Quote of the Day – PLUS What you’re not being told about standardized tests

“We now have evidence that standardized tests in fact may help — not hurt — students from low-income families and underrepresented minority groups get into and persist in college. The latest research shows that not only are test scores as predictive or even more predictive than high school grades of college performance, they are also strong predictors of post-college outcomes.”

Yoon Choi, in “OPINION: Standardized tests can be great predictors of college success and should not be seen as a cause of inequity,” The Hechinger Report, January 23, 2024

The PLUS

First, this shocker comes from the far from conservative The Hechinger Report. This is a real sea state change from the usual line of reasoning about tests like the SAT and ACT being seen in most of the liberal media.

Second, the article is based on a report from Opportunity Insights, a Harvard-based group. That same university dropped the SAT as an admissions requirement until at least 2026. Now, an on-campus group is making some startling comments. Opportunity Insight’s recent short paper also says: 

Finding #1: Students with higher SAT/ACT scores are more likely to have higher college GPAs than their peers with lower scores

Finding #2: High school GPA does a poor job of predicting academic success in college

Finding #3: Students from different socioeconomic backgrounds who have comparable SAT/ACT scores receive similar grades in college

Summarizing that:

“We conclude that standardized test scores may have more value for admissions processes than previously understood in the literature, especially for highly selective colleges.”

In yet another shocker, Opportunity Insights says:

“…test scores may be helpful for highly selective colleges to create more upward mobility by prioritizing admissions for academically prepared students from a broader range of backgrounds (Underline added for emphasis).”

To be sure, this is only the result of work by one group. But the comments go so far against much of what parents and policymakers are being told that the subject deserves a lot more scrutiny. And, it’s noteworthy that a group located at Harvard is convinced enough by its research to take a position very different from the school’s official policy.

Maybe – once again – stuff we’ve heard from a lot of educators just isn’t right, either (think Whole Language Reading, New Math, “drill and kill,” and more, for other examples).