As March draws closer, juniors prepare for the ACT. Standardized testing has been around for nearly 90 years, but some are questioning its effectiveness in measuring student progress

Standardized testing is a vital part of our educational system and essential for students to receive college scholarships

Content Editor Samantha Smith

Ever since 1926, high school students across the nation have been taking standardized tests. Many of said students view it as a nuisance, an inaccurate assessment of their intelligence. However, this statement is false.

Standardized testing is just as the name suggests; standard. The same questions are asked of every test taker, based on what every student should have learned up to that point. It’s not meant to be difficult or angled toward benefiting the intellectually gifted with a high score and high scholarship chances. They’re meant to help everyone by giving all an equal chance.

On any non-standardized test, the outcome of the student’s score depends on how the teacher interprets the student’s answer, leaving a varied range of scoring for one question. On a standardized test, this is eliminated with the fact that if a student marks the right answer on a scantron, it stays the right answer.

In a research study completed by scholar Richard P. Phelps, 93 percent of student test scores showed that standardized tests had a positive effect on student achievement. While some may argue that standardized tests can’t measure a student’s “creativity, curiosity or compassion,” one has to realize that is not what matters in the long haul. In our society, the way of life is “go to school and learn so you can go to college and succeed,” not “be nice to others and automatically receive a Master’s degree.”

According to PowerScore.com, colleges and universities are known to favor ACT scores over GPA. If someone who may be struggling with grades was to take the time to study from the many test prep options available, they may find it entirely possible to earn a high enough score to get into a decent college.

It’s not like students are thrown into standardized tests with no prior knowledge before their junior year. They are prepped their whole lives for the ACT, starting with the MEAP. Given that the MEAP is not quite as “high-risk” as the ACT, it is still a standardized test that quizzes us on what we have learned.

It’s a sink or swim world, and competition to stay afloat is at its highest. Standardized testing isn’t going away, so we may as well buckle up and accept that so we can improve and be successful in the future.

Alternative solutions to standardized tests could possibly lead us to a much brighter future than in the past

Writer Spencer Baughman

Standardized testing, the bane of every high school student’s existence. For people who have consistently scored worse on tests than other assignments, an event such as the ACT has the potential to cause some stress. A lot of people try to break the cycle by studying for tests far in advanced, but they still end up falling short of state required minimums that are comically exaggerated.

Many students find themselves as “decent” when it comes to grades, but when it comes time to sit down at a desk and fill in bubbles on a sheet, something just doesn’t connect with them.

Recent studies have shown that these standardized tests may very well be unnecessary. Ever since the “No Child Left Behind Act” was established in 2002 by President George W. Bush, the United States has dropped from 13th place in the Programme For International Students Assessment to 31st. Standardized tests like these cannot measure the creativity, curiosity or compassion of students. Qualities like these are the most important, and they mold a human being more than any score people can give them.

Now, if testing students in such a manner produces drastically lower scores than in the past, the logical idea would to be to just cut of the whole concept all together, right?

The truth would prove the contrary. In fact, schools in Texas are spending ridiculous amounts of money on standardized testing, from $9 million in 2003 to $88 million in 2012. If the government as a whole is pouring more and more money into an area of education that is proving to get lower and lower results, what is the point of forcing students to participate in that form of testing any more?

Even if some don’t see the point in the educational system trying to continue standardized testing, others believe that there is a more acceptable way to achieve the same, if not better, results.

Instead of forcing kids to sit down at a desk for hours on end, staring at a blank sheet of paper, state governments should rather have teachers keep a portfolio of their students’ work and mail it back in order to fully assess student development. A portfolio would provide a much more accurate view of student progress throughout the year.