Standardized testing.
Another year brings the promise of scantrons, sharpened number two lead pencils and hours of sitting in silence. There is a growing debate on the worth of these tests. While standardized testing such as the ACT and SAT may benefit some students, some believe the tests are an unfair way to test individual students on their knowledge.
“No one likes standardized testing obviously, but it’s something that you have to do,” junior Hannah Holloway said.
Testing can be a struggle because while some make good grades, others are anxious in testing atmospheres.
“I’m not a good tester, but I make really good grades in school, so I just don’t think it is fair. It is really nerve racking,” said junior Savannah Castor, who has taken the SAT as well as the ACT.
Standardized testing is mainly a given because there really is no alternative to fairly test a large group of people’s knowledge, but some believe it to be biased towards people who are able to afford multiple test prep classes or have testing skills.
“I sort of view [testing] as a necessary evil,” said social studies teacher Roddy Story, who used to work for Princeton Review and currently teaches the SAT prep classes. “I do think there needs to be some way to compare students across the state and country. I think they could do a better job with the test.”
Although standardized testing is good for testing large groups of people fairly, it doesn’t test on certain people’s strengths. While there are some who excel at textbook knowledge, others excel creatively.
“Some people aren’t good at math and science and they express themselves through the arts,” Holloway said. “If you’re not good at math and science, you should be able to express your knowledge in some other way.”
Some believe the most tedious part of standardized testing such as the ACT and the SAT is the length of the tests, which can be anywhere from four to five hours.
“There’s very few times in high school or college or even in your career you have to be focusing that much for that period of time,” Story said.
All juniors in North Carolina had to take the ACT on March 5. Most people believe that the ACT was harder than the SAT. While there were numerous prep classes for the SAT, the ACT was more of a surprise to students because of the lack of prep classes and knowledge of the information on the ACT.
“I was prepared for the SAT. I took the prep class, which prepared me and raised my score a lot. But the ACT, I feel like it was just thrown at me,” junior Lane Poag said.
The ACT and the SAT are known to word questions in a way that is meant to trick students. This leads to picking certain incorrect answers unknowingly.
“I don’t think it’s fair testing students on trying to trick them and make them choose one thing when they should really choose another,” Holloway said. “I think it’s ridiculous; I don’t think it tests your knowledge at all.”
— By Jessica Clayton