Almost every American university has gone test-optional or stopped considering the SAT entirely for this year’s admissions cycle in light of the coronavirus pandemic. Given that the College Board can’t safely organize officially proctored events in person, it’s likely that universities will also waive standardized testing requirements for the high school class of 2022. Because schools are developing alternative admissions processes, they’ll already have the framework in place to remain test-optional permanently — and they should do so.
The SAT was initially developed to give colleges and universities an idea of an applicant’s “college potential.” It tests students’ math, reading and writing skills in a multiple-choice format, scoring them on an overall scale from 400 to 1600 points. A high score can significantly boost a student’s application to any university, and most elite schools in the US require a score in the top five percent, around a 1450 or better.
Initially, the problem with this system may not seem obvious. Everybody takes the same test. The College Board has strict anti-cheating regulations. It seems like a fair evaluation. Unfortunately, research has shown that a student’s success is usually based on factors out of their control.
The correlation between a student’s SAT scores and their parents’ income level is well-documented. Kids with wealthy parents typically score significantly higher than middle or low-income students. Affluent parents can afford tutors, practice testing and a lifetime of private school. Also, taking the test multiple times to improve is a privilege many people don’t have.
Additional forms of privilege also play a role in test results. For example, students with learning disabilities or differences have limited accommodations available to them, and while test-takers with ADHD, dyslexia or similar conditions can request additional time or an educational assistant to help with reading, it is still unfair to position every student on the same scale regardless of psychological or developmental differences.
While these problems of inequality are a substantial issue with the SAT, there are other reasons to cease its usage. The College Board claims the test evaluates students’ academic abilities, but most SAT prep courses or textbooks focus very little on actual math and writing skills, instead emphasizing test-taking strategies like using the process of elimination or prioritizing questions you know you’ll get right. By taking attention off the content of the test, students lose what little benefit they might get from studying for it. They won’t be using critical thinking skills or improving their math and writing ability. Instead they’ll only be learning skills that they’ll probably never need to use again.
Essentially, the SAT is an example of streamlining gone wrong. It was developed to give colleges a quick, at-a-glance assessment of an applicant’s academic level, but instead schools only get a one-dimensional image of a student, based not off of their college potential but instead their family income, resources and ability to sit still and focus on the same task for four hours.
Rather than considering standardized tests, colleges should prioritize the applicant’s high school GPA and transcript, which give admissions officers a four-year timeline of a student’s education, in which they were graded on everything from class participation to writing ability to communication with their teachers. Schools can also use essays, work samples and letters of recommendation — anything that gives them an idea of a student’s personality, work habits and individuality in their everyday life, rather than a simple snapshot of how well they can answer a set of multiple-choice questions.
Photo: “Scantron 1972” by Karla Morla is Public Domain Mark 1.0.
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