The Future of Standardised Testing: Are Colleges Getting Rid of the SAT?

The Future of Standardised Testing: Are Colleges Getting Rid of the SAT?

The future of standardised testing has been the subject of much discussion recently. Read on to understand the debate and what it means for your college application strategy.

Introduction

Colleges use standardised testing to assess high school students’ critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills. They generally test across subjects including mathematics, reading and writing, and scientific reasoning. The purpose of the tests is to assess readiness for college-level education in the United States. 

While not the only one – as essays, references, and grades also matter – standardised test results have historically been a critical factor in college acceptance. Admissions staff use the scores to consider a student’s academic potential and aptitude relative to other students applying for admission that year. They may also be used for scholarship and other decisions relating to financial aid.

Debates about the efficacy and fairness of the tests have been around for many years, but gained additional momentum following COVID.

Historical Context of Standardised Testing

The SAT was first offered by the College Board in 1926 and was developed from an army IQ test, to identify recruits with officer potential. Its origins are rooted in the creator’s biases towards racial and societal changes, but colleges were looking for ways to find high-potential students who hadn’t attended the usual prep schools that traditionally led to Ivy League admissions.

By 1935 Harvard University required all student applicants to submit SAT scores and many Ivy League colleges used the exam to award their scholarships.

Criticisms of Standardised Testing

There are various criticisms of standardised testing in general, which apply to the SAT and the ACT. Some of these focus on the extent to which the test achieves its own aims of identifying student potential and college-readiness, rather than simply measuring how well they prepared for the test. Over the years, the SAT has shown itself to be a more accurate predictor of college success than school grades alone, but of course any test can only be a proxy for potential.

A further criticism is that rather than offering an objective measure of college study skills, it only exacerbates socio-economic and racial disparities. This is because students with schools and parents who are familiar with the SAT and may even be able to pay for extra tuition, will have an advantage in the test and this will amplify the educational and economic advantages they already hold.

Finally, critics of the tests argue that they place unnecessary additional pressures on students who are already studying multiple subjects at an advanced level and have college applications to prepare. The argument that this cost to their wellbeing and other educational pursuits is not outweighed by any benefit gained by having additional data on them for college applications.

Taken together, these criticisms have influenced the perceptions of standardised tests to be favouring more privileged students, undermining their public image.

Recent Trends in College Admissions

In recent years there has been a shift in college admissions policies towards introducing test-optional and test-flexible admissions where the SAT and ACT are no longer required for a college application. If students wish to take the test and include their scores, they may, but there is no requirement and colleges will not mark against them if they decide not to do so. 

The aim of this is to promote a more holistic approach and equitable stance in college admissions where students are evaluated in the contexts of their backgrounds and opportunities, rather than a piece of data. The latter may reflect advantages they have had such as extra tutoring or more time to study than their fellow applicants, who may have been caring for family members or working a job outside school. 

However, after many colleges and universities trying this approach after the pandemic, there has recently been a move towards reintroducing the testing requirement at some schools as a means to increasing the objectivity and rigour of the application process.

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic

As learning moved online, the pandemic accelerated changes in standardised testing policies. The pandemic sped up changes that were already afoot; even before Covid, more than 1,000 colleges had made the tests optional. Many had been discouraged by the way the tests perpetuate socioeconomic disparities, limiting their ability to recruit a diverse freshman class. 

Some groups of students, including those who are Black or Hispanic, non-native English speakers, or low-income, regularly score lower than others. And students with learning disabilities struggle to get the accommodations they need, such as extra time, to perform their best.

Ironically, some early proponents of testing had hoped it would level the playing field, by measuring all students with the same yardstick no matter their background. That goal was never fully realised, but the tests persist because they do correlate to some extent with college grade point averages, offering schools an easy way to predict which students will perform well at college. Some are apprehensive about the loss of a tool to measure all students the same way. Standardised tests, they say, differ from high-school grades, which vary from school to school and can be inflated.

In a post-Covid world, the challenge is to figure out what, precisely, that place should be. Part of the debate is which of the changes were adaptations to unusual circumstances and should be temporary, and which were more necessary changes which should remain permanent.

Alternatives to Standardised Testing

As a result of these developments, colleges have explored alternative assessment methods. These are often described as “holistic”. For example, Columbia uses a process where students submit video interviews and essays as part of their application so that admissions tutors have an opportunity to get to know them and their backgrounds as well as their grades. 

Colleges may also request a portfolio of work, college-specific interview questions, and focus on extracurricular activities. Taken together, these moves are intended to paint a fuller and fairer picture of each applicant than standardised testing may allow.

Pros and Cons of Eliminating Standardised Tests

Pros of Eliminating Standardised Tests

As discussed, the potential benefits of moving away from standardised tests may increase fairness and diversity. Students from different backgrounds would have more opportunities to demonstrate their potential in varied ways, and not be disadvantaged by lack of access to tutoring or restricted time to practise for the test. Furthermore, removing the tests or making them optional could reduce the burden of stress on students, allowing them to focus more on their studies and extracurricular activities before college.

Cons of Eliminating Standardised Tests

However, by removing the tests we do inevitably remove one metric for evaluating many students in the same year. Arguably, these tests are more objective than school grades and references, which may vary considerably across different districts. The challenge of removing the tests is ensuring that whatever they are replaced with is not subject to more challenges in ensuring fairness in application and evaluation. 

While the future is uncertain and new approaches are being piloted, being well-prepared with tutoring and courses is still highly recommended and a personalised college strategy is valuable. While the tests exist and have even been reintroduced in some college admissions processes such as Dartmouth, taking the test may still be advantageous.

Conclusion

Standardised testing is intended to balance fairness and assessment integrity in admissions when thousands of students must be compared against each other when they apply to competitive colleges. While changes accelerated by the pandemic raised issues of fairness and introduced the concept of holistic admissions, it appears that standardised tests are likely to continue in some form, and the crucial factor for students is to understand how they are used in their universities of choice and prepare accordingly.

To understand the difference between SAT and ACT, read our guide SAT vs ACT: What’s The Difference And Which Test Should You Take?.

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Sources

https://satsuite.collegeboard.org/sat

https://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sats/where/timeline.html

https://www.fairtest.org/sites/default/files/Optional-Growth-Chronology.pdf