Standardized testing

By: Bella Dalba

            For twenty million high school seniors, the end of summer indicates the beginning of the most stressful event of their lives: applying to college. Yes, most of the deadlines for regular decision are in January, so why worry in September? Well, if you’re applying to a school with an acceptance rate higher than 40% (typically state, community, and public colleges), you could afford to wait until the January 1 deadline. If you’re applying to a more selective institution, however, November may be your only opportunity for admittance. When competing against 30,000 other applicants during regular decision, most of who are valedictorians and salutatorians that sport flawless academic records, excessive amounts of both extracurricular and volunteer activities, and have been training for the SAT for years, what possible advantage could you gain over them? It ultimately comes down to how well you scored on a standardized exam. But why is standardized testing so important in the first place? Many studies indicate there is a correlation between your ACT score and your success within a more rigorous academic environment.

            The SAT and ACT were never meant to be exact measures of intellectual preparedness. In 1959, University of Iowa education professor E.F. Lindquist launched the forerunner to the contemporary American College Test. Intended to be a competitor to the Scholastic Aptitude Test, the ACT was designed to assess students on practical knowledge rather than cognitive reasoning. Primarily administered in the Midwest, the test was constantly altered to compete with the SAT, which ultimately led to the development of benchmarks. Benchmarks are scores on the ACT subject-area tests that represent the level of achievement required for students to have a 50% chance of obtaining a B or higher, or about a 75% chance of obtaining a C or higher, in corresponding freshman courses. Based on a sample of 214 institutions and more than 230,000 students from across the United States, the benchmarks are median course placement values for these institutions, and, as such, represent a typical set of expectations.

College admissions policies have been shaped by these research-supported “prediction models.” Studies compiled data generated by students during high school, seeking the combination which had the highest indicator of predicting their success in college. In some of these studies, conducted by Noble & Sawyer and published in 2002, ACT composite scores have been shown to be a better predictor of college GPA than high school GPA. This is especially true at higher levels (3.25 and above), where a high school GPA of 4.0 is not a strong predictor of a college GPA of 3.25 or above. However, composite ACT scores (combined with high school GPA) are a stronger predictor of college success than the ACT subtest scores. Guidance Seckman High School counselor Keith Mayer agrees: “Generally, kids who score above a 26 on the ACT are more successful in college than those who score lower.”

Using ACT scores as a component of college admissions seems well supported in the research, but the system relies heavily on high school teachers. Though ACT scores can be highly successful in predicting future success in college, students’ performance on the ACT is largely determined by the courses students take during high school, and the high school they attended. In most studies, high school GPA has been shown to have a higher “predictability contribution” than ACT scores. The efficacy of combined high school GPA and ACT (or SAT) scores as a predictor of college success is much stronger for groups of students (e.g., all students within a particular grade point range) than for individual students. In essence, important individualistic differences, such as perseverance and other non-cognitive qualities, also play a role in a student’s future college success. When asked her opinion, Seckman High School ACT preparation teacher Stefani Fesi said, “I’ve had kids with a 3.0 GPA get Bright Flight, and others with a 4.0 score 25s. It just depends on the student’s work ethic, their teachers, and their natural ability.”

Due to this controversy, universities are continually revoking their standardized testing requirements. The Dean of Admissions for Bates College, William Hiss, led the study which tracked the grades and graduation rates of students who submitted their test results against those who did not over a period of several years. Hiss’ data showed that there was a negligible difference in college performance between the two groups: only 0.05 percent of a GPA point set “submitters” and “non-submitters” apart, and the difference in their graduation rates was just 0.6 percent. With multiple studies offering evidence to both support and condemn the dependability on ACT and SAT scores, and the mounting pressures on students to perform well under strict testing conditions, should colleges be forced to disregard standardized testing altogether? Does it even the playing field for all applicants, or favor those who can afford test prep?