Forbes takes an early look at Nicholas Lemann's new book about the SAT/ACT (the book will be released on September 19th).

[Excerpts]

Earlier this year, The New York Times' David Leonhardt wrote that the “war” against the SAT was “misguided,” suggesting that critiques of the test as biased or limited in its predictive abilities were incorrect, a judgment that other pundits soon began to repeat.

Enter Nicholas Lemann, whose new book, Higher Admissions: The Rise, Decline, and Return of Standardized Testing, is a concise, sophisticated analysis of the history and role played by standardized admission tests in higher education and the rationales and implications involved in selective university’s decisions to either require these tests for admission or not.

Lemann, staff writer at The New Yorker and former dean of the Graduate School of Journalism at Columbia University, has written on this topic before. His The Big Test: The Secret History of the American Meritocracy (1999) is probably the definitive study of the SAT (first called the Scholastic Aptitude Test, then the Scholastic Assessment Test).

Although Lemann reviews the limitations of the SAT (and its main competitor, the ACT), the book is not so much a critique of the psychometric properties of standardized testing as it is an analysis of the larger implications of these tests as they moved from being used by a small number of colleges to their current outsized role in controlling access to higher education, particularly at prestigious research universities and premier liberal arts colleges.

Lemann argues that the development of the SAT was originally driven by a vision of achieving “more democratically selected educational elite, not greatly enhanced opportunity for the majority of Americans, and not the advancement of historically marginalized people.”

As a result, standardized testing has over the years increasingly become a tool primarily used to select “the lucky few” who would benefit from admission to a relatively small number of selective colleges and universities rather than — as many testing pioneers had hoped — a means of promoting better education for more students by diagnosing what they have learned and then tailoring instruction to help them learn more.

Now, according to Lemann, we have “the widespread administration of the SAT to millions of people in order to identify a relative handful to admissions officers at highly selective colleges." That policy makes little sense given that higher education’s much bigger problem is finding ways to help more students attend and complete college successfully.

While much of the debate about standardized testing is preoccupied with the consequences of its use by our most selective universities and colleges, Lemann poses a bigger question - what if higher education was focused less on selective admissions and more on upgrading the entire higher education system so that more meaningful opportunities were created for as many people as possible.

As he writes, the right kind of testing could then be used “mainly as a diagnostic tool that would help colleges and universities create more academic success, culminating in degree completion, for their students.” But of course, that’s not what’s happened. Instead, standardized admission tests have been used primarily as gatekeepers to our most highly resourced institutions to which students from wealthy families are disproportionately admitted. They limit access, rather than promote it. And they attract far more attention than they deserve, given that only about 1% of American undergraduates enroll in the most highly selective institutions, those accepting 10% of applicants.

Two recent events suggest that the preoccupation with standardized admission testing might be drawing to an end. The first was the pandemic, which led to the vast majority of four-year colleges suspending their use of the SAT or ACT as an admission requirement. Despite the spate of recent testing resumptions by Ivy League schools and other elite colleges, most institutions are continuing their “test optional” policy, having discovered they can admit excellent students without employing the tests.

The second impetus is the recent Supreme Court decisions in Students for Fair Admissions v. Harvard University and Students for Fair Admissions (SFFA) v. University of North Carolina, essentially ending the practice of race-conscious college admissions used by some colleges. One upshot of that decision could be that many institutions will choose to deemphasize or simply discontinue standardized admission tests, given the unequal test performance by students from different racial, ethnic and social backgrounds.

Nonetheless, chances are also good that additional highly selective and selective universities will decide this year to reinstate a standardized testing requirement as part of their admission process, and they will offer a rationale for doing so that at least they find convincing. As they make that decision, it would behoove their leaders to take a few hours to read Lemann’s book, not only for its comprehensive treatment of admissions testing, but also for how they might help create fairer and more democratic higher education institutions.

 
The Baltimore Sun covers the recent announcement by John Hopkins University that it will reinstate an SAT/ACT requirement starting with all applicants to the 2026 freshman class.

[Excerpts]

The Johns Hopkins University will again require students to submit standardized SAT or ACT scores for undergraduate admission, the Baltimore institution has announced.

Applicants for the Krieger School of Arts & Sciences and the Whiting School of Engineering will need to provide test scores, starting with individuals seeking admission for the fall 2026 semester. Because applicants seeking entry for fall 2025 might not have enough time to prepare or access the tests, the submission of test scores is “encouraged but not required,” according to a university news release Friday.

In 2020, Hopkins adopted a test-optional policy through the entering class of fall 2026 in response to the impacts of the coronavirus pandemic, which limited testing access, as colleges and universities nationwide rolled out similar policies.

Test scores and GPA often aren’t the only factors schools consider when granting admission to prospective students. Hopkins takes a holistic approach, looking at “academic character, impact and initiative, and personal contributions through a multifaceted lens,” and will continue to do that, according to the release.

After conducting a review, the private university found that when test scores are considered in the context of the holistic approach, they are an important measure to predict the likelihood of a student’s success at the university, according to the release.

“The review also found that the test-optional environment may have discouraged some applicants to Johns Hopkins from less-advantaged or underrepresented backgrounds from submitting test scores that would have provided an additional positive signal of their academic abilities,” the release says.

 
Here (in pdf form) is the document released by Johns Hopkins detailing the research and analysis behind the recent testing announcement.

Three of the main findings are briefly listed below:

Standardized test scores are a reliable predictor of academic performance in the first two years of college, even in a test-optional environment.

The test-optional environment has discouraged some applicants from less-advantaged backgrounds from submitting test scores that would have provided an additional positive signal of their academic abilities.

Under a test-optional policy, those who provide test scores fared better in the application review process.

 
Carnegie Mellon has announced that it will be requiring SAT-ACT scores from applicants to its School of Computer Science for the fall of 2026, and will adopt a test flexible policy (SAT, ACT, International Baccalaureate exam, Advanced Placement, Cambridge A-Levels or the French Baccalaureate) for its 5 other schools.

 
Government Technology takes a look at the recent impact of the University of California's abandonment of SAT/ACT scores, and examines the significant drop in SAT test-takers statewide:

[Excerpts]

The COVID-19 pandemic forced universities to stop requiring standardized tests and now, as some elite schools begin to require them again, students must grapple with a different SAT dilemma: is it worth the time and energy to take the test, and what score is high enough to submit in an application?

It's an especially difficult dilemma for students in California, where the University of California and California State University systems don't allow students to submit standardized test scores for undergraduate admissions and most private colleges remain test-optional.

Across the state, far fewer high schoolers take standardized tests now compared with before the COVID-19 pandemic, when colleges were forced to go "test-optional" — where students have the option to submit scores but are not required to — or "test-blind" — where students cannot include scores in admissions applications.

While nearly 70% of California high schoolers who graduated in the spring of 2020 had taken the SAT at least once, only a quarter in the class of 2023 did so.

An even smaller share of students submit their scores to colleges. In 2023, about a third of SAT takers sent their results to at least one institution — an estimated 9% of California high school graduates that year. In contrast, more than three quarters of high school graduates in 2019 submitted their scores to colleges.

According to Irena Smith, a college admissions consultant who's been counseling students for the past 18 years, the students in her practice who take standardized tests these days are those looking to attend highly selective colleges.

In California, those include Stanford, USC and the Claremont colleges — schools that, despite being test-optional in recent years, have admitted students who did submit scores at higher rates than those applying without them, according to Smith.

When it comes to submitting or omitting test scores in college applications, students with scores above a 1400 will undoubtedly include them, but for other students, "it's an excruciating guessing game," said Smith.

Take, for example, Stanford, where the overwhelming majority of first-years admitted with test results in 2023 scored higher than 1400 on the SAT. The data reported by Stanford does not break down scores above 1400, but according to Smith, who worked at Stanford admissions between 1999 to 2004, the target score they looked for was a combined 1500, with a minimum of 700 in each section.

For students with more middling scores — like those in the 1300 range — it's an impossible decision. They can either submit their sub-par scores or not submit them and run the risk of having the admissions staff think their scores are lower, said Smith.

It's a similar case for the other highly-selective colleges and universities. Gwen Meyer, a college and career specialist at Alameda High School, tells students who plan to apply to these schools to treat standardized tests as added requirements, similar to supplemental essays.

 
The recent and significant changes to the SAT have caused concern regarding the continuing applicability of the tests, not only as college entrance exams, but also as high school mastery metrics. Colorado is one state examining the differences in student outcomes between the different versions of the SAT, and has found that students have scored lower on the new, digital version. Therefore, the "cut scores" used by the state might have to be adjusted. Chalkbeat Colorado examines the issue:

[Excerpts]

Colorado next month may lower the passing score on high school math tests many students use to meet graduation requirements, the latest potential fallout from test scores that fell dramatically this year.

Without such a change, it’s possible graduation rates could drop for the Class of 2025, Colorado Department of Education officials told the State Board of Education on Thursday.

To graduate from high school in Colorado, students must show proficiency in English and math. Using SAT scores is the most common way that districts offer students to meet that requirement, since the test is already administered to students in their junior year; ninth and 10th graders take the PSAT. But officials couldn’t say how many students were relying on the test result to meet the graduation requirements this year.

The proposed change the State Board is considering would lower the minimum passing score on the math portion of the SAT from 500 to 480. Without that change, officials say the percentage of students who can use their SAT score to meet graduation requirements will drop from 45% in 2023 to 39% with these results. That means about 3,400 students might be looking for a last-minute alternative to meet graduation requirements before May.

If the board agrees to lower the passing score to 480, it would mean 45.5% of students who took the test could use the score to meet their graduation requirements, roughly the same as last year.

State Board members started Thursday’s discussion hesitant about the idea of lowering the bar for graduation, but ultimately their comments leaned in favor of the change. Education department staff are continuing to gather more data about the impact, and will ask the State Board to vote on the proposal next month.

Joyce Zurkowski, the Colorado Department of Education’s chief assessment officer, has been sharing concerns about the SAT scores with the State Board for months as preliminary results were previewed by state school officials.

Compared to 2023, the percentage of students who met or exceeded expectations on math tests dropped for students in grades 9-11. (Colorado doesn’t test 12th grade students.) Scores fell across all student subgroups.

Among 11th graders, the percentage meeting expectations dropped to 31.1% this year from 35.2% in 2023, and it’s down from 39% in 2019. In the reading and writing portion of the tests, some student subgroups’ scores improved; officials are not considering changing the required passing score — 470 — for that portion of the test.

Zurkowski has said that while it is possible some of the drops in math scores reflect drops in learning and student abilities, it’s likely that some of the decline is due to changes to the SAT, which went fully digital for the first time last year. It’s not possible to distinguish how much of the change in scores is due to each factor, she said.

Lisa Escarcega, a State Board member, said the 3,400 students who could be forced to find an alternative way to meet graduation requirements if the board doesn’t lower the cut score is a “significant” number.

“It’s much larger than I thought,” Escarcega said.

Only around a dozen other states use the SAT for all students as an annual test the way Colorado does. But education department staff will share data next month on how Colorado’s score drops compare to those other states.

Colorado officials also spent the summer evaluating whether the lower high school SAT scores would be valid for use in this year’s school and district ratings. The state ultimately determined they will be used. The preliminary ratings will be out next month.

 
Inside Higher Ed has published an op-ed titled "SATs Have Never Been About Equality."

[Excerpts]

The SAT and other high-stakes standardized tests have a strong hold on our modern education system. Its persistence is all the more astounding when we consider how much higher education has changed. When the SAT emerged in the 1920s, a little less than 6 percent of people aged 25 to 29 had obtained a bachelor’s degree or higher. In 2022, the immediate college enrollment rate for high school students was 62 percent. Who gets to go to college and what its purpose is has changed dramatically in the 100 years since Ivy League hopefuls first began taking the SAT. Does it really make sense to rely on the same tools of sorting and selection to shape the landscape of higher education?

Even though test scores are optional to apply to most colleges, students today are aware of the importance placed on SAT scores. “Marinating in admissions anxiety is just a part of adolescence,” an opinion editor for The New York Times recently claimed. No, it’s not. It doesn’t have to be this way. Part of the anxiety is the pressure to do well on the test, but this is only the tip of the iceberg. There’s anxiety about social hierarchies and fitting in and worries about how someone will judge your value and your potential by your performance on a test. There’s also anxiety about being evaluated with a test on which you are disadvantaged by a learning disability, or about being tested on information that you haven’t had the opportunity to learn. And there is anxiety about whom you will disappoint if you don’t attend an elite college. That is the kind of anxiety that our society has chosen to instill in young adults. We could choose not to by giving students more control in what they choose to submit as part of their college applications.

The connection between college entrance exams and intelligence tests should lead us to examine how we culturally and socially define intelligence in ways that only provide opportunities for certain kinds of learners. Real, meaningful change in our education system would mean rethinking how we value and measure intelligence.

 
The San Mateo Daily Journal covers the continuing problem of a severe lack of SAT testing slots in California.

[Excerpts]

Mira Makan, now an incoming high school senior, registered for the March SAT last December. Despite signing up months in advance, the closest testing center to Makan’s Woodside residence was in Los Angeles.

Makan said she has friends who have taken their admissions tests everywhere from Tahoe to Southern California to Denver.

“Some of them are driving eight hours to go to a test center, which is crazy, because that’s the exact opposite thing you want to do before a test,” Makan said.

“Even flying to L.A. and taking mine there was so disruptive,” Makan said. “Going through the airport, finding a hotel and a way to the test center, it adds so much more stress onto the fact that you’re taking a 2 1/2 hour test that affects your college admissions.”

According to the College Board’s SAT Test Center Search, the national August SAT is not offered anywhere in San Mateo County. Beginning in October, Carlmont High School in Belmont is the only national testing site on the Peninsula — but seats have already been fully booked through the end of the 2024-25 testing cycle.

There are a few testing centers surrounding the county. However, these seats fill up months in advance, as they are sought after by students across the Bay Area who want to take the SAT — which is optional or not accepted at many universities, but required by some.

As of August 2024, there is only one testing center within 100 miles of San Mateo County that has open seats through the end of this college application season.

The College Board does add test centers from time to time, and sometimes spots seem to randomly appear, said Aaron Andrikopoulous, co-founder of AJ Tutoring, a Bay Area based tutoring company. You need to constantly monitor the page to get one, he said.

“It’s like getting tickets to a concert, it can be really challenging to get one of those coveted seats,” Andrikopoulous said.

“We have some students who just decide, after trying to register several times, to forgo taking it, which can potentially impact their college opportunities,” Andrikopoulous said.

The current uncertainty surrounding the SAT’s importance at colleges and universities across the country affects how many schools decide to approach the exam.

Makan’s school counselor told her that they don’t offer the school day test because they don’t want to pressure their students to submit.

If a student has easy access to the SAT because it is offered at their school, and they choose not to submit their scores, admissions officers who can see this might assume that the student tested poorly, the counselor said.

By not offering the test, students who don’t want to submit scores don’t need to. Students who do want to submit scores can take the test somewhere else, the counselor said.

But when the closest center is across the state, only students with the means to travel can take the test