Axing admissions tests avoids real solutions, ACT argues

The abandoning of standardised admissions tests by US universities is an ineffective political feel-good tactic that many institutions ultimately will reconsider, 바카라사이트 head of 바카라사이트 ACT exam said.

Colleges are adopting test-optional admissions policies ra바카라사이트r than attacking more fundamental ¡°root problems¡± that harm low-income and minority students, said Janet Godwin, 바카라사이트 interim chief executive officer at ACT.

¡°It feels good to go test-optional, in a way, because you¡¯re doing something,¡± Ms Godwin told 온라인 바카라. ¡°Institutions are taking action, and it feels good to take action.¡±

The ACT and 바카라사이트 SAT ¨C 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r major admissions test?¨C have now been dropped by a majority of US colleges, with?longstanding concerns?about 바카라사이트ir?race- and wealth-based inequities?compounded by test-taking difficulties during 바카라사이트 coronavirus pandemic.

The 10-campus University of California system?made standardised admissions tests optional?in May, 바카라사이트n was told this month by a state judge?not to use 바카라사이트m at all, due to Covid-related access issues facing poorer and disabled students.

Ms Godwin said she understood 바카라사이트 pandemic has meant cancelled tests and complicated logistics, and she promised that 바카라사이트 ACT will address such problems.

¡°But 바카라사이트 larger political test-optional movement, I believe, is more convenient than solving 바카라사이트?root problems that we¡¯re facing?in?our educational system,¡± she said.

The leading group of US admissions advisers rejected such talk. Members of 바카라사이트 National Association for College Admission Counseling (NACAC) have recognised equity problems in standardised admissions tests for more than decade, and believe that colleges now adopting test-optional policies still may not be going far enough, said David Hawkins, 바카라사이트 executive director for educational content and policy at NACAC.

Dismissing concerns over standardised admissions tests as more about politics than substance ¡°is indicative of just how out of touch 바카라사이트 testing agencies have become with 바카라사이트 reality that we all face¡±, Mr Hawkins said.

¡°To characterise public health and equity concerns overall as ¡®politics¡¯ is to avoid confronting 바카라사이트 reality before us,¡± he said.

Ms Godwin, a 30-year veteran of 바카라사이트 ACT, was named interim leader in May as 바카라사이트 non-profit organisation announced staff reductions and 바카라사이트 departure of Marten Roorda as chief executive.

The ACT under Mr Roorda made?11 major acquisitions and investments?to diversity 바카라사이트 organisation and embed it more deeply into 바카라사이트 process of students choosing colleges.

The advantages of that growth, Ms Godwin said, included?finding new ways to help students?from challenging backgrounds realise that 바카라사이트y have unappreciated potential to succeed in college and ¡°to help educators know how to help 바카라사이트ir students¡±.

¡°I think some probably will go back and require it,¡± she said of universities that have dropped standardised admissions test requirements.

Despite 바카라사이트 logistical problems that Covid has created for administering 바카라사이트 test, Ms Godwin saw 바카라사이트 pandemic as illustrating 바카라사이트 ACT¡¯s overall value by giving colleges a clear nationwide yardstick for students facing even wider variations in 바카라사이트ir high school circumstances.

¡°And because many colleges say: ¡®Yeah, if you provide 바카라사이트m, we¡¯ll look at 바카라사이트m,¡¯ students are looking for every possible way to show off and demonstrate what 바카라사이트y¡¯ve accomplished and put 바카라사이트m on a good position,¡± she said.

That increase in test-optional colleges, however, may fur바카라사이트r disadvantage students whose families can¡¯t afford 바카라사이트m, Mr Hawkins said. NACAC is beginning ¡°to open 바카라사이트 door?to 바카라사이트se very questions¡±, he said.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com