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Since early 1900s SAT was a part of academic life. Recently, there has been in-depth research and debates over the standardized college admissions tests and their use. Because of the new information revealed by means of the research, a lot of schools no longer require their students to deal with SAT tests. As an alternative, they offer the so-called test-optional policy. But the truth is the discussions on the college admission tests are still in progress here and there, and there are some facts for and against the issue.  

If you get into the crowd of those, who support the SAT issue, you will most likely hear that the ACT and SAT are now serving as standardized and national scales needed to estimate whether the students are ready to approach the college level. Advocates of standardized testing say that SAT is absolutely practical. In other words, these tests are easy to administer and have clear directions. What is more, the testing is easy to grade and time efficient.

The other argument that goes for standardized testing lies in the point that SAT prepares boys and girls for college. When they’re required to get ready for and take the SAT, they have an opportunity to actually learn what it’s like to prepare for college level tests.

With grade inflation that is currently on the rise in a range of school systems, SAT provides a way to compare student aptitude and knowledge in the most consistent manner. Besides, it’s objective. In contrast to the more involved assignments, SAT is absolutely unbiased. As a rule, standardized college admission tests are graded by machines, which means they’re not affected by biases.

When it comes to the critics of standardized college admission tests, they tend to claim SAT is no longer as a reliable indicator of college progress as once considered. Some people believe SAT is biased against a range of groups. The opponents of the standardized testing in college admissions say it actually shows bias towards females and various groups of socioeconomic and ethnic diversity. In the matter of income bias, wealthy students’ level of preparation is higher than the one of the students with low income. The former have an opportunity to hire high rated tutors or attend school courses that are pocket-unfriendly for their peers.

Standardized tests turn student lives into a complete disaster. They get too stressed since they have to spend a lot of time getting ready for the test when they could enjoy more interesting social and academic activities.

Needless to say, SAT impedes the assessment of really crucial skills. As a rule, standardized testing has nothing to do with the out-of-the-comfort-zone and creative way of thinking, which is the driving force in college environment.

Time will tell what future awaits standardized tests. For now, the majority of schools keep on relying on SAT scores when it comes to the admissions decisions.

References:

Jencks, C.  1998.  Racial bias in testing.  In The Black-White Test Score Gap (eds. Christopher Jencks and Meredith Phillips) pp. 55-85 Washington DC: The Brookings Institution

Kane, M.T. 2006.  Validation.  In Educational measurement, 4^th edition, ed. R.L. Brennan, 17-64.  Westport CT: American Council on Education.

Perez, C.  2004.  Reassessing college admissions: Examining tests and admitting alternatives.  In Rethinking the SAT: The Future of Standardized Testing in University Admissions, (ed. Rebecca Zwick). pp. 5-14 New York: RoutledgeFlamer.

Powers, D.E., & Rock, D.A.  1999.  Effects of coaching on SAT I: Reasoning test scores.  Journal of Educational Measurement, 36(2): 93-118.

Burton, N. W. and L. Ramist.  2001.  Predicting success in college: SAT studies of classes graduating since 1980.  New York: College Board.

Card, D. & Rothstein, J.  2007.  Racial segregation and the black-white test score gap.  Journal of Public Economics 91:2158-2184.

ACT, Inc.  2011.  The Condition of College & Career Readiness.  Iowa City, IA: ACT, Inc.