The Meaning of Standardized Testing

The Meaning of Standardized Testing

Each year, the non-profit organization the College Board, releases its most reputable standardized test for college bound aspirants, the SAT. The SAT exam which in the earlier years stood for the “Scholastic Aptitude Test” and then the “Scholastic Assessment Test” no longer stands for anything but is rather a dead acronym. Originally the standardized exam contained two sections which were simply Math and Verbal that ranged from a score of 200-800 totaling a maximum possible score of 1600. Later on in the years ahead, a third writing section which includes an essay was inserted increasing the total possible achievable score from 1600 to 2400. Many students who hope to enroll in prestigious top-notch universities including Harvard, Princeton, Yale, Stanford, MIT, and many others may often spend countless hours and months preparing rigorously before sitting for an exam session. The months following up may very well cause anxiousness and finally when the day comes, and their scores arrive reactions can vary tremendously from one individual to another.

Besides being one out of many factors in ultimately being admitted to a college, there have been many questions and debates regarding the SAT in general and what it means overall. Many have wondered for instance whether or not the SAT truly measures anything at all. Does the SAT measure innate intelligence? Does it measure academic achievement? Is it an accurate predictor of success in college overall? How much can one improve in standardized tests? Questions like these have been asked and debated for many years. Here I will present a variety of opinions on the SAT and will express my own.

According to Bob Schaeffer, Wayne Camara describes the SAT as a general attempt to measure a student’s “verbal and mathematical reasoning ability.” In relation to this idea, the more proficient one is at math and verbal skills, the higher they will score in comparison to the rest of the test takers. Now how much of it is truly reasoning ability? Perhaps no one can give an accurate percentage answer to that question but it is easily noticeable that the test has been given a meaningful title which is “SAT Reasoning Test.”

I remembered the times when I as a junior in high school scored a little above national average on the PSAT and improved about 300 points on my SAT exam to ultimately land in the 1900-2000 range. Upset and discouraged, I however wasn’t surprised since I prepared poorly for the exam and never or rarely scored above 600 on the critical reading section during my practice tests. Even more depressing was when one teacher who knew me very well as well as the SAT was thoroughly confident that I was going to score in the 2200 + (99 percentile) range. Was she right? Perhaps she was if I had prepared at least two years before I even took the SAT. Maybe if I had done something different I could have scored much higher on the exam. My consistent scoring of 5’s on the AP exams and solid scoring on the subject tests with little preparation (770 Math II, 730 Chemistry, 700 US History) clearly indicated that my SAT potential was a lot higher than I could have imagined. There was no doubt in my mind if I had prepared vigorously at least a year before I took any subject test, I would have almost certainly ended up with a perfect 800 on Math Level 2, perfect 800 on Chemistry, and most likely above a 750 on US History. Of all the sections I found the Critical Reading portion to be the most challenging and difficult to improve on especially since my English skills were hardly developed throughout my years of secondary education.

Getting a perfect SAT score (2400) is probably not realistic since most often it requires some luck. My view is that in order to greatly increase your chances is to start preparing for the exam as early as possible even ideally, 3 to 4 years before you even take the PSAT. That means that if one really wants to score in the very high 2300 range (2350-2400), one must start way back in middle school and begin reading and learning as much vocabulary as possible. Take as many practice tests as one can, ideally twenty or more and thus review each exam question thoroughly. Make sure your scores are ending up in the range that you desire.

Now an even more interesting question has been asked by some and even me. Is it possible for an average human with average or a little above average intelligence and with the right preparation and motivation earn a perfect score of 2400 on the SAT (800 Math, 800 Critical Reading, 800 Writing)? Can anyone or almost anyone score a 2400 or does it require some innate intelligence and luck? Let’s take a general look at what are statistically the odds of scoring a 2400 on the SAT exam. Each year nearly a million and a half college bound students sit down for 3 hours and 45 minutes of intense test taking. With the exam over, they wait nearly several weeks for their scores to be processed. Of the 1.5 million SAT test takers in 2008, about 5600 scored above a cumulative score of 2300. Beyond that, the numbers of higher scores decrease and thus only a small elite group of 300 or less students earn a perfect 2400. Keep in mind thought that it is possible to miss a few questions and still get a 2400. So in terms of probability the odds are approximately 1 out of 5000 that you will end up with a perfect SAT score.

So exactly what is the SAT a measure of? Here’s what the SAT means to me. From my experience and what the standardized test is all about, it seems that the SAT is an overall evaluation of a student’s developed mathematical, english (reading comprehension, vocabulary), and writing ability that have been systematically cultivated throughout twelve years of public education. It is no wonder that my math scores on the SAT greatly correlate with the rigorous preparation that I had as a child in the area of math. Only if I had done the exact same with the subject of english as well could I have seen a significant difference. Your math and verbal scores are an indication of how well your math and reading reasoning abilities have been developed and enhanced throughout the entire twelve years of secondary education you have received. If you’ve worked tremendously hard throughout the course of twelve years while perfecting your math and verbal abilities with self-motivation and perseverance, the higher your score will be on the SAT exam. If you’ve not, the greater chance will you have of pulling out an average score.

Opinions regarding the SAT have varied dramatically from one to another. I’ve gotten reactions ranging from it being a fair exam, to a difficult and arduous one, and to a very easy one in return. Most interesting was when one of my colleagues at Syracuse University who I described as a verbal virtuoso especially since he had read countless books and literature for many years assert how easy and simple the SAT exam was from his view. “The SAT was sooo easy!” said my friend who reportedly scored a 2270 or 2370 out of 2400 (don’t remember exact). I had never heard that kind of attitude from someone towards the SAT and it appears that it pretty much was. I have therefore realized that my critical reading and writing scores accurately reflected how advanced my english and verbal skills were. Therefore for this reason, I had formerly decided to start a new long journey for improving my english comprehension, grammar, and vocabulary skills to new levels and heights.