More Evidence that Standardized College Entrance Exams May Be on Life Support

Smith College, a women’s college in Northampton, Mass., and Wake Forest University in Winston-Salem, N.C., will no longer require prospective students to submit SAT or ACT scores as part of their applications.
At both institutions, the policies will take effect with the class entering in fall 2009.

The number of colleges and universities where such tests are now optional — mostly small liberal-arts colleges — has been growing steadily as more institutions have become concerned about the validity of standardized tests in predicting academic success, and the degree to which test performance correlates with household income, parental education and race.

Some schools that have made standardized tests optional have found that they have attracted a more diverse student body, with no decline in academic ability.

“By making the SAT and ACT optional, we hope to broaden the applicant pool and increase access at Wake Forest for groups of students who are currently underrepresented at selective universities,” said Martha Allman, Wake Forest’s director of admissions. Wake Forest will announce its change on Tuesday; Smith announced it on May 16.

While students will still have the option of submitting standardized test scores — and in fact, the majority of applicants still do so at many test-optional colleges — the most important criteria for admission will be high school curriculum and classroom performance, writing ability, extracurricular activities and evidence of character and talent.

For more on this post, visit Tamar Lewin's article in the New York Times.

In the meantime, to add my two cents, I have never been a big fan of standardize tests. They often void of real life logic. Have you ever seen the section that tests for reading comprehension? It can be very difficult to read because most adults don't read the way that test is written. Did you know that most periodicals, including posts on the internet are written to be read at a sixth grade level?

I know too many high test scorers who grew up to be soarly dissappointed because the bottom line is that such tests are not true indicators of success.

In an article in an UC Berkeley's newspaper The Daily Californian, the following was sited:

An earlier paper from Gregg Thomson, UC Berkeley's Director of the Office of Student Research found that there was "zero correlation" between SAT scores and graduation rates for African Americans at Berkeley. The same report found that after separating out recruited athletes, Berkeley students with SAT scores in the 800s had six-year graduation rates of 75 percent, and those with scores in the 900s graduated 79 percent. This is nearly the same as the 82 percent graduation rate among Berkeley students with SATs in the 1500s, who on average are from far more affluent backgrounds.

I had heard that back in 2001 that the then UC Berkeley president was recommending that University of California schools stop requiring the SAT. As a result, it was widely circulated that this is what prompted the College Board to change its SAT in 2006. It was reported that he observed a classroom full of 12 -years being drilled in analogies which - in his opinion could - have a great negative impact on educating our children in this country.

Now, as recently reported in the L.A. Times, the eight UC campuses are considering at least getting rid of the mandatory 2-SAT II subject test requirement.

The real controversy is the cash cow some see the College Board as being with a virtual monopoly on standardize college entrance exams. To eliminate the requirement could very well put the College Board out of business.

The outcome of this most recent decision remains to be seen.