When people talk about the SAT within the United States I find that the common line of discussion is negative in nature. I’ve heard people speak about the SAT in ways that make it sound like the worst thing in the education system. Why is this? To some it is the concerns regarding advantages given to the wealthier individuals within the school system(Ragsdale). Plymouth State University dropped the requirement of an SAT for application in 2014(Ragsdale). Many other colleges and universities are following suit due to the Covid Crisis that has been affecting the world(Lee). The likelihood of this trend continuing isn’t unlikely in the post Covid era either. Many schools had been dropping the SAT or were trying to make it more obsolete, Covid has only sped up that shift. On the other hand Countries throughout the world aren’t having these same problems with standardized testing. A great example of this and one I have experience with is the Abitur system in Germany.
Simply put the Abitur differs from the SAT in a few major ways. First off it is split into five separate subject specific tests based upon the subjects you find the most interesting or useful to yourself. This isn’t done without still maintaining a need for a few core subjects to also be tested. “Minimum 2 subjects must have been your main intensive courses “Leistungskurse ``''(German Abitur). These courses vary from state to state within Germany, though in my state are, German, English, another language (French or Latin), and Math. The Abitur also has multiple styles of tests, one of the tests is an oral exam (the student decides which subject they would like to have as their oral exam). An example of a possible Abitur a student could pursue is, the four written tests being, German, English, History, and Philosophy, and having the oral exam be in Politics. This is not only a possible Abitur that could be done but the one I would’ve wanted to pursue if I had stayed in Germany for multiple years. This brings up the major flaw within the Abitur, it is a multi-year process within your schooling in Germany. The final two years within German school vary greatly depending on the student and are made up of classes that are aimed at preparing students for the specific Abitur they would like to take. Students in 10th or 11th grade (depending on state) decide what path they would like to take for their Abitur. I can easily imagine this being problematic for some students as they may not know what they would like to study. This was one of the larger problems I had with the Abitur though I can safely say that this system is based in a country which differs from the United States in Culture in some very unique ways.
The Abitur is a very unique way of making standardized testing. Throughout other European countries we see other unique methods of standardized testing as well. In France there is the Baccalaureate, a difficult and stressful test based upon the final three years of schooling in France(French...). The Baccalaureate has been subject to change over the years, as schools have found themselves having to try and make sure that the students in their final year of schooling are ready for the exam at the end of the year(French... ). Sweden also has a unique strategy to the leaving school exam, it doesn’t have one. The leaving school exam was abolished in the 1960s and since then admission to universities has been based solely upon marks earned within a student's schooling. This system has been changed throughout the years as many more Swedish students want to go into college.(Testing… )
The complex nature of how best to test the abilities of a student aiming to go into college is a problem everywhere. In the United States the SAT is seen as ineffective and unfair to the majority of students. In Germany the Abitur is seen by some as a huge decision for 16 and 17 year old's to be making. In France the Baccalaureate is seen not only as a stressful experience for the students but also as a serious burden on the teachers. In Sweden simply not having an exit exam is in some ways hugely beneficial but in other ways it is a burden on the country. No solution to any problem is ever going to be perfect. In the case of an exit/entry exam this is seriously problematic. Students want to succeed and if the system in place makes it more difficult for that success to happen it could be detrimental to the future of a country.
"French Baccalaureate Exam." French Property, www.french-property.com/guides/
france/public-services/school-education/upper-secondary/assessment/.
Accessed 8 Jan. 2021. Information about the Baccalaureate Exam.
"German Abitur." Studying in Germany, www.studying-in-germany.org/
german-abitur/. Accessed 8 Jan. 2021. Used for information on the Abitur.
Lee, Alicia. "Colleges Consider the Unthinkable: Dropping SAT and ACT
Requirements for Next Year's Applicants." CNN, 14 Apr. 20202, www.cnn.com/
2020/04/14/us/coronavirus-colleges-sat-act-test-trnd/index.html. Accessed 8
Jan. 2021. Used to see how COVID has affected how colleges view SATs.
Ragsdale, Kathie. "The Shifting Roles of the SAT in NH." Business NH Magazine,
17 Sept. 2019, www.businessnhmagazine.com/article/
the-shifting-role-of-the-sat-in-nh. Accessed 8 Jan. 2021. Understanding of
the flaws of the SAT.
Testing in American Schools: Asking the Right Questions. Princeton.edu,
www.princeton.edu/~ota/disk1/1992/9236/923607.PDF. Accessed 8 Jan. 2021.
Used for Information about international tests.
