Do you think that examinations are an adequate way to determine the ability of

students?
I believe that testing students ability solely through examinations is not a fair way to represent each students true
capabilities. Each person learns differently and equally each person demonstrates their knowledge differently,
some people excel in presenting their knowledge orally, others do extremely well in exam conditions. In my
opinion too much rests upon whether a student does, or does not, do well in their exams and it is not fair on those
who would do equally as well but in a more practical 'as it applies in real life' approach. Do you agree? And How
could we make 'testing' students fairer?
I do realise that in many subjects courseworks are required and contribute to the final grade however, I find that
exams do make up the largest percentage of the overall grade/achievement. How could we tailor assessments to
emphasise the abilities of each individual student and not just the few who do well in exam setting?

How Well Do You Think Standardized Tests Measure Your

Abilities?
By KATHERINE SCHULTEN

MARCH 9, 2012 5:05 AM March 9, 2012 5:05 am

Questions about issues in the news for students 13 and older.

See all Student Opinion

Standardized tests, like the SAT, the ACT or other national, international or state
exams that measure all students at a certain educational level, are increasingly
being used to judge how countries, states, schools and even individual teachers are
doing. What standardized tests have you taken in your school career? How have
your teachers prepared you for them? How well do you do on those kinds of tests in
general? How well do you think the ones you have taken have measured your
intelligence and abilities? Why?
In an Opinionator post from September 2011 What Do Test Scores Tell Us? Gary
Gutting writes:
Tests used to be just for evaluating students, but now the testing of students is used
to evaluate teachers and, in fact, the entire educational system. On an individual
level, some students and parents have noticed a change more standardized tests
and more classroom and homework time devoted to preparation for them.
So what exactly do test scores tell us?

The first question is whether a test actually tests for things that we want students to
know. We very seldom simply want students to do well on a test for its own sake.
Tests must require or demonstrate some valuable knowledge or skill, like knowing
how to multiply, understanding the Civil War or being able to think critically. It is
entirely possible for students to fail tests on such topics and still have, for example,
the mathematical abilities or historical knowledge we want. If, for example, a math
test required mentally multiplying 392 x 654 in five seconds or a history test required
knowing the precise date of 50 Civil War battles, we would not be concerned that
students did poorly.
There is also the question of whether any standardized test is adequate or needed
to evaluate certain sorts of student learning. There was a time when we were happy
with Miss Goodteachers judgment that her class knew how to read. There are
doubtless cases where we cant trust instructors judgments. But is there reason,
especially in college-level work, to think that this is generally the case?
Students: Tell us about your experiences with standardized tests. Do you think they
generally do a good job of assessing skills and knowledge that will be valuable to you
and to society as a whole, or do you think they often fail to measure your true
understanding of, or ability with, a subject area? How much time does your school
spend preparing for these tests? In general, how much of a role do you think they
should play in determining an individuals abilities, or in measuring the worth of a
teacher or school? Why?

Students 13 and older are invited to comment below. Please use only your first
name. For privacy policy reasons, we will not publish student comments that
include a last name.

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STUDENT OPINION, STANDARDIZED TESTS, TESTING

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Ian V August 17, 2014 12:36 am

Standardized tests do not show how much intelligent one is, rather its more of the
ability to remember the information that is asked. Multiple choice questions do not
show character, it shows formality and blandness.

Hailey M September 17, 2014 8:05 pm

Standardized testing does not accurately measure students full potential and ability
in varying academic subject areas because standardized tests often focus on trying
to trick the test takers through various complicated directions and answers while also
concentrating on the time constraints rather than allowing the student enough time to
finish the test to the best of his/her abilities. I am currently a junior in high school and
have taken a practice PSAT as well as the SAT World History subject test. My
experience with most standardized tests is that there is no way to ever be fully
prepared. I am very familiar with the recommended practice booklets that usually
tend to fixate on the shortcuts to answering particular types of questions, but is that
really the way to master a subject area? Essentially these books and prep classes
teach you how to answer specific types of questions in a certain amount of time,
rather than teaching you to master the understanding of the subject. For this reason,
I do not believe that standardized tests do a good job in measuring students
knowledge of their true understanding of the material. I am appreciative that I attend
a school that does several mock SAT and ACTs, but I do think these tests carry too
much weight in determining college eligibility. I believe that grades and teacher
comments should be more important in the process of applying for college because
your teachers ultimately spend the most time with you and know how you participate
in class as well as how you perform on tests. A universal test should not govern your
ability to enter a school; rather your individual experience and performance should
be more important. Just as every person is different, every persons academic
strengths and weaknesses are different as well.

Kasey H October 2, 2014 4:34 pm

Standardized tests test peoples intelligence and test-taking skills rather than life
skills that they can actually put into use in the work field. Out in the work field, one
usually doesnt use science to give someone their double cheeseburger. If one
doesnt work at a food joint, they will still probably just use science and math. The
skills that people study for standardized testing usually isnt applicable to life and
hard work.The ACT, a standardized test, tries to trick the test taker, when, in life, one
doesnt usually get asked to pick between a wood-burning stove, an oil burner, and
kerosene lamp if you were in a dark room with a match. A person will probably never

be in that situation. Standardized tests arent getting one ready for the work field and
they arent testing the right abilities for someone seeking a good job.

Margaret October 17, 2014 1:37 pm

According to the College Board website, it states that, SAT tests the skills youre
learning in school: reading, writing and math. As a student, I completely disagree
with the statement. I took English and math classes in school, but I was never taught
the skills, strategies that would help me on the exam. Teachers did not assign us to
learn hundreds of words or teach us how to quickly solve math problems. Therefore,
I believe that standardized tests do not accurately measure students intelligence or
understanding of a subject. Not every school covers what will be on the tests, so
many students sign up for prep classes. Some get more practice than others, and
some may not be able to attend any class at all. Everyone is capable of doing well,
they just might not have the opportunity to do so. There are also people who are
terrible at taking tests, especially if it is timed. They may be able to understand
everything completely, but once a test is given, their brain just shuts down. People
become too worried and stressed by the pressure because the scores are one of the
most important methods for a college to determine whether a student will be
accepted. Written tests are not a clear indication of what a person can do in life, or in
a field of work they enjoy. Every individual has his/her own positive qualities. Just
because one is not the best SAT test taker, doesnt mean that he or she cannot do
other things. Though standardized tests will continue throughout the years,
universities should be more understanding and not put emphasis on SAT scores to
determine intelligence and abilities of students. Students will excel at what they are
best at and should not be defined by these inaccurate numbers.

Amanda X October 23, 2014 11:22 am

I believe that standardized tests do fully assess a students full abilities and is a
complete waste of their time. One of the points the author addresses in the article is
that more and more time is being dedicated to prepare for these tests. Take the SAT
for example, each year thousands of students go to facilities just to study and
prepare for this particular test. Now, the flaw here lies within the test itself and these
facilities that teach students how to take the test. The SAT is a standardized test
made up of nine sections, and each of these sections are relatively simple. What
makes this test so difficult is the strategy. There is physically not enough time to look
over every single question and detail and answer it correctly. So, what these facilities
do is teach kids test-taking strategies. They dont necessarily teach kids concepts
that will help them in the test, they teach them how to take the test quickly but do
well at the same time. In America doing mediocrely on the SAT wont affect your

chances of getting into college that much, however; in places like China or Korea
colleges only accept students that score within a certain range. Thus, if a student
does poorly on the standardized test then the chances of them getting into a good
college is very slim.
Another point the article brought up was what do the test scores actually show us.
Again, I believe that this system is very flawed and does not accurately represent a
students abilities. Standardized tests may give a representation of the percentage of
students that can solve fundamental problems required for college, but they dont
measure a students full ability. The tests only cover a certain range of subjects and
its impossible to fully assess each student and their intelligence. So if a student
does poorly in math but does very well in biology, it doesnt matter because biology
is not one of the subjects on the SAT. And its what makes this system so flawed
because it doesnt matter how much time or effort you put into your studies and
extracurricular activities. The only thing that matters is that three or four digit number
you get on the test and the fact that a number could determine your future infuriates
me.

John S November 3, 2014 10:39 am

Standardized testing doesnt test ones intelligence, its simply just a test that tests
how well your teacher has taught you throughout the year. How can ones intelligence
be based on a multiple choice test? It cant because one can be poetically intelligent,
artistically intelligent, or one can show there intelligence by simply writing but neither
of these things are tested in standardizing testing. Does that make them not
intelligent if they just dont take multiple choice test well, my answer is no, so
standardizing testing doesnt measure true abilities

Ana 4D November 13, 2014 1:38 pm

I think that standardized tests measure what you learn in school. It is necessary
because that way the students are encouraged to study and learn to be responsible
and ready to be college students. I dont think these tests measure your intelligence.
They do measure what students have learned and retained. It is just training during
your student life.
During my high school years, I had tests three times in each school subject, but I
never had standardized test. I dont think that is too much time to spend taking and
preparing for standardized tests if you are a regular student and doing your
homework on time. You should be ready for any test in your school.
Standardized tests are an accurate measure of a class or an individuals progress;
however, they may not well determine potential and ability. On a group level they
might give a relatively correct view of a teachers skill in communicating with the

students.
If I was the leader of my states Department of Education, I would advocate for fewer
standardized tests because they are taking up far too much time away from learning
and are causing a great deal of stress and frustration. This is not of any benefit to the
students.

Megan W December 1, 2014 1:01 pm

Instead of measuring the true intellect of a person, a standardized test is designed to

reflect how well a student retains information. Tests like these may prove difficult for
a student who has a difficult time in remembering specified facts dates, names,
locations and while they score lower than those students who simply recite word
for word what they have been taught

zach December 2, 2014 7:56 pm

standardized tests do not show how well a student will do under real life situations.

Markus December 10, 2014 10:48 am

Standardized tests, in my opinion, show how well a student comprehends a specific

subject, not how intelligent they are. Personally, I finish standardized tests easily and
quickly with high scores. This means I understand the subject matters. Not that I am
above average intelligence. I have friends who fail standardized tests that exceed my
grades on regular homework.

JoshPizza December 16, 2014 9:29 am

standardized test do not show how smart you are. You can be really smart and fail
but does that mean your not smart enough.

Fauzia December 17, 2014 8:54 pm

I took the selective enrollment test and let me tell you it was horrible. It wasnt hard
but it was so confusing. When I was taking it I felt like it was made to confuse me.
Multiple choice tests are so confusing, they have so many variations of the same
answer and you have to choose which one is most right. Figuring that out for reading
and grammar took a lot of time and this test was timed. I didnt have that much time
to focus on each question and actually try to understand it. The vocabulary was the

one that was the hardest for me, they gave you the most randomest words and you
had to know the meaning right there and then. How do you expect me to know the
meaning of each and every word in the english language? The math portion wasnt
even true math. Everything I learned in school, everything I did to study was literally
tossed out of the window. I had to look at graphs and find the answer that most fit it. I
had 40 minutes to answer 40 questions and I barely finished because of all the
analyzing I had to do. The grammar wasnt even grammar, first of all, it was common
sense. Second of all the way they laid out the questions made the whole thing so
confusing. Instead of picking something out and putting it on top of the question they
put the whole text next to the questions. That confused me, I didnt know where to
look. It was a standardized test and I feel like many standardized tests are created to
confuse you, what their testing isnt knowledge.

Anonymous January 7, 2015 10:38 am

In standardized testing it is easy to make a silly mistake. Most teachers would

understand if it was on one of the test graded because they can see your work
whereas on standardized testing such as the NWEA, SAT, or the NECAP there is 0
proof of how hard the student tries to achieve getting to correct answer.

Justine January 26, 2015 10:32 pm

All of you are saying that standardized testing is a bad thing, but I, for one, think it is
a good assessment of ability. If everyone had a test perfectly fitted to them, their
scores would all be completely the same, perfect. With everyone having the same
questions people can find an average in the tested, and scores can be compared.
Yes, the system does have flaws, (not having a certain subject on the test for
example) and yes, I understand that this issue makes people mad, but if you just
write it off, standardized testing doesnt have the chance to improve and, therefore,
can never meet your expectations.

jacob February 6, 2015 11:27 am

for me standardized test do everything but tell our intelligence because what if your
family had a crisis on the day of a test or you just cant study because you are so
nervous I am 15 at Twinsburg high school in Twinsburg Ohio and OGTs are coming
up and with my math grade horribly low Im seriously stressed out I know that I am a
good person in math but when there is a test in front of me everything goes out the
window but if there was like a hands on class were I can see and make and equation
I bet I would pass it I am just that type of learner and I know many people like me.
test shouldnt be what they are a student should be put to real life test and thats how

you would see if one is such intelligent

thanks for reading the rant
sincerely,
Jacob m

Kaitlyn O March 8, 2015 11:54 pm

How Well Do You Think Standardized Tests Measure Your Abilities?

Standardized tests such as the ACT do not simply measure ones intelligence, but
rather tests ones strategies and preparation. Gary Gutting argues, We very seldom
simply want students to do well on a test for its own sake. Teachers do not solely
want students to do well on tests for the sake of knowing knowledge, but rather for
an ulterior motives: To show improvement or display teaching skills. Every high
school student is forced to take the ACT as a sophomore- completely unprepared
and unmotivated- simply so that they will improve their score upon taking it the next
year. The ACT alongside many other standardized tests ask students to take a test in
too little time; therefore testing the students strategies rather than actual knowledge.
Parents who spend excessive amounts of money on private tutors and classes to
prepare kids for a test are likely to do leaps and bounds better than those who do not
spend the money to prepare. ACT preparation courses such as Kaplan guarantee
that the user will improve their score if they put in the time and money. The
standardized tests do not measure ones abilities or important skills that one needs to
succeed in the work force, but rather ones access to resources and strategy building
courses.
http://learning.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/03/09/how-well-do-you-think-standardizedtests-measure-your-abilities/
http://www.kaptest.com/act/kaplan-act-prep/why-prep-for-the-act

Bryce M March 12, 2015 9:44 am

Standardized testing is not very accurate due to the fact that a very intelligent person
could not retain the information the test require. I believe that we should find a way to
test ones intelligence on the matter without having to retain information, although I
recognize that would be close to impossible. There is a lot of evidence against
standardized I stand with it.

Insert Pseudonym Here March 20, 2015 2:37 am

In my case feel as though these tests do a mediocre job at best at measuring ability.
I scored a 580 on math and 540 on CR with the SAT in 10th grade for an 1120 on the
1600 scale. Now this isnt bad, but certainly unexpected for someone who taught
themselves calculus in 9th grade and could read high school level science texts in
middle school. I did, however, have some ADHD behavioral markers throughout
school and still do. My teachers have also commented on my writing ability as being
pretty advanced. My 4th grade teacher thought that I had my mom help me write a
paper one time. Ive always been bored in school and wanted to skip a grade or 2
throughout school and would score in the 95th percentile or higher on some subtests
on our annual achievement tests.
Anyways, my personal anecdote aside, I have extensively studied standardized
testing (specifically the SAT and various IQ tests) and can say that timed tests such
as the SAT will fall apart in estimating ability for people that suffer from test-anxiety
or ADHD or careful test takers, however, they tend to do a good job for the majority
of people and are necessary for assessing students as a group. In the most
complete terms I would say the SAT/ACT does a good job at measuring achievement
and the ability to apply knowledge under time pressure. Certainly students who score
very highly have demonstrated their abilities and mastery, however, just because a
student doesnt get a stellar score doesnt mean they arent talented in those areas,
its just unlikely they are more adept than someone who scored substantially higher.
There are other variables to consider when interpreting these scores. It is a
complicated issue and there are exceptions.
In general SAT scores correlate very highly with IQ scores as determined by a study
in 2004 by Frey and Detterman who analyzed SAT and ASVAB scores from a 1979
National Longitudinal Survey of Youth. They found a correlation of .86 after
correcting for non-linearity, however, while this holds true for the SAT prior to 1994 it
is questionable for the current SAT which underwent major changes in that decade
up until 2005 and now it resembles an achievement test more than it used to. It did
resemble an IQ test during that time and actually was developed as an IQ test in the
early 20th century. It is not known what the current correlation is, however, there
probably still is a correlation, perhaps just not one as strong as before.
Standardized test scores in conjunction with grades and personal essays for college
admissions I believe is the best combination for admissions decisions. Standardized
test scores are only part of the big picture and are not perfect measures.
Using these tests as a means for evaluating teachers effectiveness or a schools
academic merit is shaky. These tests arent designed to necessarily measure
teaching competence. It is ultimately up to the student whether or not they will
master the material and the students ability is also a contributing factor. In general if
a school has a poor quality of education these scores will be lower, so there is a

correlation between overall performance on these tests and the quality of the school
and its teachers, but thats only one factor. Quality of education should be more so
determined by average grades and the classes offered at a school. These are more
direct factors than standardized test scores which are more or less simply an
indication of the quality of education which is confounded by other variables.

Butters March 24, 2015 1:07 pm

Intelligence should NOT be defined by academic success. Intelligence is not WHAT

you know, but how you USE it.
Tests only question our ability to take a test. They dont test our ability to utilize this
knowledge to our advantage.

Anonymous March 29, 2015 12:44 am

Intelligence can not be measured in any way shape or form.

But everyone around me seems to think it can.
Im an 8th grade student, and I do pretty well in school. I have a 4.0 GPA and I take
Honors in almost every subject. Each year, I am subjected to at least 20
standardized tests. In each test, I am judged purely on how fast I can answer an
algebraic expression or how many 8-sentence paragraphs I can write in 10 minutes.
Each of these tests are also designed to confuse. With bamboozling questions and
unrelated answers, an AP Calculus student couldnt pass a 3rd grade addition test.
Not because they dont get addition, or because they are not intelligent enough to
understand the standers. Simply because that by the time they deciphered the
question, the three-minute question answering period would be up.
All of these test are also long. Incredibly and terribly long. Each test has at least 50
questions (if not closer to 100 or 130) half of which a student is required to write two
paragraphs, the other half required to answer endless multiple choice parts. (In the
latest test I took, one of these questions went up to part m). These tests are
designed to bore, confuse, and destroy the reputations of even the very students
who fully dedicate themselves to learning and achieving in school. With the
measurement skills standardized tests use, they might as well test my Algebra skills
on how well I can teach a toddler to count.

Schools track down students progress.

Students intellect is monitored through grades to know their intelligence in one aspect.
Even if grades don't fully resemble the intelligence of student in another subject.
However education systems build it so that your grade range would be broader to solve math
problems to memorizing history facts.
Even if it does check a small picture of the intelligence it can still give us a peak at what we
might actually be able to understand.
But again it depends how you test and grade the tests.
Posted by: nightchanger
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Intelligence noun \in-te-l-jn(t)s\ a (1) : the ability to learn or understand

Doing your school work falls into the category of learning and understanding things. Taking
tests are the largest percentage of your grades also. So I believe that test scores reflect your
intelligence by showing what you know but also showing that you are smart enough to study
for a test because you want to pass and excel, that is an example of intelligence. There are
many different forms of intelligence.(though this question refers to academic intelligence).
Also this question is being asked assuming that the curriculum and method of teaching is not
faulty. You cannot just say that teaching the wrong way or a faulty teacher is an excuse for
not having good grades.
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Intelligent and smart are NOT synonyms

The definition of the word intelligence is as follows; the ability to acquire and apply
knowledge and skill. The definition of smart is having or showing quick-whited intelligence.
Now, what is an IQ? It stands for "intelligence quotient". An IQ is a score derived from one
of several different standardized tests designed to asses intelligence. If grades don't define
your intelligence, why should it be measured through a test? Aren't tests supposed to be
GRADED? If you score a high grade, universities look for you because you are considered an
intelligent student. Again, intelligence is the ability to apply your knowledge.

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Of course, no doubt about it.

I don't really study for my tests yet I still get 100's on nearly everything. So, it proves I am
intelligent. Also, someone else pointed out the definition of intelligence, with directly fits
with doing well in school.
Another insightful person pointed out how the No Child Left Behind program focuses on the
lowest and forgets about the highest. This is absolutely idiotic. This program pays schools for
students to do badly on standardized testing and does not reward schools for educating our
students well. WE need to change this. Take action, everyone.
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Of course grades reflect intelligence but how good of an indicator of intelligence are they?

I feel that it's pretty obvious that good grades are easier to get for an intelligent student. But
grades these days imo are too heavily based on the amount of busy work a student does and
in some cases how well they can suck up to a teacher ( think participation grades which I
have personally seen run from 0-30% ). I would hardly define the ability to effectively brown
nose as commensurate to intelligence. Consider my case for an example.
I flunked out of high school with a 1.91 GPA. Took the GED and scored within the 97th
percentile. Also took an intelligence test administered by the school psychologist which
resulted in an IQ score of 136 or within the 99th percentile. So I flunked out of high school,
yet qualify for mensa. What turned my off to school was the repetitive, unchallenging,
uninspiring and seemingly pointless work I was forced to burden my already busy life with in
order to get that A. I am also a bit of a perfectionist which only served to compound my time
management problem. Oh and took the SATs too, scored a 2060.
Again dropped out of high school due to blandness and rigidity of assignments of
assignments but scored a 2060 on SATs. Didn't study at all before taking them and had in fact
been out of school for 5 years when I took them. Am now currently enrolled in a Community
College with a 3.5 gpa. Studying Biology. The material is much more interesting, maybe
because the teachers don't have to "teach to the test" in order to get the scores necessary to
acquire an adequate level of state funding.
Posted by: Tom_E

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It's all about memorization!

Students have to perform well on tests in order to succeed in the classroom. Test knowledge
is all about memorization on the subject's contents. Memorization is a key brain function that
is essential to a student's skill set. My personal achievements in school have not been a
complete and total accident. There is a reason why some students do better than others.
Ability to memorize and thrive in a school environment.
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Not fully, but Yes

Of course a grade by itself doesn't reflect intelligence, but the surrounding context such as the
difficulty of the class, the level of grade inflation/deflation, and the teacher's reputation in his
or her success in accurately conveying the student's academic competence should reflect
"intelligence" to a point.
First of all, it is debatable what intelligence is. If you define it as a characteristic that helps a
person succeed in our society, then a person with a higher grade would obviously be
considered intelligent because he or she is competent enough to complete academic tasks that
theoretically would become useful later in life. If you define intelligence as critical thinking
skills, there are classes that requires you to think critically, but that depends on the teacher the context - of the class. Usually hard AP classes or most classes in a relatively good college
would have decent class materials, and many high schools show the level of difficulty in class
thru the use of weighted and unweighted GPA.
Again, intelligence is vaguely defined, so I don't think school grades depict emotional or
creative intelligence.
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Just Deal With It

Yes grades do show, to an extent, how smart a person is. Why? Because we have had for just
about as long as we have had school. Most of the people who say that grades "don't show
anything" are the same people who earn terrible grades and are just looking for an excuse so
that they won't be marked as an idiot by his/her peers.
I have a friend who absolutely INSISTS that he is an intellectual even though he has a
meager 2.8 GPA and even got a B in English, the class that he claimed to be his "best
subject". And now whenever I call him out he gives me the same excuse and tells me that it's
the truth. When I ask him for proof however, he has none. Face it people, grades were
invented to track a person's intellect and if they failed to do so then we wouldn't have kept
them around for so long. They are not foolproof, but they are a reasonable way to
differentiate the smart people from those claiming to be.
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Of course not

Too much of getting good grades depends on the ability to do tedious busywork and copy
material repetitively. Too many classes teach pointless terminology that will become outdated
soon enough.
Unfortunately, a growing number of teachers seem to view classrooms as similar to the
workplace, where you are expected to do a lot of work for an achievement, rather than
learning for the sake of learning. They view themselves as employers overseeing pupils,
rather than employees hired by the public to teach students.
As such, you can have students who perform very highly on IQ tests and standardized testing
that receive poor grades, and on the other hand those with high GPAs who stress and struggle
when expected to test on the ACT, for example.
For more on this, see Time Magazine's "Are We Failing Our Geniuses?" which points out that
America has become more concerned with bringing the lowest up to the same level as
everyone else per "No Child Left Behind" than making use of America's greatest resource, its
young minds. Up to 20% of later dropouts test in the gifted range. Even as America spends
more on programs for the mentally challenged, it neglects spending on programs for the
mentally gifted, since the former is federally mandated, rather than the latter.
Posted by: Jzyehoshua
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From observation, absolutely not

You will have to divide this subject into secondary and poost-secondary education.
1. Secondary: I come from a high school where the average GPA is less than 2.00. High
school was cake becuse the standard was very low due to the low test scores of the students. I
graduated 3rd of my class. The valedictorian went on to college and failed his first semester
of college. I on the other hand did self studies before college and succeeded through my
freshman year with a 2.75.
2. Post Secondary: Just like there is inflation for school costs, there is grade inflation, ie
curves on test. I study Aerospace Engineering. For most test, they are damn hard and average
scores can be around 40-50 percent. If you aren't above the average by about ten points then
you are getting a C. This shows that I don't have to actually do the work. I just have to do jst
enough to pass the class. There is also the possibility that I had a easy professor also. I have
taken professors whose teaches are very engaging and professors whose classes are just
unbearable.
Moral of the story is that grades never reflects a persons ability to learn. Intelligence is based
on a person's willingness to life long learning. Nowadays. The grades we make are relative to
our peers. Schools tell us we are dumb if we are not up par with our peers.
Posted by: yuck_luck
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No, and it shouldn't decide one's placement and fate in society.

As we all know,everybody learns in different patterns and ways.Unfortunately,most schools

do not take action when it comes to that,because everybody has to adapt to the same learning
pattern as the standard academical grading system.Also,there are a lot of students,who are
simply lazy or aloof towards school work, because the feel that a lot of things they are
currently learning will serve very little,or no purpose at all in the real world... Do you
remember exactly EVERYTHING that you were taught in school?The answer is most likely
''no''.We only retain the necessary and basic information,which we are taught at an earlier
age.The truly complex things we learn later on,are like paint and decorations in a home: You
don't truly need them in order to survive in that home,but it shows your taste, a little of your
personality and some of your creativity.I currently am 14 years old,and I speak from personal
perception and experience.Please point out any incorrect or illogical points in my arguments
if you can find any.Thank you.
Posted by: Goku1
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No, grades reflect effort.

Grades reflect the effort that a student has put into the class. It might be easier for an
intelligent person to get good grades, but someone of mediocre intelligence can also get good
grades with hard work.
It's sort of like watching a short person and a tall person walking together. The short person
can keep up with the tall person , but he has to take more steps to do so (put out more effort
to have the same pace)
I was always an "average" student in school but I always scored highly on intelligence tests. I
was lazy. I hated homework and I usually didn't do it. I would do the minimum to get by in
most cases, especially in college. I also knew straight-As students who scored much lower on
the intelligence tests than me. They were more hard working. They always studied and spent
a lot of time on papers and projects and I'd just do them the night before.
Posted by: Gluehbirne
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How could your Grades possibly determine your Intelligence?

Your grades are important yes but they can't determine if your intelligent or not. Grades aren't
everything. Its just how well you do work in school and how well you score on tests. If you
score high on a test you studied. It still could mean your dumb at other things in life. If you
score low, you didn't study much but you can still be intelligent in some subjects then others
you could be dumb at it. If that makes sense so either way Grades can't determine everything.
If you cheat on something for instance you get a good grade but it could still mean your not
that smart because you cheated not that smart. It could mean your smart in other places as
well. Not trying means you just don't take it seriously but it doesn't mean your not intelligent.
If you have an F on your report card, it might mean you weren't trying or cheated on
something and lowered your grade your probably still smart! So I'm either way on this one!
Posted by: logster1203
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Those are two completely different things.

One could get "good" grades for memorizing a book, a paragraph or whatever it then jot that
down in an exam and get grades just like that, it doesn't show nor prove anything about their
"intelligence", some students may just be bored with the curriculum or may not be challenged
enough to quite care, and some show their true smart out there in the real world where it
really counts, how well you are with your jobs and what you can do when given the
opportunity, I don't think it comes down to what number you have written on some piece of
paper, I think what matters is how you express yourself, what your like, how you hold up
your side of an argument and how persuasive you can be, that is intelligence. Look at all our
great scientists did all of them do well at school? No.
Posted by: Dee135
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Grades is not a foolproof way of measuring intelligence

Grades are usually based on a limited testing arena, which is usually a pen and paper test and
does not take into consideration the student's frame 0f mind while writing the exam.
A three hour written test has its own limits and cannot judge a child's true calibre as such.
Posted by: luvlee37
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Laziness is also a factor

One can be lazy and not do their schoolwork. Millions of people in the world are intelligent,
yet we choose not to do work. I don't do my classwork frequently, yet my test grades are
higher than your average grades. I never hand in homework, but I have never gotten lower
than an A in quizzes.
Posted by: mexicanmhitman
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Grades do no reflect your intelligence

Grades do not reflect your intelligence. Grades are there to help you see what level you are at
and what you can do and can't do. Being graded an A or B for eg. Does not mean that you
have gotten smarter. It means that you have improved from last time and is improving for the
better. Grades are there to help teachers get a better understanding of your level and pace.
Grades are basically results that let you know whether you have improved or not.
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School tests obedience to authority

The current school system in most countries is completely broken. School never teaches you
life skills, how to fix a car, cook a meal, build a house, plant a garden, leadership skills,
communication skills, balance a checkbook, and many other vital skills. Kids spend 13 years
to graduate from high school and come out without any real marketable skills. Many classes
are a joke and many others don't touch on any real intelligence. What is intelligence? I would
argue it'a more than repeating facts told to you by a teacher. Most classes are narrow and
don't display real intelligence. I think their are many people who are talented but their talent
levels don't fit in a narrow framework of school. Although grades can represent intelligence i
don't think they always do by any means.
Posted by: JohnSmith1
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