Do these aptitude type tests work well under conditions in which students are intensely preparing for them? Are students spending large amount of time preparing for aptitude tests rather than learning subjects? How meaningful are the scores when some students use tutors, practice and study for hundreds of hours, etc.?
I don’t quite get what you are asking. Students have always prepared intensely for these tests. Students have been using tutors and studying and practicing for dozens of hours for many years, perhaps decades. Some students mistakenly study too much, at the expense of other subjects. They are not doing that more often right now, at least IMO. The question of how meaningful scores are when students have access to tutors, etc…is constantly debated both here and by admissions committees.
If you are specifically referring to students testing now in pandemic conditions, my understanding is that it’s business as usual, except for wearing masks and fewer students per room. If there is a big difference, it’s that I believe many more students will eschew these tests as colleges continue to got test optional. Kids who are aiming high or who want merit aid will continue to take them, at least for the next few years I think.
I’m confused because aren’t you the tutor, @sattut?
If you think students are not focusing on schoolwork “subjects” and are spending “hundreds of hours” prepping for standardized tests, I think you have a very skewed view of what students actually do in the real world.
Most of my D’s friends have done about what she has - spent about 20 hours reading one book and another 7 or so hours on two practice tests. It has no impact on schoolwork.
Are you tutoring individual students for hundreds of hours?
Obviously, any “aptitude” test results can be influenced by factors beyond whatever “aptitude” they attempt to measure. Such factors include test preparation as well as other things like how much the student’s school intentionally or incidentally teaches things that align with what is on the test.