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For and against standardized tests: Two student perspectives

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A standardized test. (via Shutterstock)

A standardized test. (via Shutterstock)

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How To Write A Persuasive Essay On Standardized Testing

Every year, mandated annual exams are administered to students, of all ages, across all 50 states. School districts, school boards and teachers use these scores evaluate student’s academic progress. Separated by state, there are different versions of standardized exams that students are required to take that cover the same basic math, science, and reading skills. Standardized testing is a symptom a disease that lead to a broken education system that is based off the performances of students on a standardized achievement test.

These tests are heavily influenced by three causative factors that contribute to students’ scores on standardized achievement tests: what’s taught in school, an intellectual disability, and the way students learn. A standardized test is any examination that’s overseen and recorded in a preset, standard manner. There are two major types of standardized exams: aptitude tests and achievement tests. Standardized aptitude tests are a basic prediction of how well a student might perform in a subsequent educational setting such as SAT tests and ACT tests.

The standardized achievement tests are what school board members rely on when they are evaluating and educational schools effectiveness. WKCE (Wisconsin Knowledge and Concepts Examinations) and the NAEP (National Assessment of Educational Progress) are examples of standardized achievement tests that are used in Wisconsin school districts. These standardized exams used to only be administered to decide where a child or what kind of help they need. Now, standardized exams in the U. S, we are forcing children as young as six years of age to standardized exams (Kohn).

The first negative factor of standardized tests is the information that is being taught in the schools. Teachers are teaching to the test, that is the main argument. Unfortunately, that means teachers are given specific material to administer to their students to help increase scores. Some of the questions that are being asked during the standardized achievement tests measure only how much information each student can retain in the classroom. It watches an individual’s performance on one specific day, not the overall growth during the school year.

Schools require teachers to spend at least a quarter of the year in preparation for these exams, which causes teachers to condense other units and possibly leave out important lessons. During the preparation period, teachers are given specific curriculum to follow by the District School Board . Since a huge part of the school year is taken up by the preparation of these exams, teachers are expected that students are achieving high scores. The success of the school depends on the performance of its students.

This may cause high stress levels for students and teachers and the public school district. [“Recent speculation on the impact of a mandated test on teacher and instruction assumes a pressure-practice relationship to explain teacher testing-related behavior. The pressure on teachers and administrators to improve test performance is theorized to lead to unwanted instructional and curricular narrowing, teacher who focus upon the test content to the exclusion of other relevant instructional outcomes, and teacher engagement in inappropriate test-related activities” (Moore 344-345). Under the pressure, teachers and school board have begun to cut programs like gym and recess. This causes a negative impact on children’s social skills, behavioral skills, and academic performance. Secondly, all children differ from each other, which means the intellectual ability of each student is going effect their performance on these standardized exams. Standardized achievement tests only evaluates a student’s academic ability on one particular day, it doesn’t take into account external factors that may be taking base in a student’s life.

There are two major factors of intellectual abilities, physical (abuse, not understanding the content, physical impairment) and emotional (unstable home, test anxiety, students just many not perform well on any type of exam). Students that qualify under special education are required to take the same standardized test as student in their regular general education classes. These students are given only a select number of accommodation as part of their IEP (Individualized Education Plan).

ESL ( English as a Second Language) students are required to partake in English based exams before they have become proficient in the English language . Third example of why standardized tests are unfair because not all children learn the same way. Visual, auditory, and kinesthetic are three different learning styles that best explain the way student’s learn. Visual learners are those who learn by observation and seeing material, auditory learners are those who absorb information best by hearing, and kinesthetic learners learn best by experiencing and participating in physical activities.

According to an article from SAGE journals “The learning-styles view has acquired great influence within the education field, and is frequently encountered at levels ranging from kindergarten to graduate school. There is a thriving industry devoted to publishing learning-styles tests and guidebooks for teachers, and many organizations offer professional development workshops for teachers and educators built around the concept of learning styles” (Pashler. 105-19). Besides teachers, testing ability, and learning styles, there are three major disadvantages of achievement exams: time, the frequency of the exam, and young children.

Normally, standardized exams are timed test, giving students an allowed amount of time for each portion of the exam . This meaning that speed is the key factor to each exam, not understanding the key concept of each question. During every academic school year, students take a standardized exam at the beginning and the end of the year starting in early years. That’s where the frequency of each test come into effect . They measure how much information a student has retained over the course of the year.

Standardized exams are not subjected to grade level so it ensures that if you aren’t retaining higher level education you are bound to fail. Exams are not easy, so subjecting young children to take these exams is impossible for them. Such assessment doesn’t prove and understanding of what a child may know. Kohn states that “what test-makers are measuring for some children is not their cognitive capacities so much as their “ability to sit in the same place for a certain amount of time and expect young children to acquire the same information as older students”.

In a higher education setting, students are required to submit and ACT score or an SAT score. With some particular colleges and universities, there are many students that are rejected based off these standardized scores. These tests are not very effective as predicting a future in academic performance for student entering in college years. According to The Case against Standardized Testing: raising the scores, ruining the schools”, standardized testing is an unnecessary exam that is given to students that is shouldn’t be used to measure who should be accepted into a college or university (Kohn 3) .

Each exam, to an extent, covers specific topic in regards to reading, math, and writing. Typically, portions of these exams aim to see how much information each student had memorized a series of procedures, rules, and definitions or dates or specific events in past history. What if students don’t know the answer to a specific question to an exam? What do they do? Kohn, the writer of The case against standardized testing: raising the scores, ruining the schools ran a survey in a public school district defend his argument that student’s just fill in answers and hope for the best.

Majority of students said that all they could can do is recognize one random answer by picking it out of four or five answers provided in a multiple choice section. I conducted an interview of several UWS students, counselors that work with standardized exams, and a high education staff, each response I received was basically the same answer . One basic question was given, what do you think of standardized testing in the educational field? Most of the students believed that achievement tests do not show what students are capable of. A student stated “Standardized exams are good and bad.

Good to the point where they test information that you have been taught in past, but bad in many ways. Every standardized exam I have taken I read just to pass the exam, I don’t learn anything and it doesn’t test my knowledge. It tests my capability to memorize information that is presented to me. ” Counselors that read the results of standardized exams, stated the same thing, pros and cons. A pro was exams make students study and think about each question given while negative is schools are teaching basic subjects anymore, they are teaching to test.

The last interview that was conducted was from a staff member here at UWS that has worked in higher education for many years . He stated “standardized exams show what a student knows but with how society is today, it shouldn’t be used to evaluate for college or a job” . To contradict the negatives of standardized testing, there are many positives . Some have to do with access public records of scores so students are compared across the country and locally, another comparison of scores but between sub-groups, and how teachers are held accountable to teach equired materials.

Standardized tests allow students school district scores to be compared to other school districts across the country. The authors of Assessment in Special education express without standardized exams, parents would not be able to compare their child to students across the country or their school district to other local or national schools. They also can create a comparison between sub-groups, for example students that identify as the same race/ethnicity, children in a specific classroom, higher level education, and special education.

Another positive is that teachers are held to a higher standard with guidance of what information be on the test for the student’s to know. Each teacher in that school district would be teaching the same material meaning that a third grade teacher would be teaching the same information as a fifth grade teacher at a different school within the district. This would make sure that all student’s within that school district the same information.

Assessment is a crucial component to every aspect of any type of education but it doesn’t mean that all standardized exams examine students in the correct way. The more we learn about standardized testing, particularly in its high-stakes incarnation, the more likely we are to be appalled . Exams do not prove what student’s know, its proving memorization skills. Teachers, capability, and the way students learn are only a few examples of why standardized testing are ineffective way of measuring a student’s academic knowledge

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Home — Essay Samples — Education — Pedagogy — Standardized Testing

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Essays on Standardized Testing

Hook examples for standardized testing, anecdotal hook.

"Picture this: a stressed student sitting at a desk, pencil in hand, facing a standardized test that could determine their future. We've all been there, but what are the real consequences of these high-stakes exams?"

Rhetorical Question Hook

"Is standardized testing a fair and accurate measure of a student's knowledge and abilities, or is it merely a snapshot of their test-taking skills on a given day?"

Startling Statistic Hook

"In the United States, students take over 112 standardized tests on average by the time they graduate from high school. Are we truly measuring learning, or drowning in a sea of assessments?"

"Albert Einstein once said, 'Not everything that counts can be counted, and not everything that can be counted counts.' How does this wisdom from one of the greatest minds in history apply to our obsession with standardized testing?"

Historical Hook

"Standardized testing has a long history dating back to China's imperial exams. How has this centuries-old practice evolved, and what lessons can we learn from its past?"

Narrative Hook

"Let me take you on a journey through the life of a student preparing for the SAT. Their experiences, challenges, and triumphs reveal the true impact of standardized testing on individuals."

Contrast Hook

"In an era of personalized learning and diverse educational approaches, standardized testing seems like a one-size-fits-all solution. But does it truly accommodate the unique needs and talents of every student?"

Emotional Appeal Hook

"Behind every test score is a student's ambition, a teacher's dedication, and a family's hopes. Standardized testing decisions can carry immense emotional weight—what happens when they don't align with our aspirations?"

Shocking Scenario Hook

"Imagine a world where students are reduced to mere test scores, where creativity and critical thinking are overshadowed by the pursuit of higher metrics. Is this the future we want for our education system?"

Curiosity Hook

"What if I told you that Finland, a country renowned for its educational success, has minimal standardized testing? Exploring this unconventional approach may challenge our notions of assessment."

The Impact of Standardized Testing on The American Education System

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Advantages and Limitations of Cat in Education

The issues and negative effects of standardized testing, the many downsides of standardized testing in schools, standardized testing should be abolished in american schools, let us write you an essay from scratch.

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The Reasons Why Standardized Testing Should Be Abolished

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The Issues of Standardized Testing in No Child Left Behind Act

Negative effects of the distribution of standardized tests within american classrooms, the problems associated in the administration and scoring of standardized testing, a reflection on taking an implicit association test, the issue of double standards for iq testing, standardized testing in american colleges, a critical research on the effectiveness of college acceptance exams, are examinations a good measure of intelligence, standardized tests in education: controversies and alternatives, the standardized testing debate: its role in college admissions.

A standardized test is a method of assessment built on the principle of consistency: all test takers are required to answer the same questions and all answers are graded in the same, predetermined way.

Achievement tests, Aptitude tests, College-admissions tests, International-comparison tests, Psychological tests.

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persuasive essay for standardized testing

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A collection of works from penn state's rhetoric and civic life course., persuasive essay: stressed out – the standardized testing epidemic.

For the following paper, the assignment was to incorporate all the persuasive tools and techniques we learned throughout the class and use them to address an important topic that we care about. I decided to focus on the epidemic of standardized testing in our schools.

Stressed Out: The Standardized Testing Epidemic

The children are our future – and the future is burnt out. A student can now not go through grade school without being subject to excessive standardized testing. In fact, the average student “takes 112 mandated standardized tests between pre-kindergarten classes and 12 th grade” (Layton). As a result, a new emphasis has risen on “teaching to the test” rather than focusing on a well-rounded learning experience, because there is so much more at stake than just the education of students. Schools can face severe consequences if they do not measure up to guidelines established by the government. Set forth under Title I of the No Child Left Behind Act, all school districts and states are measured by something called the Adequate Yearly Progress (AYP). Although it varies by state, the law generally requires that states “use a single accountability system for public schools to determine whether all students, as well as individual subgroups of students, are making progress toward meeting state academic content standards” (“Adequate Yearly Progress”). Thus introduces standardized testing as a way to mark and measure student’s growth and proficiency – or so the idea is. The future of the school is actually at stake if schools fail to meet the AYP. It is clear that the teachers and administration face an enormous amount of pressure to ensure that standardized testing performance is up to par.  It is not just about the school itself, but the people in it. Not only are student’s education squandered away when teachers are more focused on boosting their performance on standardized tests, but it leads to a culture of stress and feelings of inadequacy. The teachers themselves are fed up with this toxic environment. Clearly, something needs to be changed. The Department of Education needs to abolish using standardized testing as a way to measure and compare a school’s efficiency and replace it with a multiple-measures system, implemented at the national level, that uses criteria such as demographic information and graduation rates, so the fate of the school and student does not hinge on one test. Doing so will improve student’s education, teacher morale, and create a much healthier and nourishing environment that aids student’s learning and growth.

There exists a famous quote by Albert Einstein: “Everybody is a genius. But if you judge a fish by its ability to climb a tree, it will live its whole life believing that it is stupid.” This has become the rallying cry everywhere for groups fed up with the standardized testing. And it holds so much truth. How can we consciously measure all students, regardless of their background and personal struggles, on one test? Studies have shown that as young as in elementary school, “students can begin to lose their sense of themselves as capable, able to do well in school and graduate, when they see […] consequences of the standardized tests they are required to take” (Gere, et al.). In addition, the simple categorization of students as a result of these tests as “proficient” or “not-proficient” can really harm young students – it becomes “very difficult for students designated as not-proficient to imagine themselves as effective readers and writers” (Gere, et al.). The multiple-measures system would take into account a student’s previous performance and measure their growth, rather than just their proficiency. It is very discouraging for a student who believes they have made tremendous progress to be branded in a certain way, when they have in reality grown so much.

Besides the horrendous effects that standardized testing has on students personally, they also hinder the education itself. Ron Berler, a journalist, spent a year observing students and educators at an elementary school in Connecticut. He found that when the students “got back from Christmas break, for the next nine weeks until testing began, it [the school] was a different animal […] what they did was drop their curriculum, drop their texts, and study exclusively from a standardized-test prep book” (Berger). As a result, “kids weren’t getting a liberal arts education, but prepping to a very narrowly drawn standardized test in primarily language arts and math” (Berger). It is clear that the pressure the schools feel as a result of standardized testing translates to the education of the students. It has become much more important for the school to teach to the test and ensure maximum performance than to give the students the well-rounded education they need, mostly because of the consequences of failing to meet the goals set forth by the No Child Left Behind Act and the AYP. Failing to meet AYP for two consecutive years means the school is called a “School in Need of Improvement”, failing to meet AYP in the third year means that the school must offer supplemental educational services, failing to meet the AYP for a fourth year means the school “must amend their improvement plans to include ‘corrective actions’”, including replacing low performing staff members. (“What Happens When…”). A school that fails to meet AYP for five years in a row “must implement plans to restructure the school” – options include “reopening the school as a charter school […] and replacing all or most of school staff” (“What Happens When…”). Reducing the pressure that schools feel will result in more freedom in teaching the students what they should be learning.

It would be ignorant to only focus on the effect that standardized testing has on students. What is equally important, in a different way, is the way it hurts the educators – the ones that we are entrusting a student’s education with. According to a survey published by the National Education Association, “nearly half (45 percent) of surveyed member teachers have considered quitting because of standardized testing” (Walker). In addition, “forty-two percent of the surveyed teachers reported that the emphasis on improving standardized test scores has a ‘negative impact’ on their classrooms”, and “72 percent replied that they felt ‘moderate’ or ‘extreme’ pressure from both school and district administrators to improve test scores” (Walker). The role of the teacher in a student’s education cannot be understated. So when they lose their passion for teaching, that spark of curiosity that they pass down to their students, it shows. Students can feel the effects, once again negatively impacting them. A teacher has one of the most wonderful, challenging, and important jobs. They should not be feeling extreme pressure to teach to a test instead of focusing on how to individually improve each student’s learning experience, and half of them should not be thinking of quitting. It is just that simple.

Another factor not always considered is the sheer amount of time wasted on standardized testing. In the same survey published by the National Education Association, it was found that “the average teacher now reports spending about 30 percent of their work time on testing-related tasks, including preparing students, proctoring, and reviewing results of standardized testing” (Walker). And, one study found that “teachers lose between 60 to 110 hours of instructional time in a year because of testing and the institutional tasks that surround it” (Gere, et al.). So what do all these statistics mean? They are spelling out a consensus: standardized testing is not working. This is just one of the many ways that it is impacting our student’s education. Teachers are often hard-pressed for time, and taking that away for standardized testing takes away the teacher’s ability to use that same time for something like talking with a student, helping them through a problem, or promoting important topics for discussion.

It is clear that standardized testing needs to be replaced, but how does a multiple-measures system compare? There are now statewide longitudinal data systems, which “track students in most states from pre-K all the way through high school” (Kamenetz). A multiple-measure system would take this into account and combine factors like “graduation rates, discipline outcomes, demographic information, teacher-created assessments and, eventually, workforce outcomes” (Kamenetz). The practice of combining this data means that the performance of students, teachers, and schools are measured over time, rather than in just one sitting. This system also means that demographic factors like a student’s family income and home background are taken into account when examining their performance. And perhaps one of the most exciting outcomes of this proposed system is that it would measure growth as well as proficiency. Taking into account the strides that a student has made is so important because it acknowledges the effort that they and their teacher have put in and encourages them to continue on their path, rather than branding them as “non-proficient” and leaving them to carry out a self-fulfilling prophecy. This would also take a good amount of pressure off the school and teachers because it would no longer always boil down to the performance of each student on one test, and there would no longer be such an emphasis on standardized testing. Rather, it could be on teacher-created assessments, which allows the teacher the ability to incorporate an eclectic mix of subjects into the student’s education, rather than the typical math and language arts emphasis on standardized tests.

An education is one of the most valuable tools in the world, so it is not a surprise that there is an emphasis on measuring student learning. However, standardized testing has long been a copout – just an easy solution to the problem of assessing where schools stand. This is student’s education that we are talking about, and it should not all be boiling down to and hinging on one simple number. Standardized testing creates a toxic environment that hinders learning and creates an enormous amount of pressure and stress which in turn, again, hinder learning. A multiple-measure system is the obvious answer to a system plagued by simple statistics. It is unwise and foolish to only take one measure into account when there is so much that affects and predicts student performance and learning. This multiple-measure system would incorporate and acknowledge all the factors that go into an education, and encourage student learning rather than curbing it. It may not be easy but it is, without a doubt, absolutely worth it.

Works Cited

“Adequate Yearly Progress.” Education Week . Education Week, 18 July 2011. Web. 9 Apr. 2017.

Berger, Brooke. “Don’t Teach to the Test.” U.S. News . U.S. News & World Report, 11 Apr. 2013. Web. 9 Apr. 2017.

Gere, Ann, Ann Burke, Gail Gibson, James Hammond, Anna Knutson, and Ryan McCarty. “How Standardized Tests Shape – and Limit – Student Learning.” A Policy Research Brief    (n.d.): n. pag. NCTE . National Council of Teachers of English, 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2017.

Kamenetz, Anya. “What Schools Could Use Instead Of Standardized Tests.” NPR . NPR, 06 Jan.   2015. Web. 9 Apr. 2017.

Layton, Lyndsey. “Study Says Standardized Testing Is Overwhelming Nation’s Public Schools.”  The Washington Post . WP Company, 24 Oct. 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

Walker, Tim. “NEA Survey: Nearly Half Of Teachers Consider Leaving Profession Due to Standardized Testing.”  NEA Today . National Education Association, 26 Aug. 2015. Web. 22 Mar. 2017.

“What Happens When a School Fails to Make Adequate Yearly Progress Goals?” Findlaw . Thomson Reuters, 2017. Web. 9 Apr. 2017.

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Using the SAT, ACT in college admissions isn't 'racist.' What else has the left got wrong?

Counter to the progressive groupthink on this issue, researchers found that low-income students are actually harmed when sat or act scores aren't considered in their admissions application..

persuasive essay for standardized testing

It’s hard to admit when you’ve made a mistake. And it’s rare for a mea culpa to come from the world of education. 

Yet, that’s what Dartmouth did this week. Sort of. 

The Ivy League college announced that it is bringing back a standardized testing requirement for undergraduate admissions, starting with the Class of 2029, after doing away with it in response to the pandemic nearly four years ago. A large number of top colleges and universities have gone “testing optional” in recent years with the aim of boosting diversity , so Dartmouth’s decision makes it an anomaly. 

Why is it doing that? Dartmouth researchers used the years-long pause to study the actual impact of the policy’s absence. Turns out that was a smart idea. 

“Our bottom line is simple: we believe a standardized testing requirement will improve − not detract from − our ability to bring the most promising and diverse students to our campus,” Dartmouth said in a statement . 

Counter to the progressive groupthink on this issue, the study found that low-income students are actually harmed when SAT or ACT scores aren’t considered in their admissions application. The researchers discovered economically disadvantaged students had withheld their test scores when it was optional, mistakenly believing they were too low.  

“It (standardized testing) is another opportunity to identify students who are the top performers in their environments, wherever they might be,” Dartmouth stated. 

Maybe standardized tests aren't racist? 

Wait a minute. We’ve been told for years that standardized tests like the ones used traditionally for college entrance exams are racist , inequitable and unfair . 

Perhaps not. 

Standardized tests have always been a solid predictor of student success (when combined with other factors), and they offer a consistent measuring device of student preparation, regardless of where they’re from. 

Dartmouth’s research supports those facts.

So, good for this college in saying it would change course. I’m not holding my breath, however, that others will follow. Not for a while, anyway.

Higher education has gone all in on the DEI (diversity, equity and inclusion) bandwagon, and it will not be easy to untangle itself from this way of thinking. 

New path for Harvard: With Claudine Gay out, Harvard can double down on DEI or embrace freedom and true diversity

And the left is adept at sidestepping criticism of its ideas by calling out detractors as racist, sexist, transphobic, homophobic or simply mean.

Yet, just because something sounds kind doesn't mean it is.

In name of 'equity,' schools are embracing horrible ideas 

If so many progressives got something as big as standardized tests wrong, what else are they wrong about?   

There are a slew of worrisome policies , not just in higher education but in K-12 schools, too. Many of these measures will ensure low-income and minority students are even less prepared to succeed in college. 

Here are a few that should set off alarm bells: 

  • Progressive Chicago Mayor Brandon Johnson and his appointed Board of Education announced in December that they would do away with the city’s selective-enrollment schools (even though the students attending them are high-achieving) in the name of “equity.” That is such a backward way to approach the issue. If the concern is that these schools aren’t diverse enough , then put resources to better equip students to participate. Don’t punish gifted students or limit opportunities for others to excel in the name of not making other students feel bad. 
  • A California high school in a Los Angeles suburb chose to eliminate honors classes for ninth- and 10th-grade students. School officials claimed it was to increase equity. Apparently, teachers were concerned that not enough Black and Hispanic students were enrolling in Advanced Placement courses. So the default option is to take away the honors coursework that could best prepare students for AP classes and college?
  • School district officials in Portland, Oregon, signaled last fall that they are making grading more “equitable” to reduce bias in the classroom. District data showed “racial disparities” in students’ performance. Rather than get to the bottom of these disparities, the district opted to change how it graded students. If a student cheats? It can’t affect the child’s grade. If an assignment is late or missing? The teacher can no longer give a zero.

Parents have power: After COVID school shutdowns, parents have learned an important lesson

Forcing this fake kind of “equity” by lowering standards and removing opportunities for students is disturbing. 

I hope Dartmouth’s reinstatement of the standardized test requirement compels more DEI warriors to rethink some seriously misguided ideas. 

Ingrid Jacques is a columnist at USA TODAY. Contact her at [email protected] or on X, formerly Twitter: @ Ingrid_Jacques

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The Morning

A top college reinstates the sat.

Why other schools may follow Dartmouth’s lead.

A portrait of Sian Beilock, the president of Dartmouth College, standing by a window in an olive-green blazer.

By David Leonhardt

Dartmouth College announced this morning that it would again require applicants to submit standardized test scores, starting next year. It’s a significant development because other selective colleges are now deciding whether to do so. In today’s newsletter, I’ll tell you the story behind Dartmouth’s decision.

Training future leaders

Last summer, Sian Beilock — a cognitive scientist who had previously run Barnard College in New York — became the president of Dartmouth . After arriving, she asked a few Dartmouth professors to do an internal study on standardized tests. Like many other colleges during the Covid pandemic, Dartmouth dropped its requirement that applicants submit an SAT or ACT score. With the pandemic over and students again able to take the tests, Dartmouth’s admissions team was thinking about reinstating the requirement. Beilock wanted to know what the evidence showed.

“Our business is looking at data and research and understanding the implications it has,” she told me.

Three Dartmouth economists and a sociologist then dug into the numbers. One of their main findings did not surprise them: Test scores were a better predictor than high school grades — or student essays and teacher recommendations — of how well students would fare at Dartmouth. The evidence of this relationship is large and growing, as I explained in a recent Times article .

A second finding was more surprising. During the pandemic, Dartmouth switched to a test-optional policy, in which applicants could choose whether to submit their SAT and ACT scores. And this policy was harming lower-income applicants in a specific way.

The researchers were able to analyze the test scores even of students who had not submitted them to Dartmouth. (Colleges can see the scores after the admissions process is finished.) Many lower-income students, it turned out, had made a strategic mistake.

They withheld test scores that would have helped them get into Dartmouth. They wrongly believed that their scores were too low, when in truth the admissions office would have judged the scores to be a sign that students had overcome a difficult environment and could thrive at Dartmouth.

As the four professors — Elizabeth Cascio, Bruce Sacerdote, Doug Staiger and Michele Tine — wrote in a memo, referring to the SAT’s 1,600-point scale, “There are hundreds of less-advantaged applicants with scores in the 1,400 range who should be submitting scores to identify themselves to admissions, but do not under test-optional policies.” Some of these applicants were rejected because the admissions office could not be confident about their academic qualifications. The students would have probably been accepted had they submitted their test scores, Lee Coffin, Dartmouth’s dean of admissions, told me.

That finding, as much as any other, led to Dartmouth’s announcement this morning. “Our goal at Dartmouth is academic excellence in the service of training the broadest swath of future leaders,” Beilock told me. “I’m convinced by the data that this will help us do that.”

It’s worth acknowledging a crucial part of this story. Dartmouth admits disadvantaged students who have scores that are lower on average than those of privileged students. The college doesn’t apologize for that. Students from poor neighborhoods or troubled high schools have effectively been running with wind in their face. They are not competing fairly with affluent teenagers.

Share of students admitted to Dartmouth, by test scores and student advantage

persuasive essay for standardized testing

25% of students admitted

Disadvantaged

Disadvantaged students

with lower test scores are

more likely to be admitted

than advantaged students

with the same scores.

persuasive essay for standardized testing

“We’re looking for the kids who are excelling in their environment. We know society is unequal,” Beilock said. “Kids that are excelling in their environment, we think, are a good bet to excel at Dartmouth and out in the world.” The admissions office will judge an applicant’s environment partly by comparing his or her test score with the score distribution at the applicant’s high schools, Coffin said. In some cases, even an SAT score well below 1,400 can help an application.

Questions and answers

In our conversations, I asked Beilock and her colleagues about several common criticisms of standardized tests, and they said that they did not find the criticisms persuasive.

For instance, many critics on the political left argue the tests are racially or economically biased, but Beilock said the evidence didn’t support those claims. “The research suggests this tool is helpful in finding students we might otherwise miss,” she said.

I also asked whether she was worried that conservative critics of affirmative action might use test scores to accuse Dartmouth of violating the recent Supreme Court ruling barring race-conscious admissions. She was not. Dartmouth can legally admit a diverse class while using test scores as one part of its holistic admissions process, she said. I’ve heard similar sentiments from leaders at other colleges that have reinstated the test requirement, including Georgetown and M.I.T.

And I asked Beilock and her colleagues whether fewer students might now apply to Dartmouth. Coffin, the admissions dean, replied that such an outcome might be OK. He noted that the test-optional policy since 2020 had not led to a more diverse pool of applicants and that Dartmouth already received more than enough applications — 31,000 this year, for 1,200 first-year slots. “I don’t think volume is the holy grail,” he said.

Finally, I asked Beilock whether she was satisfied with Dartmouth’s level of economic diversity, which is slightly below that of most similarly elite colleges. She said no. “We have aspirations to bring it up,” she said. Reinstating the test requirement, she believes, can help Dartmouth do so.

For more: Compare economic diversity at hundreds of colleges through our College Access Index .

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Women win: It was a big night for women at the Grammys. Taylor Swift won her fourth album of the year award, breaking the record for the category. Billie Eilish won song of the year, Miley Cyrus won record of the year and Victoria Monét was named best new artist. Tracy Chapman and Joni Mitchell performed. Here’s what else happened:

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David Leonhardt runs The Morning , The Times’s flagship daily newsletter. Since joining The Times in 1999, he has been an economics columnist, opinion columnist, head of the Washington bureau and founding editor of the Upshot section, among other roles. More about David Leonhardt

The Chronicle

Duke no longer giving numerical rating to standardized testing, essays in undergraduate admissions

persuasive essay for standardized testing

Duke is no longer giving essays and standardized testing scores numerical ratings in the undergraduate admissions process.

The change went into place this year, Dean of Undergraduate Admissions Christoph Guttentag wrote in an email to The Chronicle. He explained that essays are no longer receiving a score because of a rise in the use of generative artificial intelligence and college admissions consultants.

When asked about how the admissions office determines if an essay is AI-generated or written by consultants and if applicants are hurt if the office determines so, Guttentag answered that "there aren't simple answers to these questions." 

Despite the changes, Guttentag wrote that essays and standardized testing scores are still considered in the admissions process. 

“Essays are very much part of our understanding of the applicant, we’re just no longer assuming that the essay is an accurate reflection of the student’s actual writing ability,” he wrote. “Standardized tests (SAT or ACT) are considered when they’re submitted as part of the application.”

According to Guttentag, essays will now be used to “help understand the applicant as an individual rather, not just as a set of attributes and accomplishments.” He also wrote that the admissions office now values essays that give “insight into who the unique person is whose application we’re reading” and that “content and insight matter more than style.”

“Because of that they are not given a numerical rating, but considered as we think holistically about a candidate as a potential member of the Duke community,” he wrote. 

Previously, the Duke admissions office would assign numerical ratings of one to five on six different categories: curriculum strength, academics, recommendations, essays, extracurriculars and test scores. Applicants would then receive a total score out of 30 by adding up each category’s numerical rating.

According to Guttentag, the only categories given numerical ratings now are the four categories that remain: “the strength of a student’s curriculum, their grades in academic courses, their extracurricular activities and the letters of recommendation.”

“There are naturally many, many more factors that are taken into account when making admissions decisions — these are just a partial but useful way of thinking [of] applicants in the context of the pool as a whole,” he wrote. “I suppose it may be something similar to looking at a player’s various statistics, which only give you a partial picture of the player’s contribution to the team.”

Guttentag noted that historically, numerical ratings have been “valuable in helping to identify competitive applicants.”

Admissions processes for colleges across the country have seen changes and experimentation recently due to a variety of factors, most notably the Supreme Court’s overturning of race-based affirmative action in June 2023 and changes to standardized testing requirements due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Supreme Court decision was absolutely not a factor in how we decided to approach essays,” Guttentag wrote. Duke remained test-optional for the 2023-24 admissions cycle. 

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    Samantha McIver and Joshua Palackal June 8, 2015 A standardized test. (via Shutterstock) These two essays were written by students in Katherine Cohen's 7th-grade English class at Greenberg Elementary in Northeast Philadelphia. The students were assigned the task of writing a persuasive letter.

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    These tests are heavily influenced by three causative factors that contribute to students' scores on standardized achievement tests: what's taught in school, an intellectual disability, and the way students learn. A standardized test is any examination that's overseen and recorded in a preset, standard manner. There are two major types of standardized exams: aptitude tests and ...

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    4 pages / 1654 words. Standardized tests have long been a cornerstone of the education system, offering a systematic way to evaluate student learning and achievement. In this essay, we will explore the purpose and function of standardized tests, examining how they are used in educational contexts.

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    PHI-105 T-6 Persuasive Essay Peer Review Worksheet. (A) Maryann Rogers PHI- 2/25/ Greg Malloy Standardized Testing Standardized testing is not relevant to how children learn, how they should learn and how we should understand their learning in the context of their development. Taking multiple-choice tests based on scripted, curriculum is not ...

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  21. A Top College Reinstates the SAT

    He noted that the test-optional policy since 2020 had not led to a more diverse pool of applicants and that Dartmouth already received more than enough applications — 31,000 this year, for 1,200 ...

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  24. Duke Stops Assigning Point Values to Essays, Test Scores

    In the past Duke has assigned point values of one to five to applicants' essays and standardized test scores, which in turn were factored into a holistic score on a 30-point scale. The university is still using the point system, but only for the remaining numerically weighted categories: curriculum strength, academics, recommendations and ...

  25. Yale adopts "test-flexible" admissions policy

    The decision represents a rare middle ground in an increasingly divisive debate over requiring standardized tests, as selective colleges weigh whether to make permanent the test-optional policies widely adopted during the pandemic—and which have been touted as part of a potential patchwork of policies implemented to maintain diversity in the wake of the Supreme Court's affirmative action ...

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  29. Yale adopts "test-flexible" admissions policy

    The university will require test scores but accept alternatives to the SAT and ACT. Officials hope it's the right mix of rigor and flexibility for a post-pandemic era. Yale University is adopting what it calls a test-flexible policy on standardized exam requirements, in which applicants must submit test scores but can choose to replace the traditional SAT or ACT with Advanced Placement or ...