Ediotrial Story: Are Standardized Tests Like the ACT an Accurate Measure of Academic Worth?

Just about every college bound student takes an assessment test to prove their accumulated
knowledge over the course of their four years at high school. Whether it be the ACT or SAT, both tests are very rigorous and time consuming assessments of which bear varying levels of stress depending on each student. The ACT’s (American College Testing) purpose of the test is to measure the aptitude of what the student has learned in high school, and to predict how well they’ll do in your first year of college. The ACT is comprised of four required sections, and one optional writing portion. This seems like a conventional way to forsee one’s academic ability in college, until you consider the content of the test. To me, the most effective and accurate academic aptitude test would heavily focus on one’s level of intellect, grasping the meaning of truths, facts and meanings, literature, and then cover the basic topics like math, reading, and writing as more of a supplementary test. The current ACT test is a horrible way to measure academic worth, creating unnecessary stress on students, and is a waste of money. This is a one day test that ultimately determines the place students go to college. Its unfair that students only get one shot during a long four hours of testing. Many, many variables go into a student’s score. The test is graded cumulatively, so the scores of each test are averaged to one final score. Its really important that we take another look at the worth of these standardized tests, and see if there is an alternate to these tests because right now, the system seems faulty and is inaccurate. This tests’ integrity and reputation for academic worth should be questioned and reviewed. These standardized tests are unfair to students and is an inaccurate way to decipher their academic level.