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You've probably heard about the handful of colleges that have reverted to requiring the SAT or ACT for admission. My friends at Compass Prep offer some of their insights here-- as usual, they provide a detailed and insightful analysis:
Here are some thoughts on standardized tests and access from within one of the institutions that made a 180-degree turn on testing:
Meanwhile, the overwhelming majority of colleges and universities in the US do not require tests; as the below graphic from Compass shows, testing is optional or not reviewed at all at over 90% of 400 popular institutions. While it is true that at some of the most selective schools, testing can clearly help a student's candidacy, and frustratingly, it is still often tied to merit scholarship consideration, in actual practice at many great colleges, testing is not even a weighted part of the evaluation conversation anymore.
Source: Compass Prep
It's not a huge stretch to imagine that some of the colleges making the decision to require testing may have simply been jumping on a prestigious-peer bandwagon. In the case of CalTech, an exhaustive study by admission staff had shown that testing was not a more valuable predictor of success in that unique and intense academic environment than other factors able to be assessed through an application, yet the governing faculty senate reversed the decision. (Their rival MIT was the first college to require testing.) At other colleges, including Harvard, the wording of testing reversal statements also suggested that faculty significantly drove the decision-- signaling a disconnect between admission data and the perceptions of folks with PhDs, likely based on experiences teaching students post-Covid without considering learning-loss data . Logical fallacy? Cognitive bias from folks who benefited from testing? Maybe.
Other significant factors in test usage and accessibility are playing out at the same time as some colleges are asking for them again. The most alarming trend is the severe shortage of testing sites and seats on the West Coast and in some large cities in other regions. Bottom line, test administration takes time and resources from host schools. On standard administrations, those host schools cannot even limit registrants to their own students-- so when they open for registration, they might fill up quickly with other students. Schools have made the decision that it just isn't something they need to expend the time, human hours, and resources on, especially in California, where the flagship public university system is permanently test free. The case for colleges themselves to take on testing administration is growing. In the case of the SAT, College Board has offered some limited help by orchestrating their own public test sites in hotel ballrooms-- but one of those scheduled this spring in San Francisco was canceled due to the limitations of the wifi network... oops. It's no laughing matter for the students who showed up, though.
Counselors nationwide are making the case to colleges that requiring testing in these circumstances is unfair. One has to imagine that if colleges see application dips from California, the primary exporter state of college students nationwide, they may change their attitudes around requirements.
A New ACT to Compete With the New SAT
Over in ACT land, they are trying to buoy their shrinking market share and compete with the new, shorter digital SAT with their own electronic test, which notably makes the infamous Science Reasoning section optional for the first time ever.
Again, Compass has all the details:
College Board: AP inflation
Word is getting out about a "recalibration" of AP exam scoring... which we might also call an "inflation" of scores.
This chart from John Moscatiello shows the distribution of scores of 3 or better (on the scale of 1-5) over a seven-year period-- one example: 100,000 more students received a 3, 4 or 5 on the APUSH exam than the previous year.
Whatever is happening with this increase in AP scores, it is destabilizing the year-over-year and course-by-course comparisons that undergird how many K-12 schools, districts, and even state governments use AP data. The College Board insists that “AP scores’ only valid use is for placing a student out of a corresponding college course” and that “AP scores have not been designed nor validated for evaluating student growth, student potential, or teacher quality.” Nevertheless, that’s not how many schools are using the numbers in practice. Will the College Board provide more guidance on how to properly use data during this era of the Great Recalibration?
The nonprofit behind the tests, College Board, says it updated the scoring by replacing its panel of experts with a large-scale data analysis to better reflect the skills students learn in the courses. Some skeptical teachers, test-prep companies and college administrators see the recent changes as another form of grade inflation, and a way to boost the organization’s business by making AP courses seem more attractive.
“It is hard to argue with the premise of AP, that students who are talented and academically accomplished can get a head start on college,” said Jon Boeckenstedt, the vice provost of enrollment at Oregon State University. “But I think it’s a business move.”
College Board: Eyebrow-raising involvement in the FAFSA
Source: Inside Higher Ed
In a development that has many college admission professionals dubious, the College Board has sent two of its chief executive officers over to the Dept of Education to help with the continued repair of a broken new FAFSA. If you weren't aware, the other financial needs assessment form, currently used by around 250 mostly private colleges, is the CSS Profile, a College Board product. While the Profile's expanded view of a family's finances can sometimes provide nuance that leads to greater support, there is a fee attached, and many cite the Profile as one of the "last-mile" impediments to financial aid access for the most under-resourced students. The impact of this collaboration remains to be seen, but it's worth keeping an eye on.
Bonus Mind-boggler: College Board shares your SAT and GPA with Tik-Tok?
Read more and proceed with caution...
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