Standardized Tests: A Standardized Mess?
By SAM ALTMAN and WILLIAM INOUE
Standardized testing—a topic that many dread while others look forward to. For the sake of writing, standardized testing would be understood as SAT, ACT, TOEFL, IELTS, and potentially other tests colleges require. Throughout Covid, colleges withdrew their requirement of standardized tests to show their kindness and empathy toward students who may have trouble accessing testing grounds during Covid. The inability could be seen greatly in China, where the testing places of major cities shut down. Neighboring countries, such as Japan and Korea, also shut down their testing grounds.
In addition, the cost of transportation to fly to testing grounds made it so that a large portion of students limited by their financial status could not produce a standardized test score to submit to colleges. In that sense, creating a test-optional status was a strategic move made during Covid, as there simply was no way for some students to take the SAT. When interviewing some friends who are currently freshmen in college, I talked about their experiences with test-optional colleges. One friend from China talked about how, during peak Covid, receiving a standardized test was nearly impossible as no testing grounds were open. He explained how he had to fly to Bangkok to take the SAT for college. He was only able to do this due to his financial status as well as his early preparation in case something went south. Others were not as lucky as him. Another student told me he could not take the SAT because he was stuck in China without a way to visit a test center elsewhere. He was a very strong student with a high GPA and many extracurriculars, yet he could not express his true academic strengths through these tests. Hence why, during Covid, colleges becoming test-optional was a move that had to be done due to the large portion of students not being able to take the tests for financial or timely reasons.
Yet, quantitative evidence shows that students’ GPAs during Covid were substantially worse than those of students pre-Covid, when standardized tests were mandated. The worse GPA could be attributed to numerous reasons, but many believe that standardized testing is a tested and polished method of calculating a student’s ability to work under pressure and develop the necessary strategies and knowledge to do well at a specific task.
Going back to test-mandatory means colleges can visualize a student in impossible ways without SAT testing. There is no equivalent to sitting in an unventilated room for hours, solving one question after another with the minute hand chasing after you. Simply put, the SAT is the tested and working method to measure a student’s ability to perform in college and serves as a comparison point to compare the student with others.
It is impossible to remove standardized testing because it is the simplest form of fighting on equal grounds; it doesn’t matter if you come from a prep school that specializes in putting kids in Ivy Leagues or a student that comes from homeschool since the SAT treats everyone with the same attitude and questions. Other things, such as extracurriculars and internships, all rely more or less on the financial status of the student’s family. Yet, in front of the SAT, everyone is the same. In its simplest form, the SAT strips students of all advantages and disadvantages by putting them before a singular controlled test.
Yet, the counterargument against standardized testing is stronger than ever today. Many scholars argue that standardized tests can only evaluate the raw knowledge of subjects such as math and English, claiming that standardized testing cannot evaluate creativity, problem-solving, critical thinking, or knowledge areas not on the test. Others would argue that SAT and ACTs cause test anxiety, where students perform worse than normal due to being overwhelmed and nervous about their tests. The reason for abolishing that outshone the rest was that academies specialize in SAT prepping and test-taking. While these exist, their prices are often high and inaccessible to many. In places like China, the number of SAT academies is constantly rising. These academies take a large sum of money from students in return for a higher SAT score, which is why many people and students are arguing that the SAT is becoming increasingly unfair. Undeniably, these draw the line between financially free and financially limited students.
Despite the counterarguments, the entire idea of standardized testing is ingenious and necessary. As mentioned above, it is the easiest way to get a controlled view of students. No section of the SAT requires a student to be from a certain socioeconomic status or background, nor will the test be any easier or harder because you are of a certain race. The SAT is one true metric to measure a student’s ability to work under time and pressure from teachers, parents, and often themselves.
To put it frankly, test anxiety from SATs is inevitable and necessary. We are currently growing up in an environment where we will get credit for “attempting” something, “attempting” to state your point on your paper, “attempting” to do this math question, “attempting” to use clear grammatical structures, and many, many other instances. We are in such a forgiving academic environment that we have forgotten what it is like to be held accountable for our mistakes. The SAT will not credit you for “attempting” to solve a math problem. It will either mark your answer wrong or right. This goes back to my point that standardized tests such as the SAT and ACT are simply required to maintain the necessary quality of students for colleges. Colleges recognized this as they have gone back to test-mandatory.
About the academies that aid the student in taking the SAT, I think many should realize that it is still the student in that room in front of the paper. It is not a logical reason to remove standardized testing because of discomfort or the lack of academies one can attend. There are countless free resources online that produce similar results. It is still you versus that paper at the end of the day, not your parents, teachers, and certainly not your SAT coaches.
Thus, the idea that the college board should require standardized tests such as the SAT, ACT, TOEFL, and IELTS is valuable, as they serve as an equal and fair fighting ground for students of every socioeconomic status to come and fight for justice.