While I fully agree that the US has gone standardized test crazy and that there are better ways to learn than teaching to the test, these tests now serve as gate keepers. If kids opt out, it hurts their teachers and their schools because funding is directly tied to the tests. Good teachers can get penalized for not having their kids sit the test, and school districts are prevented from earning "bonus" money from the state for good performance if the number of students who take the test falls below a certain percentage. The result is that the quality of the school itself declines.

Succeeding on the SAT, ACT, GRE, etc. is really more about knowing how to take the test than it is possessing knowledge about math, reading, etc. The competitiveness of college admissions today is sooo different than it was 10 and 20 years ago. Now kids spend years taking test prep classes and learning strategies for answering multiple choice questions. Even lower ranked colleges require a certain score for admission. I don't agree that doing well on the SATs is the best way to assess college performance-- but that's just how the system is. Not having experience with th tests does leave kids with a disadvantage compared to their peers. 20 years ago, only the wealthy were taking prep classes and most people just showed up and sat the test. Today even the poorest districts are offering after school test prep classes to try and close the gap. It's unfortunate that these tests matter so much; as a professor I wish they focused more on critical thinking and writing than on bubbling multiple choice questions. My college students are often unprepared for the essays. But if the kids can't do well on the SATs, they won't have the opportunity to get a more expansive education in college. I hate that I will have to play the standardized test game with my own kids someday, but I still want them to be as prepared as their peers will be.