Yes, SAT and ACT Scores are Highly Predictive
Why do people lie so much? Why do we persistently spout demonstrably false statements simply to provide others who cling to the same skewed biases purchase to elevate rumors and wishes to the level of accepted fact, even when all evidence belies our flawed reasoning? No, I’m not talking about politics here. Instead, let’s turn those jaundiced eyes to college admissions policies. The global pandemic may not have inspired the crusade against standardized test scores in college admissions, but it certainly energized the opposition. The expansion of test optional admissions, while the farthest thing possible from a panacea for structural educational inequity, empowers more students to apply to selective schools they might have otherwise given up on. Unfortunately, such policies don’t materially improve an applicant’s chance at admission to those schools. The writing on the wall for the coalescing college graduating class of 2025 suggests that higher education still places…
SAT Predictive Validity
A test is meaningless without validity. What value would you ascribe to a road test that couldn’t weed out unprepared drivers or a SCUBA certification program that fails to prepare divers for open water? True tests are not ends in and of themselves but rather milestones on a journey to something more significant such as knowledge, skill, or credentials. When critics rail against tests like the SAT and ACT, they often seek to undermine the predictive validity of these exams. However, anecdotes about low scorers that excelled in college and life or high scorers that did not cannot replace actual statistical data. If an admissions test seeks widespread adoption, it must prove that the test scores improve admissions decisions. How do the SAT and ACT accomplish this? At the most fundamental level, standardized test scores can put student grades–which can sometimes be inflated or at least highly subjective–into a more…