standardized testing., is it accurate? necessary? Options

[winsome]

For all of us still trudging through public schools and those whose tax dollars fund our education...

Does standardized testing (SATs ACTs etc.) accurately measure a student's capacity, and, more importantly, should it be as integral to education as it is currently?

[ComradeRed]

Accurate? SAT IIs are, SAT Is are not.
Integral? They should be, certainly.

You can't really study for the SATs. You can study for the PSATs, which are more achivemenet-based. The SAT is a reasoning test. In my school, our top PSAT scorer only got a 1400 on the SATs. Of the two people who got higher than 1500 on the SAT, neither of us study.

Likewise, people who do good on the SAT IIs may not do well on the SAT I. An NA kid had three 800s on the SAT II and only a 1400 on the SAT I. Unless you're me, where you're just that great at everything .

There are so many differences betwene schools that standardized testing is the most equitable way to resolve them.

That is, of course, unless you perfer to go back to the 1950s system, where you got into university based on what high school you went to.

[innovation]

Unless you're me, where you're just that great at everything .

gee! what a modest guy.

anyway, i think that standardized tests are necessary because they provide at least some basis (that's easily graded) for measuring one's fundamental reasoning skills. however, i believe that other factors, such as one's dedication, leadership positions, and extracurricular activities, are far, far better indicators of future success than a score from a multiple-choice test.