructed to choose students who meet colleges ideal testing quotas and if a student fails to fulfill the requirements they are denied without the rest of their application being considered. Administrators say it keeps all students on the same grading scale since depending on a cities GPA scales the unweighted and weighted scale can differ. So by having standardized tests like the SAT and ACT that grade all students the same this allows all students to be looked at equally. Although, that idea necessarily equal because students fortunate enough to receive SAT and ACT preparation typically are at an advantage over those students who can't financially afford the extra preparations.
Standardized tests importance need to be re-evaluated because they aren't serving their original purpose of assessing students intelligence. Instead they're adding stress to students during an exciting time in their young lives, promoting students to cheat due to the insane pressure the test puts on them, discourages creativity, and overall isn't equal to all students. Standardized tests required for college shouldn't be a requirement, but an option based on a student's preference because these students are the next generation and they should have a say in how they are evaluated. At the end of the day these students’ test results won’t matter, but what will matter is true creativity and intelligence that will impact future generations and eventually a society as a whole.
Phillips
Ap English
08 October 2018
Standardized Tests vs. Intelligence
Standardized tests have been around for years with the intent to assess students overall intelligence. As student's approach their junior/senior year they take these standardized test required for college admission. Students must study for these test containing material they probably learned in previous grades and have forgotten or even base their studying upon guessing what has been on previous standardized tests in hopes to recognize a similar question. For weeks students wait for their results, which is scored based upon the number of right answers chosen, nothing more or less. Which then the result will determine their academic future. However, the question becomes can one test truly calculate a person's intelligence?
No! These standardized tests, required for college acceptance, only add pressure and prevent creativity in students. The weight of these standardized test on a students academic future only adds pressure to the situation and causes bad test taking. Instead of actually remembering the information needed to answer the questions the weight of the test remains on a students mind. This pressure of needing a good score for college acceptance causes students to cheat. Whether the cheating is done with a device not permitted during the test or copying from a neighbors paper, the risky action tends to take place and is common in these settings.
Another factor that standardized testing lacks in is valuing creativity. Many students, especially high school students are vibrant, young, curious and full of creativity. Whereas standardized tests value artificial learning so students aren't tested on their experiences or artistic abilities, instead only on skills that can be learned in a textbook. Colleges look for creative and out of the box students to take on new discoveries and inventions, however if standardized tests discourage creativity there won't be any innovative individuals to uncover the unknowns in the world. So society itself is contradicting what it wants for future generations for supporting standardized tests.
Then why is standardized testing still a requirement in 2018? Administrators who don't agree with these statements will say standardized testing isn't the sole information looked at when accepting/denying a students application. However, it's still a huge part of the elimination process. Many acceptance administrators for colleges are instructed to choose students who meet colleges ideal testing quotas and if a student fails to fulfill the requirements they are denied without the rest of their application being considered. Administrators say it keeps all students on the same grading scale since depending on a cities GPA scales the unweighted and weighted scale can differ. So by having standardized tests like the SAT and ACT that grade all students the same this allows all students to be looked at equally. Although, that idea necessarily equal because students fortunate enough to receive SAT and ACT preparation typically are at an advantage over those students who can't financially afford the extra preparations.
Standardized tests importance need to be re-evaluated because they aren't serving their original purpose of assessing students intelligence. Instead they're adding stress to students during an exciting time in their young lives, promoting students to cheat due to the insane pressure the test puts on them, discourages creativity, and overall isn't equal to all students. Standardized tests required for college shouldn't be a requirement, but an option based on a student's preference because these students are the next generation and they should have a say in how they are evaluated. At the end of the day these students’ test results won’t matter, but what will matter is true creativity and intelligence that will impact future generations and eventually a society as a whole.
2 Timed Writings, One & Two