Is COVID-19 the End of Standardized Testing?

Here are some completely arbitrary numbers that most students will be all too familiar with (and will probably have obsessed over): 1,600, 36, 5, 800, 4.0, 45. (To anyone not in the know, in order, the numbers are a full SAT score, full ACT score, full AP score, full SAT subject test/sectional score, full GPA, full IB score.) These numbers, and what each student’s numbers are, basically defines whether or not they will go to college, and if so, which ones. However, like just about everything, COVID-19 may be about to change that.

Standardized testing, especially ones made specifically for college admissions like the SAT and ACT, was originally created to ensure that there would be a level playing field for all students seeking to enter college. The idea was that, since school curriculums are so diverse, and each school grades students differently, a standardized test would help make sure an A from one school would mean the same thing in another. It also tried to allow students from poorer schools and neighborhoods to have the opportunity to go to college if they manage to get a decent score on these tests.

America has been absolutely obsessed with these tests for decades. College rankings, like those from the U.S. News and World Report, are heavily weighted toward students’ test scores. Some scholarship programs, like the National Merit Scholarship, are based solely on the PSAT test score. And Florida even spent millions of dollars giving bonuses to teachers with high SAT scores.

In reality, the switch away from standardized tests has been a long time coming. Many people believe that the SAT and ACT don’t test math and English skills—rather, they test how good a student is at taking a four-hour-long multiple-choice test. Lawsuits are pending against the University of California (UC) system for using the SAT and ACT for college admissions.

In addition, studies have shown that a student’s family wealth is linked closely to what they score on these tests. This is because it costs $50 to take the SAT once and rich students often are able to pay for expensive tutoring. (AP tests cost even more, at $94 per test.) Although some people may qualify for a fee waiver, rich students are also able to take tests multiple times, which raises scores. Also, researchers from UC Berkeley have shown that high school GPA, not standardized test scores, are the best predictors for college grades.

The coronavirus, though, may have accelerated this switch away from standardized tests. Due to COVID-19, countless test centers have been closed, with many test dates having been canceled. This means that those entering college this year and next year will have a diminished opportunity to take these tests, resulting in many students unable to submit them to colleges due to cancellations.

After the AP testing fiasco back in May, SAT and ACT have decided not to offer online administrations of those exams, and have instead opted to cancel them in areas where the COVID-19 pandemic is still raging.

Because of this, a total of more than 1,250 schools, among them many prestigious colleges, including but not limited to most of the Ivy League schools, Stanford University, the UC system, the University of Chicago, and lots more are going test-optional, at least for 2021, if not longer. And many schools, like the UC system, are opting to slowly phase out standardized tests by 2025.

This obviously means that colleges and governments will have to rely on other metrics, like high school GPA and other grades, extracurricular activities, essays, and so on. (The issue of affirmative action will be discussed in a future post.) This means that there will be a more holistic view of students, as colleges can’t use numerical data to filter out certain students.

It could also save a lot of money for state and local governments, too. Many high schools were mandated by the now-repealed No Child Left Behind (NCLB) Act, and now the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA) enacted by the Obama administration to provide standardized testing to students. Now, many governments are granting waivers for standardized testing. When governments realize the inefficiency of standardized testing, they may stop these programs altogether. Teachers have also said that standardized testing does not help assess students’ performance in school.

Ultimately, colleges going test-optional will benefit low-income and minority students. The National Center for Fair and Open Testing (FairTest) has said that standardized testing disproportionately disadvantages low-income and minority students due to a lack of resources for tutoring and multiple test-takings.

In addition, it will also relieve a massive burden for millions of students, as their futures won’t be determined by one single, dreaded number. FairTest has also proposed no more to terminate high-stake consequences that rely on test scores, like program and school placement, grade promotions, and so on. Many students who are extremely abled who are disadvantaged by the standardized testing system will also get a chance to shine.

The elimination of standardized tests will create a better, fairer education system that works for all, not just the privileged few. It’s time to move away from the test-mandatory model and at least move to the test-optional model, and allow more students from low-income families to succeed.