XplanaZine

You would think that with all the amazingly cool gadgets, smart computers and incredible machines and ideas floating around these days, people could come up with a better way of measuring a high schooler’s intelligence than standardized tests. The ACT and the SAT are, in theory, good ideas. No one can tamper with the tests and since they’re all the same, they have to be fair…right?

These standardized tests are supposed to be “super tests” but they can be beaten easily by a good test taker and a small amount of study time. The answers are actually fairly predictable — for example in the English portion the shortest answer is almost always the right one. They may say that the triangles and rectangles are not drawn to size, but they really are. And, since colleges base admission off of these tests, it pays (literally) to be a good test taker even if you don’t have the best grades. Unfortunately, that’s bad news for the people who may be brilliant but who process information differently or who can’t take a test well to save their lives.

I scored a 32 out of 36 on the ACT and consider myself a good test taker so I have nothing to complain about. But it’s the principle of the idea. People who read slowly or who are precise and thorough in their thinking are generally penalized with a time limit on the test. While they may have an IQ of one hundred and thirty, they might not score above a twenty on the test because they don’t have time to fully read the questions or process their thinking in the allotted time period.

Some very intelligent people just don’t take tests well. I’ve sat in class before and watched perfectionists take tests. They will sit and agonize over every single question narrowing down the answers one by one until there are only two left, and then they’ll bubble in one answer. But wait! That wasn’t the right answer. So they take out their erasers (yes they have erasers and the erasers always look very worn) and they erase the first bubble and begin to bubble in the other answer. Midway through this exercise they change their minds again and have to erase. Often there isn’t much of an answer sheet left after the kid has practically erased holes in the sheet. Not that it matters — the time limit has passed and they won’t score well at any rate.

The real problem is that these standardized tests don’t really measure your intelligence — they just test your ability to test.

There may not be a quick answer to fixing standardized tests. If you take off the time limit some people will abuse that. And, adding more time to some will just let them triple check their answers and increase their test anxiety. Regardless of how we try to fix these test, however, the fact remains that a student’s entrance into college should not be determined by one measly test to begin with. Personally I think each student should be evaluated on an individual basis, with letters from each of his or her teachers. That would give a better insight into a student’s real ability. Of course that would be a lot of extra work for teachers and colleges. The colleges I’m not worried about. They definitely make enough money to invest in such a system. And, while they’re spending some extra money, they can always throw a little in the teachers’ direction.

Problem solved.