Hello, everyone, and welcome back to the Education Station. This week, we’re staying in the realm of high school testing, but we will primarily focus on the SAT standardized test. This exam is taken by a multitude of high school students each year, but the value of the results is questionable.

The SAT is a common part of the high school experience, but it did not always exist in the public education system. In 1900, the College Examination Board, now known as the College Board, was set up by 12 leading United States universities. The purpose of this organization was to standardize college admissions by enticing high schools to adopt a more uniform educational program. Admissions boards could therefore more accurately determine students’ abilities given their performance on identical curriculum.

By 1926, the first Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) was administered, an exam consisting of nine sub-sections to evaluate students in multiple areas. Since all students were taking identical tests, the idea was that their scores would accurately predict their success, or lack thereof, in university education.

In theory, the idea makes sense. The higher the score, the more intelligent the student, and the better the student will do in university. The top universities want to educate the best and brightest students, so this system seems like a perfect way to evaluate applicants to determine which ones to admit or decline. The test is heavily monitored, so cheating and unfair advantages are minimized. If every aspect of the SAT occurs as planned, then what is the problem with the examination?

In recent years, the meaning of the SAT score has been called into question. Opponents of the SAT argue that the exam shows the effects of test preparation more than it does the intelligence of the student. It’s no secret that test preparation helps students perform better on tests. An entire industry has been created specifically to train students on proper SAT test-taking strategies, and test preparation companies take in a reported $2.5 billion a year according to Eduventures.

With SAT test-prep classes costing approximately $75-$1000 per student, SAT scores come to separate students who payed for prep classes from students who did not. This is a major problem because it contradicts the original purpose of the SAT. The exam was designed to test intelligence to determine college preparedness in potential applicants, and the current results may not indicate this. Between the lowest income and highest income students who take the SAT, there is a 400-point gap between average scores. The test appears to be a better indicator of wealth than it does “scholastic aptitude”.

While there must be some way to quantify students’ readiness for university-level courses, the SAT does not seem to be a good measurement. The SAT is consistently changing its standards and content, removing writing sections and altering vocabulary sections each year. It is difficult to determine the exact meaning of these scores, whether the students scored highly due to test-prep, intelligence, or solid educations enabled by family wealth.

The SAT does not seem to tell the full story of each individual applicant. An increasing number of universities are no longer using SAT scores in their application processes. These universities have decided to use other measures to determine college preparedness, some of which include unweighted GPA, weighted GPA, extracurricular activities, leadership positions, and AP/IB exam scores. By using combinations of these scores and information, universities may be able to more accurately predict students’ college preparedness instead of heavily relying on SAT scores.

Additionally, universities have placed more emphasis on complex essay responses when evaluating potential students. While it is more difficult to read and evaluate each student’s essay responses than it is to evaluate test scores, the essays tell the admissions committee much more valuable information about the student. Student-written essays offer insight into the character and thinking of each student, something that a simple test score cannot quantify. Universities require these essays to challenge applicants to articulate viewpoints and describe themselves, and this serves as a much more useful tool in evaluating the abilities and potentials of the applicants.

For me, writing college essays was much more difficult than taking either the SAT or ACT standardized exams. The essays offer thought-provoking prompts that allow students to truly showcase their personalities and critical thinking skills. I found that this was my opportunity to describe what the test scores could not. Universities want to know the value that each applicant will bring to campus, and multiple measurements are required to determine this value. I believe that required essays are one of the best ways to determine college preparedness, and they are much more valuable in evaluating students than standardized test scores like the SAT. The value of the SAT is not easily seen, and the exam scores should not be used as the most major factor in determining college acceptance.

Thank you for reading. Leave a comment if you want me to cover any specific civic issues in education. Stay tuned for next week’s edition of the Education Station!