The
SAT is a standardized test that is almost a rite of passage for any student in
high school. Even though it is aimed to a small percentage of students who will
actually do well, colleges demand that the tests be taken. We spend hundreds or
even thousands of dollars prepping, hiring tutors, studying and cramming, but
in the end most students will not do well at all, and colleges will not accept
them regardless of their grades and extracurricular. However the one section
that people deem completely unnecessary is the writing portion, or the essay.
In
the article, “We Are Teaching High School Students to Write Terribly” author Matthew
Malady argues that the essay is the most unnecessary part of the test because
of the many flaws it encompasses. Because essay graders have a maximum of 2-3
minutes to read the essays, they will never actually read and make sure it is
coherent and cohesive. Also, graders tell students to “make stuff up” if it
will make you sound more interesting. It has been reported that students have
even made up fake deaths to sound more interesting and garner more sympathy. And
because graders do not have more than a few minutes to grade, they have no time
to check historical accuracy of facts or even look up unfamiliar words, which
could very well be made up.
With
all of this information, it makes it hard to see the purpose of the SAT essay.
Students are rushed to write about an event they might not know happened, and
are graded based on whether or not they use big words. Because of this, other
tests like the ACT have made the writing portion optional to students who think
it will benefit them. Writing this way is not helping students grow as writers
and really is not helping. This unfair grading process, which only helps a
small percentage of students, should not be mandatory.
Article
URL: http://www.slate.com/articles/life/education/2013/10/sat_essay_section_problems_with_grading_instruction_and_prompts.html
I totally agree. I've ALWAYS taken issue with essays on standardized tests. It teaches students to rush through their work without proofreading, which is what essentially happens when students are given an essay that's NOT on a standardized test. I remember taking the HSPAs in high school and always becoming frustrated when we were told to write a "creative" story because I really didn't use any creativity, I just wrote to get it done on time. It didn't teach me anything.
ReplyDeleteKaitlyn,
ReplyDeleteI am so glad you brought up the SATs, especially the essay portion. The SATs overall for me seem like a flawed system that sets students up to fail. As a horrible test taker, going into the SATs I was intimidated and assumed I would not do well. This completely altered my mind set when going into the test and I did not do as well as I wanted to. This did not mean I was a bad student because my GPA was excellent, but the SAT scores did not allow me to prove my intelligence. I completely agree with you and Colleen that the essays on standardized tests make you feel rushed and unprepared. I never went back to really edit my essays because I was either concerned with time or was so tired from writing that I was just glad for it to be done. I really hope the system of standardized testing changes, whether it being how the test is given or how much these tests count towards a students educational experience.
Kaitlyn, you bring up very good points! I always felt very rushed when trying to complete essays for the SAT, sometimes to the point where I just made things up in order to say I had completed the prompt. It never made sense to me that this section was on the SAT, because not many colleges account for the writing section into a score to begin with. It was always standard to have the math and language literacy sections accounted for before the writing section was introduced.
ReplyDeleteI believe that standardized testing is inefficient to gauge students actual learning. Meaning there are deeper levels of learning and each students takes something they felt strongly about. In some ways become an educator in specific content areas shows the subject that appealed to us as students ourselves. I am an art educator but there were not sections of the test for art content. Does this mean art is an irrelevant subject matter? Art can help students to explore our personal ideas, feelings, and visual elements of the world while also promoting vertical thinking.
ReplyDeleteThese test are not designed to gauge students as individuals, that they are, but test only certain knowledge based on collective data. It also does not take in other factors that cater to the individuals success such as socioeconomics, home life, disabilities, test anxiety, and poor test taking skills.
However there is a way to surpass taking SAT's and still have the opportunity to complete college and gain a degree. As a young student I had test anxiety. An english teacher from high school told us if we were planning on going to a community college taking the SAT's was not necessary and would save us some unnecessary stress. I decided to attend Community College to start then transfer to an art school in the city, never having to take my SAT's, and here I am today!