Visual Learners. Auditory learners. Kinesthetic learners. These are some of the countless ways in which people learn. Everyone is different, in the way that their brain retains information. The same way in which people learn differently, they also show that they know something differently. For some the best way to show that they have learned something is through a test, but for others, it may be a presentation, a report, or a form of diagram. Whilst for some an SAT score may reflect their true understanding of certain topics, this is not the case for everyone.
The SAT is a test that focuses primarily on math and reading, and not to say that these are not necessary skills, however for students who struggle in either or both of these subjects it is not a valid reflection of their potential. For instance, Thomas Edison did not attend high school or university and struggled with his writing, so if he had at the time taken the SAT, he probably would not have scored very highly on it. This is because he was not exposed to the school environment which teaches test-taking tips and tricks. Despite not having the best education track record, he turned out to be brilliant and accomplished great things. Thus showing that educational standardized tests are not crucial to showing people’s potential.
The SAT is a standardized test that is taken all around the world. However everywhere around the world does not teach the same curriculum, henceforth making the SAT a test that is biased towards certain geographical areas that teach the curriculum that will be covered on the SAT. This makes the SAT an invalid reflection of various students’ potential, for it shouldn’t reflect students in a negative light just because they didn’t learn the exact skills and topics that are tested on the SAT.
Some students have the skills and resources to score well on the test, and this is not to say that the score should just be skipped over. The SAT is a difficult test due to the time restraints and the question format, so therefore students who have scored well should be allowed to benefit from their score. However, for the students who did not score as well it should not harm them, they shouldn’t be written off just because they didn’t do well on a singular standardized test. Especially saying that this standardized test does to account for students who show their learning in ways other than a multiple choice test, or were taught topics different than those taught on the SAT.