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Brian Hobbs
UWRT 1102-41
Inquiry Proposal
Ropko
3 May 2016
Does Standardized Testing Accurately Reflect a Students Intelligence?
The proposal I am setting forth is going to be concerning the validity of the SAT/ACT.
Many students these days dislike the SAT/ACT for numerous reasons. The question I am asking
about the SAT/ACT is, Is standardized testing the best way to measure a students intelligence?
The SAT/ACT is a large tool used by universities to measure the intelligence of their applicants.
They used the scores as a measuring tool to compare applicants. If the SAT/ACT is flawed in its
ability to measure a students academic intelligence, then why is it being used by colleges? This
also brings up the topic about some colleges not requiring the standardized testing scores.
Students taking the SAT/ACT are under a lot of pressure because they feel like its a major
component of their resume.
I am very interested in this subject because I have firsthand experience with the
SAT/ACT and the college application process. I know that the standardized testing process is a
pain, and when I got my scores back, I felt like the results from the test didnt represent me as a
student. A lot of other students, past and present, have the same feeling as me. Right now the
SAT/ACT is a very heavily discussed topic. The SAT is changing their test so it is not trying to
trick kids like in the previous years. The SAT is all over the news and there is a lot of information

on the internet about it right now. I feel like there is a better way to measure a students
intelligence and I want to explore that topic and expand it to its full potential.
Just like a lot I people these days, I have a lot of experience with the SAT/ACT. I took
the SAT once and I took the ACT twice. I also took the PSAT which is the practice SAT. I also
took an online class for the ACT to boost my scores. The high school I went to was a college
preparatory school and we focused heavily on standardized testing practice in class. I have also
been involved in the college application process where the SAT/ACT scores were a major part in
the decision process.
However, there is still a lot I need to learn in order to create a proper essay. I have hands
on experience, but that is not enough to make a good essay. I need to know more numbers and
stats about the SAT/ACT. Instead of having opinions, I want to have facts that cant be disputed.
I want to be able to compare and contrast the last few years concerning the test scores, number of
students taking the test and the number of colleges making the SAT/ACT scores optional. I need
to know all of the perspectives of the argument so I wont be biased when writing the essay.
After doing some minor research, I am not the only one who thinks standardized tests do
not accurately predict the success of a student. It tells you how smart a student is, but there are a
lot of other factors that go into making a good student. Some people make the argument that
colleges have intro classes for many different classes, so why is there a big deal made out of
those scores. People say colleges should look at the person for their moral values and not so
much as a student, because work ethic and good moral values will go a lot further than a good
base of knowledge. A good SAT/ACT score does not mean the student will be a bad student, it
just says they have the knowledge to pass a certain test. The other talk about the SAT/ACT is that
the test doesnt test all of the knowledge of the student. It only goes over math and English. It

also has a writing section, but you only get a limited amount of time on it, which doesnt reflect
the intelligence of the student. Some students even have test anxiety that prevents them from
performing to their full ability. A lot goes into the testing process of the SAT/ACT which can
skew the scores of many students, making them look worse to colleges.