Barry 1

Yahya Barry

Dr. Rosenberg

RCL 137--004

November 16th, 2018

NO CHILD LEFT DISCOURAGED

Most teenage students have been taught that the pinnacle of their developing minds will

be achieved at college. To prepare us for college, it seems as if schools have been feeding

students even before they can crawl with standardized tests. Most people in favor of standardized

tests argue they are a fair representation of student knowledge and agree that they include no

harm. 75% of parents say standardized tests "are a solid measure of their children's abilities" and

69% say the tests "are a good measure of the schools' quality according to a 2013 poll from AP-

NORC. Additionally, 93% of studies on student testing, including the use of large-scale and

high-stakes standardized tests, found a "positive effect" on student achievement according to a

2011 study conducted by scholar Richard P. Phelps. Opponents of standardized tests have looked

to the Programme for International Student Assessment to argue standardized tests have not

increased student achievement. Furthermore, they say standardized tests are not objective nor

fair, and have warped American curriculums into a system where we teach to the test. The

outcome of both sides has led colleges to take a new approach. The rise of the test-optional

movement in college admissions reflects a shift in society away from a limited evaluation of

potential.
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Standardized tests in America: A brief history

The testing craze in the U.S. can be attributed for the most part through three former

presidents. A primary example, President Ronald Reagan. In 1983, years after cutting funds for

education Reagan released a report titled “A nation at risk”. In his report, Reagan alleges that the

U.S. could be facing a crisis in education and that academic standards needed to increase.

Reagan stated the education system had, “lost sight of the basic purposes of schooling, and of the

high expectations and disciplined effort needed to attain them". Consequently, this report caused

a massive increase in testing and made colleges harder to get into.

Several years later, circa 2002 President George W. Bush’s signed into law a bill that had

a huge impact on education. The law, the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) had bipartisan

support in Congress. It mandated annual testing in reading, math, and science. It also indicated if

schools did not show yearly progress they would face sanctions or worse become closed. The

NCLB acts biggest goal was to have U.S. students 100% proficient on standardized tests by

2014. Bush’s successor, President Barack Obama had to pick up on the NCLB acts unfortunate

failures.

In 2011 Arne Duncan, former U.S. education secretary said that 82% of American

schools would fail that 100% proficiency that Bush envisioned. Additionally, according to the

Pew Center on the states, annual spending on standardized tests rose from 423 million before

NCLB to 1.1 billion in 2008 (Vu). In 2009, President Obama along with Duncan announced the
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Race to the top program. The program invited states to compete with other states student scores

to gain an incentive of upwards to 4.35 billion dollars in extra funding. Obama also embraced

common core a year later, an initiative which mirrored Reagan's views, and gave standard

educational targets for each grade level K-12. Five years later in 2015, Obama signed into law

the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). The ESSA act repealed the NCLB act and gave states

the power to choose educational standards.

Standardized Reputations:

In 2000, two years before the NCLB act fifteen-year-olds in the U.S were ranked 15th in

reading, 18th in mathematics, and 14th in science literacy on the Program for International

Student Assessment (PISA). In 2015 the U.S. slipped from those rankings to 40th in mathematics

literacy, 25th in science literacy, and 24th in reading literacy. On the contrary, this data collected

by the PISA also had two nations that are regular fixtures in the top ten. Finland, a nation always

regarded for their education had topped the rankings for seven years during 2001-2008.

However, in Finland, they don’t administer standardized tests. Instead, they encourage their

students to be active learners. The year after Finland's dominance on the PISA rankings in 2009,

China emerged as the new number one. China, a nation with a rich history in standardized

testing, proved standardized tests are not, in fact, a deterrent to academic progress. They just

aren't working in America.

They say college is the first step of entering the real world, and where you go to college

for that reason benefits you. Therefore, we have become a society that uses SAT and ACT scores
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to judge entire schools, states, and people. These tests were never designed to become reasons on

how well a school teaches its students. Extensive test prep is a fear among many college officials

that reduces time for extracurriculars, and actual education. For example, I attended the number

one ranked high school in the state of Maryland. As a student of the school, I along with many

other students would openly say that we were most definitely not a school that deserved that title.

However, given the test scores the school boasted, it was given such a prestigious title. My

school even got rid of midterms and finals to increase standardized testing. A rule that caused

many students GPAs to rise rapidly.

Will the SAT/ACT become irrelevant soon?

All the circumstances that have led us as a society to essentially judge a student off one

exam, has created test-optional schools. Many of the first schools who became test optional were

accused of trying to raise their diversity. However, the SAT does not generally account for low-

income students. Low income and minority students often can’t afford test prep. Proponents of

test-optional schools question what standardized tests really measure. Standardized tests offer a

very finite outlook of meaningful education in students. It does not measure characteristics like

creativity, critical thought, resilience, motivation, etc. If anything, the SAT, or ACT measures

how well a student can do on a single test. It goes without saying we grow wiser once we age.

Recently a large study collected by the National Association for College Admission

Counseling connected the relationship between minority students and test-optional schools. “The

years following adoption of a test-optional policy saw increases in the total number of
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applications -- by an average of 29 percent at private institutions and 11 percent at public

institutions...institutions that went test-optional saw gains in the numbers of Black and Latino

students applying and being admitted to their institutions…Underrepresented minority students

were more likely than others to decide not to submit. Among Black students, 35% opted not to

submit. But the figure was only 18 percent for white students” (Jaschik). Before Wake Forest

dropped their SAT requirement in 2008 they had an 18% minority population. Whereas after

they dropped the requirement they grew to have 30% of the population being minority students

(Lobosco).

Every year there is an increasing number of colleges who decide to ditch the SAT and

ACT when looking over applications. I remember applying to a few colleges that were test-

optional during my senior year. I was impressed at some of the schools that were on the list. This

year the University of Chicago made such a shift. The fact the such a prestigious school, and a

top-five school in the nation adopted this policy speaks volumes. Many schools including

Harvard, for instance, have already gotten rid of the essay portion of the SAT. Many of the

others on the top will be watching Chicago closely as they mull over becoming test optional.

An alternative set of scores that many admission officials are starting to prefer are high

school grades in college courses such as AP or IB classes. Research has found that those courses

are better indicators of success in college rather than the SAT or ACT. Additionally, after

dropping test requirements colleges have found students who opted against sending in scores are

just as likely to graduate on time with those who opted to submit scores.
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Conclusion:

In recent history, standardized testing has become quite controversial with equally strong

arguments against and for testing. The majority of people seem to have no issue with the tests but

have an issue with what they represent. The reasons for these tests? To measure potential

success. The increasing pressure on students to pass these exams has led to consistent decreases

in scores. Eventually, more people decided to question whether the massive influx of

standardized tests is the reason. Consequently, colleges have utilized their power to expose the

unfair representation of potential that standardized tests report.

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Works Cited

Clemmitt, Marcia. "Teaching Critical Thinking." CQ Researcher, 10 Apr. 2015, pp. 313-36,
library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2015041009.

Jost, Kenneth. "Revising No Child Left Behind." CQ Researcher, 16 Apr. 2010, pp. 337-60,
library.cqpress.com/cqresearcher/cqresrre2010041600.

Richard P. Phelps, "The Effect of Testing on Achievement: Meta-Analyses and Research

Summary, 1910–2010,” Nonpartisan Education Review, Apr. 2011

Philip Elliott & Jennifer Agiesta, "AP-NORC Poll: Parents Back High-Stakes Testing,"
Associated Press-NORC Center for Public Affairs Research website, Aug. 17, 2013

National Center for Education Statistics, "Highlights from the 2000 Program for International
Student Assessment (PISA)," nced.ed.gov, 2002

National Center for Education Statistics, "Mathematics Literacy: Average Scores," nces.ed.gov

National Center for Education Statistics, "Science Literacy: Average Scores," nces.ed.gov

National Center for Education Statistics, "Reading Literacy: Average Scores," nces.ed.gov

Pauline Vu, "Do State Tests Make the Grade?,” www.stateline.org, Jan 17, 2008

Dix, Willard. "Reasons To Celebrate Test-Optional Colleges." Forbes. Forbes Magazine, 22 June
2018. Web. 20 Nov. 2018.
<https://www.forbes.com/sites/willarddix/2018/06/20/reasons-to-celebrate-test-optional-
colleges/#58e3726e4a8c>.

Jaschik, Scott. "Making the Case for Test Optional." Inside Higher Ed. Inside Higher Ed, 27 Apr.
2018. Web. 14 Nov. 2018. <https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2018/04/27/large-
study-finds-colleges-go-test-optional-become-more-diverse-and-maintain>.

Lobosco, Katie. "Here's What Happened When These Colleges Ditched SAT Scores."
CNNMoney. Cable News Network, 8 Sept. 2015. Web. 14 Nov. 2018.
<https://money.cnn.com/2015/09/08/pf/college/sat-college-diversity/index.html>.