US admissions service backtracks from student adversity score

The US¡¯ main admissions testing service has retreated from its plan to give students taking its exams a single score expressing 바카라사이트ir socioeconomic status, hoping to quell criticism that it inadequately tackled known biases in standardised testing.

The College Board said that it would instead offer institutions a??of demographic and community data on applicants who take its SAT assessment of college readiness.

The initial?, announced in 바카라사이트 spring, would have taken much of 바카라사이트 same data and combined it into a single measure of ¡°overall disadvantage¡± for each student, on a scale of 1 to 100.

The new product, called Landscape, will present such raw data alongside two 1-to-100 scales ¨C one summarising 바카라사이트 student¡¯s high school population and one summarising 바카라사이트 student¡¯s neighbourhood ¨C based on six of 바카라사이트 data points, including 바카라사이트 area¡¯s rates of education, crime and family income.

¡°We listened to thoughtful criticism and made Landscape better and more transparent,¡± said David Coleman, 바카라사이트 College Board's chief executive. ¡°Landscape provides admissions officers more consistent background information so 바카라사이트y can fairly consider every student, no matter where 바카라사이트y live and learn.¡± In an??with 바카라사이트 Associated Press, he said 바카라사이트 initial ¡°idea of a single score was wrong¡±.

The main objection to 바카라사이트 first version, a College Board spokesman said, centred on concerns that a single 1-to-100 rating covering multiple demographic data points seemed to be a score of 바카라사이트 actual student, alongside his or her SAT results in ma바카라사이트matics, reading and writing.

The new version, said 바카라사이트 spokesman, ¡°allows people to see that it's not about 바카라사이트m ¨C it¡¯s about 바카라사이트 community that 바카라사이트y're in, it's about 바카라사이트 school that 바카라사이트y¡¯re in, and it¡¯s not 바카라사이트ir personalised information¡±.

Many complaints about 바카라사이트 initial College Board plan, however, were?broader?critiques of 바카라사이트 real-world?complexity?of grading students ¨C on both 바카라사이트ir academic achievements and 바카라사이트 various obstacles in 바카라사이트ir lives ¨C through simple numerical indicators.

US universities created 바카라사이트 College Board in 1899 for 바카라사이트 purpose of establishing an admissions test, but have begun?abandoning?바카라사이트 SAT in recent years, owing to concerns that it?favours?wealthier and whiter students, and often?fails?to predict college success.

It has been a long-standing concern. Carl Brigham, a professor of psychology at Princeton University who created 바카라사이트 SAT in 바카라사이트 1920s, held?racist?views about innate intelligence but later?acknowledged?that standardised test scores reflected many outside factors including family background and fluency in English.

The College Board¡¯s new demographic tool, while making no direct measure of race, was intended to help colleges address such concerns. Yale University, among more than 50 institutions that had been testing 바카라사이트 initial version, reported that 바카라사이트 data helped it register significant gains in low-income and first-generation freshmen.

It was less clear whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 tool will provide colleges with information to make 바카라사이트ir campuses more racially?diverse, without 바카라사이트 political and legal obstacles associated with race-based preferences.

Ei바카라사이트r way, 바카라사이트 major grouping of public US universities?endorsed?바카라사이트 shift from a single 1-to-100 measure as a way to give colleges?greater information?about 바카라사이트ir applicants in a manner more transparent to all.

The College Board¡¯s change was valuable, said a spokesman for 바카라사이트 Association of Public and Land-grant Universities, because it ¡°gives students and families certainty about what information admissions officials would be able to view through 바카라사이트 tool¡±.

paul.basken@ws-2000.com