Time to ‘get real’ with students
By Dan Benz Math Department Chair Benton High School Submitted to
“Do ACT scores predict college success?” Type those words into a Google search and you will uncover a mixed bag of research papers on the subject, but a significant majority of studies, including one by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), conclude that ACT scores do in fact correlate with college success. I believe that the October 18 front-page News-Press Now “Special Report” on the subject may send the wrong signal to college-bound students and their families. I believe that preparing for and earning a good score on the ACT matters a great deal in terms of success in college.
As a high school math teacher, I witness first-hand the fact that high school grades do not always accurately reflect student achievement. Standardized test scores complement student grade point averages to paint a more comprehensive picture of how much an individual student actually learned in secondary school, and help universities allocate scholarship money and other resources based on a student’s likelihood of success in college.
There are some uncomfortable truths that SJSD students, parents, teachers, and administrators need to own up to. First, many students cheat. In fact, if some were as good at academics as they are at cheating, we could probably solve world hunger or colonize Mars within a year or two. Second, many parents derive part of their own social status from their child’s class rank, and don’t mind leaning hard on teachers and administrators to get their way. Third, some teachers are just tired and worn out, and aren’t up to the struggle of holding students accountable when it comes to grades. The result is that high school grades are largely inflated. Students’ grades at Benton High School remind me of Garrison Keillor’s fictional Lake Wobegon, “where all of the children are above average.”
Earning a high score on the ACT requires the student to learn and retain a broad foundation of academic knowledge and skills. The ACT is a four-part test that is four hours long. Each section consists of anywhere from 40 to 75 questions. Even the best-prepared students find the test stressful because of the time constraints. Students must strike a balance between deliberateness and efficiency. Therefore, the ACT is not merely a measure of the student’s acquired knowledge, it also evaluates the student’s mental stamina and ability to perform under pressure, attributes that directly correlate with success in university-level coursework.
The purpose of education is not to chase arbitrary performance metrics, whether that be grade point averages or ACT scores. We educate our children in school so they can develop the knowledge, skills, abilities, and attitudes required to provide for themselves as adults and to make meaningful contributions to society. I believe that expressly or tacitly encouraging students to avoid standardized tests is but one more example of adults enabling a sense of helplessness in their children. Preparing for the ACT is stressful, but so is running a corporation, developing new products, caring for patients, or any of the other occupations that require a college education. It’s time to “get real” with our students by encouraging them to prepare for and do well on the ACT.
