^^^^
No, no tests show anything in terms of intelligence. But, in the case of English/writing, it does show that you know how to use words, punctuation, paragraph layout correctly. I'm not a big fan of standardized tests either, but when it comes to using the basics, they are pretty damn accurate. You're either with it or you're not in those cases. SAT/ACT/CTBS are all supposed to be tests to see how "intelligent" you are, using questions you will never need to know in every day life, that's why they're screwed up. Those tests don't tell how well you can gather information and use it. I got an 860 or something on my SAT's which is a horrible score, so according to that test I'm dumb...but according to my GPA, my test scores and all that other bullshit, I'm good at gathering information and using it correctly.
State English exams shouldn't be compared to SAT's and all those other tests, 'cause like I said, you can either write and use English properly or you can't. There's nothing difficult about that.