Ayres

Mary Ayres

Professor Porter

English 1201

20 March 2022

How accurate is the ACT in showing a student’s ability and should colleges use it as a factor

when determining student admittance?

Every year across the country, about 1 million students find themselves taking the ACT

to try and boost their chances of getting into the college they have dreamed of since they were a

little kid. Colleges then look at the scores you get and based on the results, they decide whether

or not they will accept you into their university. Recently, this has changed a little due to the

covid pandemic. Colleges started looking away from scores and more towards the students’

overall performance during their high school career. Since the pandemic has slowed down,

should colleges start looking at ACT scores again? Do the scores even represent the true ability

of each student?

In 1959 the American College Testing Program was created. The ACT consists of four

different sections: English, Reading, Math, and Science. The ACT is a test that “is required for

juniors in high school to take in 13 states.” This number has increased over the years. This is

why most colleges require you to submit your ACT scores when applying to their university.

When the pandemic arose, students were forced to stay home and did not receive the

same education that they would have had in a normal year. It was also harder for students to take

the ACT because everything around them was shutting down. Colleges noticed that these

students were not being given the same opportunities and education over this period. According

to the Washington Post, they believe that colleges should start to, “rethink their use of
 Ayres
1

standardized test scores as a factor of admissions during and after the coronavirus pandemic”

(Strauss). Due to the pandemic, colleges over this time started becoming test-optional.

According to a New York Times article, “The University of California decided to no

longer look at applicants’ SAT and ACT scores” (Doyne). They decided this because they

believe the tests are biased towards the rich and wealthy people who can afford to retake the test

over and over and also afford private coaching and test prep. The University of California sees it

as unfit and unfair so decided to move away from looking at the test score. They now look more

into what the students are involved in within their high school and all the classes they have taken.

Also, the university made a comment to the board saying that it, “already enrolls tens of

thousands of transfer students who are not required to take any standardized admission tests”

(Doyne). Since not all students have to take it, then why make all students take it in the first

place.

Another look into standardized tests shows that they do not test students on every field of

education. This being said, it does not show a student’s full potential and abilities, it only shows

how they do in Reading, Math, Science, and English. Also, these tests do not account for all the

factors that could impact the test scores negatively. Some of the factors that could have a

negative impact according to The Gargoyle are, “stress, lack of language skills, test anxiety and

lack of motivation” (Negash). Since there are so many factors that can affect the scores

negatively, it is unfair to admit students based on the scores they get.

Another article shows research that has been done to dig deeper into standardized testing.

The researchers wanted to find out whether or not standardized tests measure general cognitive

abilities. After they conducted one of their tests, they found, “test items covered few general

cognitive skills” (Marzano). General cognitive skills which are skills that students are required
 Ayres
1

to use across several disciplines such as summarizing, are not assessed on standardized tests, yet

are some of the crucial skills that students need to have in order to be successful. Researchers

are concerned that if general cognitive skills are not being assessed, then teachers will not feel

those skills are important, and then they will not be taught. According to Marzano, general

cognitive skills are the skills that are more useful to people in the real world and so those are the

skills that need to be assessed, to ensure that they are being taught, which is not what

standardized tests are currently assessing.

While researching standardized testing it appears there are many reasons why

standardized testing should knot be used in the college admittance process. These include

inequality in test preparation, test anxiety, lack of motivation, stress, lack of language skills, and

not testing real-life skills. While there are many negatives to using standardized testing, colleges

do need a way in which they can compare students to find out which students are the best fit for

their college.
 Ayres
1

Works Cited
 Ayres
1

Doyne, S. (2020, May 26). Should students be required to take the SAT and act to apply to

college? The New York Times. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/05/26/learning/should-students-be-required-to-take-the-

sat-and-act-to-apply-to-college.html

Heimbach, A. (2021, July 15). Which states require the Act? full list and advice. Which States

Require the ACT? Full List and Advice. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from

https://blog.prepscholar.com/which-states-require-the-act-full-list-and-advice

Marzano, R. J. (1990, May). STANDARDIZED TESTS: DO THEY MEASURE GENERAL

COGNITIVE ABILITIES? Shibboleth authentication request. Retrieved March 20, 2022,

from https://journals-ohiolink-edu.sinclair.ohionet.org/apexprod/rws_ejcsearch/r/

1507/99?

p99_entity_id=361133&p99_entity_type=MAIN_FILE&cs=34YSFGGoIp624V682RmF

5hewtsxqDmvUEUblkturM-

h2g2njFNwmGAwvZgTZ6ffrqZgzCGiYLIwj4NHO9FofUQw

Negash, H. (2021, January 25). Standardized tests do not predict intelligence. T H E G A R G O

Y L E. Retrieved March 20, 2022, from

https://denversouthgargoyle.com/3548/opinion/standardized-tests-do-not-predict-

intelligence/#:~:text=Additionally%2C%20standardized%20tests%20do

%20not,improvement%20from%20the%20past%20year

Strauss, V. (2020, August 19). Colleges should rethink using standardized test scores for

admissions, Major Counselors' Group says. The Washington Post. Retrieved March 20,
 Ayres
1

2022, from https://www.washingtonpost.com/education/2020/08/19/colleges-should-

rethink-using-standardized-test-scores-admissions-major-counselors-group-says/