ACT Test Scores Should Not Influence College Admission - Assignment Example

Speech Outline Introduction A. Fear Their ACT Test Results B.ACT Test Results Should Not Determine College Success C. ACT Scores Should Not Be a College Admission Consideration (Transition) Body: I. Studies Show that ACT Scores Do Not Ensure College Success A. National Association for College Admission Counseling Study B. Numerical Data (Transition) II. The Problem with Standardized Tests A. Standardized Tests Cant Accurately Measure Student Intelligence B. Other Students Opinions (Transition) Conclusion A. Summary B. Closing Statement ACT Test Scores Should Not Influence College Admission As another school year comes to a close, I cannot help but reminisce about how the archaic educational system of the United States has once again, brought a generation of future high school students to their knees. Students who are hoping and praying that their ACT scores will be good enough to allow them access to the education that they so crave in the academic institution that they know can help them advance careerwise in the future. While I am lucky enough to be attending the University of Missouri-Columbia, I know that I am not in the best academic place that I can be yet. The reason for my academic hindrance? An ACT score of 21 is preventing me from attending my college program of choice, which requires an ACT score of 22 for admission. That said, I really cannot understand how a standardized test, which is not meant to measure my ability to succeed in my chosen college major, can prevent me from pursuing my academic dreams and hopes for future career success. Why should a government test score dictate my college future instead of the more reliable academic transcript and college entrance exams given by the university? ACT scores do not dictate the ability of a student to succeed or fail in college and anybody who believes it does is as archaic as the American academic system. My claims are easily supported by recent studies done by the National Associaiation for College Admission Counseling has uncovered that colleges have placed too much emphasis on these ACT and SAT test scores instead of concentrating on the ability of the student to learn and excel in his chosen field. An interest that can be best represented by their Advancement Placement exams and International Baccalaureate exams (Ramirez, Eddy “Report Says Test Scores Should Be Less Important in College Admissions”). As we all know, high schools across the country have since come under fire for seemingly spending too much time preparing for standardized testing, making sure that their students score highly in ACT and SAT tests in order to ensure continued funding and high rankings for their schools on nationwide scale. This concentration on standardized test performance has lowered the standard of educaiton in the country immensely because the students do not really get to study anything else, other than those topics related to the standard tests. This is a disservice to the students and the preparation that an education is supposed to give them for their futures. Further evidence of the irrelevance of ACT scores in the potential of a student to succeed in college can be seen in the data gathered which indicates that 33 public and private colleges and universities have seen that 123,000 students, representing more than 20 states, learned that the ACT test scores of these students did not have a correlation with how well the students did in college based upon their grades and graduation rates (Woodruff, Judy “Study Finds that High SAT and ACT Scores MIght Not Spell Success at College”). If the schools have caught on to the irrelevance of the standardized test scores, why cant the Department of Education do the same and bring their college admissions screening system into the 21st century as well? This system of testing for college admission is really archaic and irrelevant in the eyes of todays students and better informed educators. Schools across the country have been placing more and more undue emphasis on the standardized test results of their students as opposed to the actual amount of time teaching the students something of value that can help to better prepare them for their college learning experience. Teachers are being told that their tenure in a school will depend upon the standardized test results of their students. Thus a poor SAT or ACT performance could result in a career ending for educators. The wrong yardstick is now being used in measuring the students academic intelligence in the sense that parents have been trained to think of the effectiveness and quality of education their child receives by his performance in government tests. There are a sector of educators, those who have helped to develop these standardized tests, that this is the only way to gauge a students ability to complete or accurately perform in college. The explanation is that: One of the most useful of those inferences typically deals with students relative strengths and weaknesses across subject areas, such as when parents find that their daughter sparkles in mathematics but sinks in science. Its also possible to identify students relative strengths and weaknesses within a given subject area if there are enough test items to do so. For instance, if a 45-item standardized test in mathematics allocates 15 items to basic computation, 15 items to geometry, and 15 items to algebra, it might be possible to get a rough idea of a students relative strengths and weaknesses in those three realms of mathematics. More often than not, however, these tests contain too few items to allow meaningful within-subject comparisons of students strengths and weaknesses (Propham, James “Why Standardized Tests Dont Measure Educational Quality”). These standardized tests, such as the ACT, have been designed to fit a square peg into a round hole. It is being asked to accuratley judge the possible outcome of a students college participation based upon a set of variables that do not take other extenuating circumstances into account when making the decision. In other words, a set of formulas fed into a computer, cannot be expected to accurately judge something that requres the “human factor” to actually determine. If a student is not feeling well on the day of the national testing, misses the test, or does not perform well under pressure but has the academic track record of excellence that can be proven by their transcript of records, the student will find himself getting the short end of the stick. Real time factors will not be a consideration for the test results, thus limiting the college opportunity of a student who would otherwise perform with a degree of excellence in his chosen major. Let us face it, these standardized tests are given using only superficial questions that can have its responses based solely on multiple question responses. Now, correct me if I am wrong, but such types of tests cannot accurately measure to sense of logic, analytical skills, and technical plus intellectual merit of a student response. Mostly because these questions do not have the ability to delve deeper into the reasons for a students chosen response in the test. All the test wants to do, is create a baseline for the intelligence measurement of a nationwide group of students, something that can never be accurately done due to the various factors that affect a students learning process (“Whats Wrong with Standardized Tests?”). In other words, the ACT, which is the focal point of my speech, is being used by educators and admissions boards across the country in order to judge students for things that educators feel are important learning considerations. These tests: ... must require or demonstrate some valuable knowledge or skill, like knowing how to multiply, understanding the Civil War or being able to think critically. It is entirely possible for students to fail tests on such topics and still have, for example, the mathematical abilities or historical knowledge we want. If, for example, a math test required mentally multiplying 392 x 654 in five seconds or a history test required knowing the precise date of 50 Civil War battles, we would not be concerned that students did poorly (qtd. in Schulten). The academic intelligence of students cannot be proven by standardized testing such as the ACT because these tests do not ask the right questions. As the example above illustrates, if the interest if a student is in the civil war, but he is being asked to perform a task not related to his interest or expertise as a part of his test, then he cannot be expected to produce an accurate test result in relation to his potential college interests. As college students, we know how we can best perform in our chosen college major based upon our desire to suceed in that professional field as a career. We apply ourselves in college because of the dream that we can have a better future that we can enjoy based upon our love for our jobs. However, we are prevented from doing so because of the standardized tests. So rather than concentrating on developing a strong basis for our college careers, we instead spend most of the time trying to ensure a good standard test score in the hopes of getting into college. We have all been led to believe that these types of tests will allow students to discover their potential for success in college. Educators have been brainwashed into thinking that student performance on the SAT and ACT tests will reflect upon their ability to properly teach. The belief that these standardized tests are the holy grail of education are gravely mistaken. These tests, which can never accurately measure the academic intellect of a student based upon his actual interests and learning abilities, have instead created a traumatizing moment in the life of a student. Taking these tests instill fear in the student and a low performance that has been influenced by undue stress, makes him mistakenly believe that he is not cut out or is not prepared for college at all. Just because a few people decided that it would be nice to have the power to direct the future lives of students. These standarized test should, in my opinion, be considered the academic holocaust for which educators and test creators should apologize for the demise of generations of academic hopes in the academic equivalent of a Nazi prison camp. Tell me, if a student performs unbelievably well during his ACTs, but then begins to fail class after class, exam after exam, and eventually drops out of college, how exactly did the ACT help that student become an academic achiever? How did the test accurately gauge his success rate as a college student? These standardized tests have been created to paint a picture of areas that require improvement in the realm of education. It is not meant to be the be all and end all of the academic life of a student. These tests cannot be used to accurately represent the learning curve of a generation of learners because these tests are incapable of judging the standard of education of an institution or a person. A fellow student who shares this point of view is Mara Meijer who explains, “A lot of my teachers have said that if you dont have these scores, [colleges] wont even look at your applications... I have tons of books at home that I practice over the weekend and after school, so I can work on upping my score...Theyre not exactly a fair way to show our skills... I wish they could find some way to really show what we can do.” (Westervelt, Eric “College Applicants Sweat the SATs. Perhaps They Shouldnt”). I can identify with the sentiments of Meijer, I am one of the top students in my high school class, finishing in the top 10 percent of the graduating student list. However, I did not score very well in my ACTs. I dream of becoming a entering into a Diagnostic Medical Ultrasound course. A field of college study that requires a 22 ACT test score. Right off the bat, I have been set up to fail, not because of my lack of ability to learn what I want to college, but because the government has hedged their bets against my ability to succeed in the future. My chances for admission into my college degree of choice has been limited to almost null, and the possiblity that I can even get a scholarship to help fend of college tuition debts have been limited as well, even with a 3.90 GPA. All because of a standarized test that does not really reflect my ability to succeed in my chosen field. Now, compare my situation with that of a classmate of mine who scored better in her ACTs but is not a stellar student in any degree. She scored a 28 in her ACTs. An accomplishment that earned her a full scholarship to a university of her choice. However, she was never one of the best students in our high school so when college rolled around, she produced dismal grades. Bs in her first semester does not instill confidence when one considers that she has all of the academic benefits that a full scholarship can offer. Her poor performance in her current major led her to shift majors during the next semester. Isnt it ironic that the test that was meant to judge her ability to succeed in college, so dismally analyzed her abilities? Giving her the false confidence to believe that she could actually accomplish a tremendous amount of success in her previous major when she obviously was not cut out for it? Now, how could a standardized test have seen that coming? Guess what, it could not and would not have been able to predict that failure on the part of my classmate. It does not have the logic to recognize true learning potential because it cannot see it nor ask the proper test questions to lead it to that conclusion. The negative effects of standardized tests such as the ACTs on college admission and potential career success of college students is something that I wish to open your eyes to. If we do not allow the government to dictate how we live our daily lives, if we frown upon the government practice of having “Big Brother” determined how we go about our business, then we should definitely frown upon the practice of allowing government standardized tests such as the ACTs from dictating how we perform in college and what kind of professional we can be in the future. It is time to put a stop of this dictatorial rule of the government in terms of our ability to attain the relevant education that we seek for our intellectual enlightenment and career growth. Works Cited Propham, James. “Why Standardized Tests Dont Measure Educational Quality”. Educational Leadership. Mar. 1999: 8-15. Print. Ramirez, Eddy. “Report Says Test Scores Should Be Less Important in College Admissions”. usnews.com.usnews.com 22 Sept. 2008. Web. 14 Mar. 2015. Schulten, Katherine. “How Well Do You Think Standardized Tests Measure Your Abilities?”. nytimes.com. nytimes.com. 9 Mar. 2012. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. “Whats Wrong With Standardized Tests?”. fairtest.org. fairtest.org. 22 May 2012. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. Westervelt, Eric. “College Applicants Sweat The SATs. Perhaps They Shouldnt”. npr.org . npr.org. 28 Feb. 2014. Web. 16 Mar. 2015. Woodruff, Judy. “Study Finds High SAT and ACT Scores Might Not Spell Success at College”. pbs.org. pbs.org. 18 Feb. 2014. Web. 15 Mar. 2015. Read More