In
your opinion, is it fair or not to use SAT scores to determine college
admissions and scholarship eligibility? Why or Why not? Use one of
the theories summarized on the table on page 410 to support your answer along
with your own reasoning and/or Scripture.
State your opinion before responding to another student's response. Then, respond to at least one other student's post. Your opinion + your response should be at least 200 words.
State your opinion before responding to another student's response. Then, respond to at least one other student's post. Your opinion + your response should be at least 200 words.
I don't believe that colleges should base admission and scholarship opportunities only on the SAT test. The SATs test only on writing, reading comprehension, and mathematics. I believe that this kind of testing only assesses a students learned knowledge and not their full intelligence. This type of testing reminds me of Spearman's general intelligence theory where an intelligent person's test results should be at the same high point in every category. The major issue in this type of testing is that many people will test as very high in some categories and then lower in other categories. I believe that for colleges to maintain more accurate results in admissions testing they should devise a test that follows Sternberg's triarchic theory including analytical, creative, and practical intelligence. Analytical intelligence testing would show, much like the SAT testing, a student's ability in finding a single right answer to a certain problem; a good example of what this tests is academic skills. Creative testing would demonstrate to colleges how a student reacts to new and complicated situations with new and unheard of answers; a good example of this is critical thinking to come up with a different answer than a common answer. Practical intelligence tests would show if or if not a student has the capabilities to master everyday problems and decisions. This type of test would show colleges a better assessment of a student’s intelligence. These reasons lead me to believe that colleges should devise a test that tests students according to Sternberg's theory instead of testing according to Spearman's general theory as a SAT test follows.
ReplyDeleteAlso, I really like (and agree with) the ideas of having creative and analytical, and practical testing (very good point), but I think that they would all - to be fully effective - have to include options or something. Like, some people have skills which could not be tested by a paper test. Part of the reason that these tests are the ones which are used is because they are relatively simple and have set answers (other than the essay bit) so it is easy for graders to just set a number and leave it at that.
DeleteIt would be exceedingly difficult to fully test these skills, but any improvement would certainly help.
I do not believe the SAT scores should determine college admissions and scholarship eligibility, even though, it could be a significant factor. I believe that there should be a test to replace the SAT that would use Sternberg's triarchic theory which covers three categories ofintelligence(instead of two) and, according to the book can be reliably measured. A test based of of the Sternberg's triarchic theory, would broaden a college's ability to evaluate how a potential student would contribute to a college. If a college is working towards a more creative student body, for example, a college of architecture would probably be most benefited by looking at the math and creativity scores on a Sternberg assesment test rather than the SAT. Another reason why SAT's should not be used to determine college admissions and scholarship eligibility is the fact that it is one test. Many students,although very intelligent and diligent, are not good test takers. The stress involved in the actual taking of the SAT is almost reason enough for test takers to draw a sudden blank of any form of logic they formerly contained. Even in my small world of people I know about 23 people with the great "4.0" grade point average ,which we all go insane to achieve, who have flunked the SAT. As a result, I am a firm believer the SAT's should not determine such a vital part of our lives.
ReplyDeleteI do not believe that our SAT scores should determine college admissions and scholarship eligibility. I believe that the SAT scores should determine some of our eligibility, but not all of it. as Sarah and Bethany have both stated in their essay's, I too believe that there should be a test that uses Sternberg's Triarchic Theory of Intelligence. This theory would test you not just on one intelligence, but rather three separate intelligence's: analytical, creative, and practical. These would help you is you would be a bad test taker. you could be really smart, but when you take a test your mind draws a blank, and you do poorly. (Like one of my friends.) The analytical intelligence is being able to take apart problems and being able to see solutions not often seen, but that doesn't mean you are creative. Being Creative is being able to make up a new solutions that are unique and people would be impressed by them. It means you can take the task and find new ways of solving it that the majority of people would not notice. The practical intelligence test should just be renamed as street smarts. It's how your brain functions and your common sense come into play. You understand how to act in daily life and how to act around people everyday. Being smart isn't everything in life, but how you interact in life and how you do things in life is smart. Being smart is only part of life, but not everything.
ReplyDeleteI think that SAT scores should not be the deciding factor for students to be admitted to colleges or earn scholarships. There may be certain scholarships that depend on your "test taking" ability, in which those who are good at things like the SAT's would deserve and earn it. But there are many scholarships that they offer, that do not look at those scores, which makes this opportunity even to all. So as far as scholarships based on SAT's goes, yes, it is perfectly fair because they offer many that do not depend on that. On the topic of college admission, this is not a fully appropriate deciding factor. I base this on the Sternberg's theory. I believe that they can make a test based on his triarchic theory, which can test and show that their level of smarts and level of future success is just as high if not higher depending on their degree. The triarchic theory test would show many different aspects, for people who are organized or to show the level of creativity for someone who wants to start a business. In certain degrees, yes an SAT score may be appropriate to determine admission for that specific course but for all around college admission it is not appropriate. On top of this there are many people who keep a high GPA but then come to the SAT and their test taking ability may fail them. So overall SAT scores should not determine such a huge part of someones future.
ReplyDeleteI have to agree with using Sternberg's theory to test, because many vocations require aspects of their personality and abilities that the SAT test wouldn't show college. As Logan said in his post, I think that people who need to possess the creativity to open a business later in life would be shown in testing that follows Sternberg's theory of intelligence.
DeleteI agree with Logan about the scholarships. It's fair because multiple different types of scholarships are awarded to people and "being intelligent" according to the SATs can get you a few of those scholarships. For other scholarships, you have to have more than just intelligence though (such as athletics and performing arts).
DeleteIs it fair? No. Is any test completely comprehensive? No. Is this the best way we have as of right now to be able to tell what colleges want to know? I would say yes.
ReplyDeleteThe SAT only has three sections: Critical Reading, Math, and Writing. If someone is, say, an ESL student, s/he would have far greater difficulty excelling in any section other than math. If that student does not have math as a strong suit, s/he has much less hope of obtaining a good score. This doesn’t mean that the student is not a good student, nor does it mean that the student will even not do well in his/her major. If someone is going to college for something like nursing or forestry (to pick examples completely at random), what will it truly tell about their skills and abilities in this occupation by whether or not s/he is good at math, diction, or sentence errors?
Similarly, someone can be an excellent student and not necessarily excel in one or either of the other sections. Someone who is good at math may not necessarily have a great score in the “paragraph improvement” portion of the SAT, but does that truly have any hold over whether s/he would make a good engineer or mathematician?
The theories of multiple intelligences and “g” both come into play here. While the SAT does take into account a very few different skills, it still basically works on the premise of an IQ test (except even less definitively) - G. That we do still (sort of) have two different tests - the SAT and ACT - which are generally accepted by colleges, they are both quite similar and there is still a great deal which is lacking.
I also agree with… [well, I suppose everyone…] on that not everyone is “a good test-taker.” There are different styles of recall, different styles of learning, and different ways of remembering or utilizing information that someone does know.
Whether one is college-ready and should be accepted should not be based in SATs, but we do need to figure out a few types of tests which would work better before anyone can truly “fix” the problem.
I think that the SAT being used to determine scholarship eligibility is a poorer idea than being used for college eligibility. Colleges use many criteria to determine whether or not they would like to have you come, but scholarship eligibility can be based on even less than colleges use.
Using SAT scores to determine how intelligent is not reliable since there are many different factors that can result in SAT scores like the individual could have had a bad day or they could have not had a good night sleep and the SAT score would be effected by his mood. Only taking one test on one day shouldn't decide college admission, one test shouldn't decide your future. ( Also i don't think people that had to ask to use the bathroom in less then 6 months should be required to chose their future ) Since factoring in having an of day can effect you scores even though you could be getting straight A's through high school you could be Falling high school and your a good guesser and score good on your SAT. i don't believe the SATs are a good judgement of how Intelligent a student is. Maybe taking multiple SAT scores and rounding the average with a spanned of a week in-between a week. So it can weed out the people that guess and the people that had a bad day get more opportunities to raise their score.
ReplyDeleteI don't think it is fair that colleges should base admission on the SAT scores. The SATs test only on writing, reading comprehension, and mathematics. I think that this kind of testing only assesses a students learned knowledge and not their intelligence. This type of testing is like Spearman's general intelligence theory where an intelligent person's test results should be the same in every category. With the SATs having only three categories, that is not truly fair. I think the SATs should be more like Sternberg’s triarchic theory or Gardner’s multiple intelligences which both test a broader range of intelligences and abilities. Another reason that I think colleges shouldn’t base admission on SAT scores is that some people aren’t good test takers. For the ones that are good test takers, they deserve the scholarships. In that aspect, it is fair to give them scholarships because there are other scholarships that they can’t get (like sports or music scholarships). For the test taker, the stress involved in taking the SAT is enough for them to draw a blank of any form of logic and knowledge they originally had. People who would be considered smart in school might not be considered smart according to the SAT scores. The test is intimidating for a person when they think about a single test basically deciding their future. One test that only test three categories deciding your future is just an awful idea and definitely not fair.
ReplyDeleteI do not think that it is fair to use SAT scores to determine college admissions and scholarship eligibility. Just because someone doesn't do good on their SATs shouldn't determine their future. Someone could be having a bad day like Andrew said and that could screw up their chances at college. After you take the SATs over and over again and you still do very poorly, then it isn't as bad if you don't get into a certain college. The SAT includes Critical reading, Math, and Writing. If you are not good at math or writing then you will probably not do very well on the test. That is also not fair. Some people may not be very good at taking tests. The may become nervous and forget everything they have learned. Just because someone isn't good at math doesn't mean that they aren't smart. Some people may be very smart but they may lack in writing and then they may not get to go to the college that they want. I don't believe that being able to excel at writing is such a necessity. It is helpful but as we all know, everyone is different and may not have writing as their best thing.
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