Zach Nyman
Nakamura
AP English Language and Composition
4/19/22
Do High Test Scores Equal Intelligence?
I think it’s safe to say that almost everyone can relate to feeling nervous or scared about
a test in school. I’m sure many have questioned why they’re even taking the test in the first
place, “What’s the point in taking this test?” Still though, tests are widely accepted as a good
measure of the student’s comprehension of the content taught in their classes. However, while
many believe in the benefits of tests, some believe that they don’t hold very much value in
determining how smart a student actually is. After all, people have a lot of important and useful
abilities that you can’t measure with a test in school. Of course, it’s really important to discuss
this so that students are taught in the best way possible. I believe that academic tests are only
partly effective in determining a student’s intelligence and ability to succeed because they
don’t test students’ creativity or real-world skills.
One important element of intelligence that tests don’t consider is creativity. According
to professor Robert Arnold, “Standardized tests by definition are a one-size-fits-all instrument
featuring one correct answer for every question” (Source F). Of course, this isn’t true for all
tests in school, but there’s almost always answers that are either “right” or “wrong.” Students
don’t always get to show their skills in creatively solving problems because, in school, they’re
often taught how to solve a problem and then they’re expected to do exactly that on the quiz
or test to get a good grade. The problem this creates is that some students who have great
creative talent aren’t recognized for that strength in the school system, and that can affect their
opportunities regarding jobs and success in the future. As psychologist and Cisco Systems Vice
President Annmarie Neal says, “Some employers say they, too, want to see more creative and
critical thinking in the schools” (Source A). So instead of only teaching students the content of
their classes, it might be a good idea to try to boost their creative/critical thinking skills,
because that will serve them better in school and later in life.
Of course, there are benefits to making students take tests. It is true that tests let
students “show what they know” (Source D). This aspect of tests can give students the feeling
that they’re playing a more active role in their education, which can encourage them to put
more effort in. However, many tests are completely multiple choice and don’t really let
students show the full extent of their intelligence. Still, it is apparent that there are some
benefits to having tests in school, so maybe completely getting rid of tests isn’t a good idea.
Edutopia writer Carly Berwick argues for “quick, easy practice quizzes on recently taught
content” (Source C). Berwick believes that these types of assessments help students “retain
information in a better way than simply studying material” (Source C). This seems pretty
appealing. Having small tests with less pressure could give more time for more diverse activities
that reward students’ true intelligence better. This is definitely a good start, but it could even
be a good idea to focus some of these tests on creativity or critical thinking, as discussed in the
previous paragraph.
Another problem revolves around how tests, and students’ scores on them, are used.
Walt Macdonald, President and CEO of the Educational Testing Service (ETS), speaks of “the use
of cut scores that institutions set and use to exclude all applicant whose scores fall below the
cut” (Source G). Using test scores like this can deny truly intelligent people the opportunity to
get a degree and a good job in the future. Another issue with tests, especially standardized
ones like the SAT, is that they’re often somewhat unfair. In a graph featured in the Washington
Post, it’s apparent that students’ SAT scores are directly related to their family’s income (Source
E). So, in this case, while tests may not be the problem, the fact that these somewhat unfair
scores are used to determine what people get a good education and chance at a good job is.
Additionally, tests are sometimes overused to test little things that students won’t necessarily
need throughout their lives. This is shown in Dan Wasserman’s cartoon about standardized
tests, which highlights the absurdity of testing kids on something like hopscotch (Source B).
While this is obviously an exaggeration, some could argue that forcing kids to learn specific
dates of historical events or math formulas is just as useless in the real world as hopscotch.
Overall, tests aren’t a completely bad thing. There are benefits, like helping students
retain information better, and letting students demonstrate their knowledge. However, there
are far more negatives currently. These problems make tests somewhat ineffective in
determining how intelligent a student truly is. I’m not saying that tests should be abolished
from the school system, I’m merely suggesting that tests and students’ scores on them
shouldn’t heavily impact the rest of these students’ lives. The issue is that most of us can’t
really make these changes in our schools/communities. Luckily, some teachers and other school
officials are aware of these problems with testing and make efforts to let students truly display
their intelligence. While this is good, these ideals aren’t widespread enough to make overall
changes that affect almost all students, so it’s important for all of us to do what we can to try
and make people aware of the issues with education and try to maybe make some changes in
our lives.
Synthesis Packet
(Suggested time — 40 minutes. This question counts for one-third of the total essay section
score.)
Directions: The following prompt is based on the accompanying seven sources. This question
requires you to synthesize a variety of sources into a coherent, well-written essay. When you
synthesize sources, you refer to them to develop your position and cite them accurately. You
may refer to the sources by their titles (Source A, Source B, etc.) or by the descriptions in
parentheses. Your argument should be central; the sources should support the argument. Avoid
merely summarizing sources. Remember to attribute both direct and indirect references.
Introduction: Many schools all around the world structure their curriculum based on tests
designed to make students display their knowledge on the subjects discussed in class. However,
some people have questioned the validity of these assessments in terms of how they display
students’ actual intelligence.
Assignment: Read the following seven sources carefully, including the introductory information
for each source. Then, in a well-organized essay that synthesizes at least three of the sources
for support, evaluate how effective academic tests are in determining a student’s intelligence
and ability to succeed in life.
Source A (Clemmitt)
Source B (Cartoon)
Source C (Edutopia)
Source D (CVA)
Source E (Graph)
Source F (Arnold)
Source G (Macdonald)
Source A
Clemmitt, M. (2015, April 10). Teaching critical thinking. CQ Researcher, 25, 313-336.
http://library.cqpress.com/
The following is excerpted from a report concerning critical thinking as it relates to education.
Glorya Wornum, a senior at Edward M. Kennedy Academy for Health Careers, a public charter
school in Boston, is swamped with test taking. “I'm literally taking a test every other day,” she
said. “You finish one, and you have to get ready for another one.”
And Dolores Wood, an English teacher at West Roxbury Academy, a public high school also in
Boston, questions whether test taking helps students to learn. Along with test pressure comes
pressure to produce the single “right” answer — and that, Wood said, is driving out thought and
creativity.
“America has always been a place where people think deeply” and avoid the pat answer, but
today's students are “boxed in” by a test culture and barred from thinking beyond it, she said.
Some employers say they, too, want to see more creative and critical thinking in the schools.
“Schools don't teach kids how to really think critically,” and that's a problem when they join the
workplace, said Annmarie Neal, a psychologist and a vice president for talent management at
Cisco Systems, a San Jose, Calif.-based Internet-equipment company.
Once, “This is the way we've always looked at it” was a good enough answer, Neal said. But
workers-in-training for today's and tomorrow's jobs must be curious and think deeply and
broadly, she said. Because reasoning skills take years to develop, schools must begin “teaching
critical thinking as soon as children are capable of abstract thinking.”
Source B
Wasserman, Dan. “School Testing Excess?” Boston Globe, 20 Nov. 2014,
https://www.bostonglobe.com/opinion/2014/11/20/editorial-cartoon-school-testingexcess/meqqR3gj1fqoT0gu3ZehuJ/story.html. Accessed 20 Mar. 2022.
The following is a cartoon originally published in the Boston Globe.
Source C
Berwick, Carly. “What Does the Research Say about Testing?” Edutopia, George Lucas
Educational Foundation, 25 Oct. 2019, https://www.edutopia.org/article/what-doesresearch-say-about-testing.
The following is excerpted from a website dedicated to transforming primary and secondary
education.
One of the most useful kinds of tests are the least time-consuming: quick, easy practice quizzes
on recently taught content. Tests can be especially beneficial if they are given frequently and
provide near-immediate feedback to help students improve. This retrieval practice can be as
simple as asking students to write down two to four facts from the prior day or giving them a
brief quiz on a previous class lesson.
Retrieval practice works because it helps students retain information in a better way than
simply studying material, according to research. While reviewing concepts can help students
become more familiar with a topic, information is quickly forgotten without more active
learning strategies like frequent practice quizzes.
Short, low-stakes tests also help teachers gauge how well students understand the material and
what they need to reteach. This is effective when tests are formative—that is, designed for
immediate feedback so that students and teachers can see students’ areas of strength and
weakness and address areas for growth. Summative tests, such as a final exam that measures
how much was learned but offers no opportunities for a student to improve, have been found
to be less effective.
Source D
“Five Reasons State Assessments Are Important.” Columbia Virtual Academy, 8 Feb. 2022,
https://support.cva.org/hc/en-us/articles/205284607-Five-Reasons-State-AssessmentsareImportant#:~:text=Testing%20is%20a%20part%20of,Tests%20results%20show%20studen
t%20weaknesses.
The following is excerpted from an article meant to help teachers improve the quality of their
education.

1. Testing is a part of learning, and lets students “show what they know” and what they
can do.
o Tests results show student strengths. You will learn what subject areas your
student excels in.
o Tests results show student weaknesses. You will learn what your student needs to
learn.
o Testing each year helps a student become a strong test-taker. The more tests
students take, the more familiar and comfortable they will feel, and test
performance will improve. Performing well under pressure is a skill students will
need and will use often as an adult.
o All students take tests. We can’t avoid them. People of all ages must sometimes
take tests. Annual assessment is a requirement of ALE law, and state tests fulfill
this requirement in grades 3-11.
Source E
Goldfarb, Zachary A. “These Four Charts Show How the SAT Favors Rich, Educated Families.”
The Washington Post, WP Company, 5 Mar. 2014,
https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/wonk/wp/2014/03/05/these-four-charts-show-howthe-sat-favors-the-rich-educated-families/.
The following is a graph from an article that highlights how certain groups of people are
disadvantaged during the SAT. This graph specifically shows how family income is connected to
students’ scores on the test.
Source F
Arnold, Robert L. “Standardized Tests Are Fundamentally Bad.” Standardized Tests Are
Fundamentally Bad | News, Sports, Jobs - Adirondack Daily Enterprise, 12 May 2021,
https://www.adirondackdailyenterprise.com/opinion/guestcommentary/2021/05/standardized-tests-are-fundamentallybad/#:~:text=Standardized%20tests%20ignore%20developmental%20and,thinking%20at%
20most%20grade%20levels.
The following is excerpted from an article refuting the viewpoint that “testing kids has merit.”
What is more troublesome is their failure to recognize that the above listing of problems likely
results from standardized testing, and incredibly, those are not the only failures. Here are a few
to contemplate:
1. Standardized tests by definition are a one-size-fits-all instrument featuring one correct answer
for every question. Hypotheses entertained by individuals are disallowed.
2. Standardized tests ignore developmental and experiential differences among individuals.
Especially relevant are differences in the ability to engage in logical or reasoned thinking. ...
3. The essential focus of standardized tests is to measure knowledge of what has been
remembered from classroom instruction. The test results do not differentiate between those who
may be considered competent and those who have remembered well enough to pass the test.
4. Standardized tests do not measure higher-order thinking that involves the individual in the
analysis, synthesis and critical/creative evaluation of problems. Check out Bloom’s Taxonomy of
Educational Objectives, cognitive domain. Standardized tests focus on the lowest levels of
cognition, simple knowledge of something as defined in the taxonomy.
5. Standardized tests are based on a behaviorist view of learning that focuses on the lower levels
of cognition. Legitimate and verified models of learning are ignored, such as this one attributed
to Robert Gagne.
His research showed learning ideally begins with direct and purposeful experiences that are
associated with past experiences that are automatically responded to physically and verbally. The
next level of learning is defined as multiple discrimination which is achieved from having a
variety of experiences, many initiated by the individual. …
6. Along with many daily instances of developmentally inappropriate instruction, standardized
tests take first prize. Developmentally inappropriate experiences are those that do not correspond
to the capabilities of logic found at each developmental level. A steady diet of the inappropriate
experience of standardized tests often results in challenged mental health, overly aggressive
behavior and undeveloped potentialities.
7. For these and other reasons, standardized tests do not have reasonable/logical merit and should
be discarded and replaced with assessment and evaluation processes based on modern general
systems theory — to wit, systems design as a constructive learning process and systems analysis
as a strategy for assessment and evaluation of authentic learning outcomes.
Source G
MacDonald, Walt. “Opinion: Testing Is Not the Problem; How Tests Are Used Can Be.” The
Hechinger Report, 28 Oct. 2020, https://hechingerreport.org/opinion-tests-are-not-theproblem-how-they-are-used-can-be/.
The following is excerpted from an article by Walt Macdonald, the president and CEO of the
Educational Testing Service (ETS).
In a year unlike any in recent history, one thing will surely happen this winter as it always has.
Students will finalize and submit applications to colleges and graduate schools across the
nation. But this year, some students won’t submit any test scores at all. And after they receive
their admissions decisions, they’ll never know how they were or were not selected. ...
At ETS, of course we are going to defend testing — but not for the reason people may think. We
defend testing because we are a nonprofit organization founded on a mission to advance equity
in education. We believe in the power of assessment to do just that. For more than 70 years,
we have seen what measurement data and policy research can do to propel people forward,
regardless of income, social status, gender, ethnicity or race.
We believe every student is so much more than a test score. In graduate admissions, we think
GRE scores should be included as an objective source of information among multiple criteria. A
holistic approach ensures balances to the limitations of any single measure of knowledge, skills
or abilities. This is because how scores are used is as important as the scores themselves.
GRE scores provide a standardized measure of graduate-level academic readiness. But what
does this mean for individuals? It means the test can make a difference for students whose
scores earn them a second look when they had to work at a job instead of doing undergraduate
research. It can do the same for students whose scores demonstrate they have the right skills
for a program, but who might otherwise be cut based on preferences for students from betterknown or higher-rated institutions.
We know that many students who could succeed in graduate education have test scores that
do not reflect all their skills. That’s why we’ve always advocated against the use of cut scores
that institutions set and use to exclude all applicants whose scores falls below the cut.