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When I left high school, I thought I left standardized testing behind. Over three years, I took the SAT and ACT a combined seven times, hoping one score would be high enough for full-ride scholarships or the Ivy Leagues. I remember the concentrated joy and chaos when I finished my last SAT attempt. “Never again,” I thought to myself.
I was gravely mistaken. As an aspiring teacher, I have to pass the PRAXIS, an exam required to obtain a teaching license in 46 of 50 states in the United States.
The PRAXIS is one of many exams required for entrance into graduate programs. For medical school, applicants have to take the MCAT. Law school applicants have to take the LSAT. While paying the $150 for my PRAXIS exam, I wondered why the PRAXIS — and standardized testing in general — was necessary.
The way modern testing is carried out is inherently flawed. According to the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, standardized tests “do not measure the ability to think deeply or creatively in any field.” Many core elements of testing “reward quick answers to superficial questions.” While this issue manifests in K-12 schooling, it is ever present at the collegiate level.
Regardless of intended career field, standardized testing does not accurately reflect a student’s potential. For the LSAT specifically, Penn State Dickinson School of Law student Graeme Abraham remarks that “there are a lot of factors that make good law students that the test just can’t measure, such as ethics and time management.” Similarly, Jessica Weaver, a graduate business student at Penn State, doesn’t believe the GMAT actually reflects a person’s ability to handle business school.
Aside from inaccurately reflecting student’s potential, standardized testing serves as a discriminatory agent against students. The New York Times found that the increase of standardized testing for teachers has affected minority students significantly. In the PRAXIS Core Test, white test takers averaged a 55% passing rate on the first attempt, while African-American test takers averaged 21.5%. This reflects a gap in performance that is common in most schools throughout the country.
The PRAXIS makes it harder to have cultural diversity within the field of education, since many potential educators cannot make it through the test. It also doesn’t take into consideration students from marginalized communities that cannot afford to take the PRAXIS as many times as their wealthier competitors.
Standardized tests are costly. While the test fee might be a small inconvenience, the College Board, the company that hosts the SAT and AP tests, brings in $1.11 billion in revenue annually.
As of 2022, the MCAT costs $315 per student per test. The Association of American Medical Colleges brings in around $169 million in revenue from the MCAT and medical licensing requirements, such as the actual application to medical schools and the application for medical residencies.
For tests that do not meaningfully assess the potential of a student, I find these revenues exploitative. On top of paying for typical college fees, students have to pay potentially hundreds to take a test that is nearly mandatory for their desired career field. That isn’t even considering the possibility of needing to retake the test, which easily doubles or triples the initial hundreds a student has to pay.
I believe required tests are redundant. I am spending two years in a teacher preparation program, and yet, I have to prove I am competent enough to teach. This competency is determined via a standardized test. It is unfair that a single test has the ability to discount the education I and millions of others students have worked so hard to obtain.
The MCAT claims one of its purposes is to assess “knowledge of natural, behavioral and social science concepts and principles.” Most medical schools require an undergraduate degree with specific prerequisite classes already taken. This would make the test unnecessary, as the student applying would have been educated on the topics being tested.
The same logic can be applied to the PRAXIS, LSAT and GMAT. Even though the parent companies are non-profit, the salaries of the top executives beg to differ. From what I have found, there is little purpose to their existence other than to act as a gatekeeper and collect money.
I believe that standardized testing should be abolished at all levels, especially at the collegiate level. With the testing gone, students would be able to spend study time for these tests on other things. Furthermore, students would be saved from the hefty cost of these tests.
As many colleges start to make ACT and SAT testing optional, all colleges should reevaluate their application processes and work to make standardized testing optional for all programs.
Alexia Woodall is a sophomore secondary education, secondary English and journalism major. Reach her at alexiawoodall@dailynebraskan.com.
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