Inefficiency of Standardized Testing
Nicole Capuano
Nicole Castle
ENGL-1210 Final Essay
November 28, 2007
Inefficiency of Standardized Testing Preparing for college takes four years in the making. Students spend their high school career building up their eligibility for their desired college or university. In these four years, there are nights of non-stop studying for final exams, part time jobs, and countless numbers of extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, this still is not enough for colleges. Today, either the American College Test (ACT) or the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) are required in order to gain acceptance to a college or university. Both of these tests have now become an intricate part of the admissions process. The only problem is, although they claim to be useful to the student, the test regulations prohibit fair means for scoring one’s intelligence. The time constraints are unfair, and the restrictions put on the students provide nothing but harsh testing conditions. These tests have so much importance placed on them that students stress themselves out and spend hours studying for a test that is supposed to test someone’s basic knowledge. The fees for the tests are also another disadvantage to the student. Although there are some who are eligible for a fee waiver, once the test is purchased and the consumers are conned into buying the numerous amount of helpful “study guides”, the average person is spending well over fifty dollars. And especially in today’s economy, not many people are in the position to hand out this kind of money to a “non-profit organization”, considering most students take the ACT or SAT two to three times. Once the fees, the amount of pressure and stress that is put on the students, and the abnormal testing regulations and standards are all combined, it is impossible to get an accurate estimation of someone’s intelligence. The ACT and SAT are standardized tests that are composed of several different core subjects high school students take.
Nicole Castle
ENGL-1210 Final Essay
November 28, 2007
Inefficiency of Standardized Testing Preparing for college takes four years in the making. Students spend their high school career building up their eligibility for their desired college or university. In these four years, there are nights of non-stop studying for final exams, part time jobs, and countless numbers of extracurricular activities. Unfortunately, this still is not enough for colleges. Today, either the American College Test (ACT) or the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) are required in order to gain acceptance to a college or university. Both of these tests have now become an intricate part of the admissions process. The only problem is, although they claim to be useful to the student, the test regulations prohibit fair means for scoring one’s intelligence. The time constraints are unfair, and the restrictions put on the students provide nothing but harsh testing conditions. These tests have so much importance placed on them that students stress themselves out and spend hours studying for a test that is supposed to test someone’s basic knowledge. The fees for the tests are also another disadvantage to the student. Although there are some who are eligible for a fee waiver, once the test is purchased and the consumers are conned into buying the numerous amount of helpful “study guides”, the average person is spending well over fifty dollars. And especially in today’s economy, not many people are in the position to hand out this kind of money to a “non-profit organization”, considering most students take the ACT or SAT two to three times. Once the fees, the amount of pressure and stress that is put on the students, and the abnormal testing regulations and standards are all combined, it is impossible to get an accurate estimation of someone’s intelligence. The ACT and SAT are standardized tests that are composed of several different core subjects high school students take.