When Benchmarks Miss the Mark

Standardized tests are not a quality measure of aptitude or future success. They are a barrier to entry into college for many and should no longer be emphasized or used in assessing high school student achievement. In a time when Michigan is trying to increase college attainment and encourage young people to be audacious in their pursuits of a strong economic future, we have to ask: are we hurting our young people and our economy by continuing to rely on tests that are contradictory to our message of achievement?

Only 33.9 percent of Michigan’s high school class of 2018-2019 met the “College and Career Readiness Benchmark” according to the SAT. That is down from 34.6 percent in 2017-2018. Yet, 59.8 percent of high school graduates enrolled in college the next year and only 25.3 percent of those were enrolled in a remedial course during college.1 In fact, most of these students will be successful and complete certificates or degrees.

So how is it that two thirds of Michigan’s high school students are not college or career ready yet they enrolled anyways, will graduate, and have successful careers? Because the benchmarks tell us nothing about actual success.

It’s time for a change.