by Riley Voss

Almost every year of a student’s schooling, a standardized test is given in order to assess the progress that students are making in their education. Whether that be MAPs testing in elementary school, the Forward Exam in middle school, or the ACT and SAT in high school, students have been forced into these tests for years. However, these tests are an inaccurate assessment of a student’s true academic performance in school. They create extra stress that causes students to underperform and put great students who are simply bad test-takers at a disadvantage, creating an unfair assessment of their academic skills.

Every year students are given a different standardized test to worry about. Whether that be the  MAPs or Forward Exams, or the more important ACT and SAT, there is always some kind of standard issue test that creates extra stress for students. Giving these tests creates a tremendous amount of worry for students from age seven to seventeen, as they stress about getting a good grade and showing that they are good students. However, this mindset often causes students to underperform on the test. Although they may be a model student in every day class, a low score on the ACT due to stress can cause colleges to get the wrong idea about students. An A and B student with a fourteen on the ACT may seem less desirable than a student with the same grades and a score of twenty-eight. A low ACT score that is likely due to pent up stress and anxiety should not be so important to a student’s acceptance to college, as it was an unfair assessment of the student’s true academic potential.

In addition to pent up stress and anxiety, many students who are able to easily maintain an A average in their classes are bad test takers, and often end up getting significantly lower scores on standardized tests that do not reflect their potential as a student. These students are easily able to get homework done well and maintain an above average grade on their formative work, but when it comes to summative assessments, they underperform due to circumstances that make them poor test takers. The same applies to standardized tests. While they are able to maintain a reputation as an A student in school, their lack of test taking skills will cause them to do poorly on standardized tests, making them seem like a bad student when reviewing them. Someone with high grades and low test scores does not deserve to lose out on opportunities that they deserve just because they have a hard time taking tests.

Standardized tests are an unfair burden on students that do not truly assess their academic skills. Whether it be because of stress and anxiety, or because a student is simply a poor test taker, they cannot truly determine the skills or potential of a student.