The Standardized Testing Dilemma 1

The Standardized Testing Dilemma

Calvin A. Frodsham

The Academy for Math, Engineering, and Science

ELA 11

Dr. K. Glassett

5/10/21
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Abstract

Standardized testing has been a major part of college admissions in the U.S. for decades.

It has been an effective metric for assessing student readiness and capability of performing in

college, and that is why it has been so popular. Recently, however, many U.S. colleges have

begun to stop mandating standardized tests to enter. There are both benefits and drawbacks to the

tests that could either make or break the tradition of standardized tests. After some research about

said benefits and drawbacks, one would learn that standardized tests can improve chances for

scholarships, but can also be discriminatory based on race, class, or sex. This report will attempt

to compare the benefits and drawbacks of standardized testing with the goal of deciding whether

standardized tests are valuable and should be kept, or are discriminatory and should be stopped.
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The Standardized Testing Dilemma

Standardized testing has been used in American Public Schools for decades. It has been a

widely popular method of testing students on their understanding of certain topics to judge

readiness for higher education. For years, standardized tests such as the ACT and SAT were

arguably some of the strongest, most widely used methods of judging college readiness, but

recently, colleges have been looking at test scores less and less. This is because recent studies

have shown that tests like the ACT and SAT can be racist, classist, and sexist. This raises the

question of whether standardized testing should be disbanded. Many would argue that

standardized testing is the most accurate method of testing academic performance per school and

therefore should not be abolished. Most colleges and scholars agree that abolishing standardized

testing is the next step to ensuring all students can have equal opportunities in institutions of

higher education.

One of the key facts about standardized testing is that it has racist and discriminatory

origins. Racism in standardized testing can be traced back to the 1930s when the original SAT

was invented. “Carl Brigham, the inventor of the original SAT, was a eugenicist and wrote that

the test would help prove the superiority of the white race and prevent “the infiltration of white

blood into the Negro.” (Gates, 2019). Knowing this information, it is easy to deduce that the SAT

is discriminatory in nature. On top of that, average scores from modern versions of the ACT and

SAT have varied based on a test taker’s class and race. According to Elsesser (2019), “in 2018,

combined SAT scores for Asian and White students averaged over 1100, while all other groups

averaged below 1000.” In the same article, Elsesser also stated “a 2015 analysis found that

students with family income less than $20,000 scored lowest on the test, and those with family
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income above $200,000 scored highest.” This data alone has made colleges across the country

question whether they should continue to use standardized testing to judge student readiness and

has caused many to drop standardized testing as a requirement to enter. Many view this as a step

in the right direction, but others would argue the opposite.

Although Standardized tests have been proven to be discriminatory, many have continued

to argue that they are a necessity to the educational system. They can be used to measure what

subjects a student is good at, and which subjects they should improve upon. This is something

that is hard to measure by only looking at writing samples and assignments, so standardized

testing is a valuable asset when looking at how students and schools perform. Pang (2021) stated

that “Standardized tests are relatively fair in the sense that everyone will be taking the exact same

exam on test day… things like GPA can often be misleading or inflated, the SAT and ACT are

graded based on national standards.” Standardized testing can also be a good indicator to colleges

about students’ capabilities in regard to school in general because it is a good metric for

assessing students’ levels of capability on universal topics. Topics like math, science, English,

and reading, which are often the main categories on standardized tests, will always be applicable

in life after school. This means that testing students to be sure that they comprehend these

subjects before attending higher education is crucial to having a healthy emerging society.

According to Churchill (2019), “They assess students based on a similar set of questions, are

given under nearly identical testing conditions and are graded by a machine or blind reviewer.

They are intended to provide an accurate, unfiltered measure of what a student knows.”

Theoretically, this means standardized tests give students equal opportunity and difficulty when
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taking the test; however, there are other variables that must be taken into account before

concluding that standardized tests should be discontinued or kept.

One of the most important pieces of information concerning varied standardized test

scores is one that is frequently overlooked. The tests may all be created equal, but that does not

mean in any way that the test-takers themselves are all equal. Every student that takes a

standardized test will react differently, meaning some will naturally receive better scores than

others. Some may think that this is simply because some students are smarter than others, but this

is not necessarily true. A student who doesn’t perform as well as one of his peers in school could

still possibly get a higher score than that peer, only because they don’t get test anxiety. “in a

typical classroom of 25 students, between one and three students were at risk for developing test

anxiety, including students of average intelligence, students with learning disabilities, and even

gifted students.” (Fulton, 2016). This shows that every student can react to the test differently,

depending on if they have test anxiety or not, meaning standardized testing favors some students

over others. This, on top of the other evidence that proved standardized tests were discriminatory,

was enough to make more than half of all U.S. colleges disband the mandate of standardized tests

for admission purposes.

After reviewing research from both sides of the standardized testing dilemma, one might

still think that colleges should continue the use of mandated standardized tests to enter. They

would not be wrong to think so. Standardized tests do have positive characteristics, such as

testing students’ comprehension of basic college topics before entering, which is good for both

the student and the college, and also increasing opportunities for students to receive scholarships.

These benefits are definitely good for students, but what good are these benefits if not all
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students’ scores represent the work they put into the test? If a student’s test score is changed

based on something that they cannot control, that could affect their attempts to get into college

and their future. The idea that an exam could have the power to judge whether a student is

worthy of moving forward on their educational path based on a characteristic that the student

does not control is shockingly inhumane for this period in time. More and more, colleges across

the country are realizing the effect that standardized tests are having on certain populations and

are discontinuing mandated standardized tests so that every student, regardless of their race,

ethnicity, gender, or socioeconomic, can have access to higher education. To most scholars and

students, this is the most logical step in the direction of equalizing American education.
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References

Gates, M. (2019, November 12). A Civil Rights Challenge to Standardized Testing in College

Admissions | Harvard Civil Rights-Civil Liberties Law Review. Harvard Civil Rights-Civil

Liberties Law Review. Retrieved from https://harvardcrcl.org/a-civil-rights

-challenge-to-standardized-testing-in-college- admissions/

Elsesser, K. (2019, December 12). Lawsuit Claims SAT And ACT Are Biased—Here’s What

Research Says. Forbes. Retrieved from https://www.forbes.com/sites/kimelsesser/2019/12

/11/lawsuit-claims-sat-and-act-are-biased-heres-what-research-says/?sh=723966e03c42

By Raymond Pang March 14, 2021, 7:49 pm EDT. (2021, March 15). Column: The pros and

cons of standardized tests. The Daily Tar Heel. retrieved from

https://www.dailytarheel.com /article/2021/03/opinion-admissions-testing-requirements

Churchill, A. (2015, March 8). Bless the tests: Three reasons for standardized testing. The

Thomas B. Fordham Institute. Retrieved from https://fordhaminstitute.org/national/

commentary/bless -tests-three-reasons-standardized-testing

Fulton, B. A. (2016, April). The Relationship Between Test Anxiety and Standardized Test Scores.

Walden University. Retrieved from https://scholarworks.waldenu.edu/cgi/viewcontent

.cgi?article=3361&context=dissertations