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University of California Decides to Stop Using SAT and ACT
The board of regents at the University of California voted to stop using the SAT and ACT college admission exams. This reshapies the admissions process in one of the most prestigious university systems in the U.S.
“The unanimous 23-to-0 vote ratified a proposal put forward last month by UC President Janet Napolitano to phase out the exams over the next five years until the sprawling UC system can develop its own test,” reported Fox Business.
For years, there have been arguments about standardized tests because minority students commonly score lower than their white classmates. According to advocates, the exams are an unfair admission barrier.
“The test is a proxy for privilege,” said Regent Cecilia Estolano. “It's time, it has been studied to death.”
Equal Opportunity
The head of the University of California has recommended that it stop using SAT and ACT scores to help decide which students are admitted to its colleges https://t.co/Lrr5GS6XAk
— Bloomberg (@business) May 12, 2020
The system’s decision to stop using exams welcomes other schools to conform.
The organization’s “mission remains the same,” according to a spokesman for the College Board, which oversees the SAT. They aim “to give all students, and especially low-income and first-generation students, opportunities to show their strength. We must also address the disparities in coursework and classrooms that the evidence shows most drive inequity in California.”
Fox Business reported that Ms. Napolitano's proposal allows four years for the UC system to develop a new exam. Robert Schaeffer, public education director of the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, explains that if the system fails to create or adopt one, it likely would cease to use any exam.
“It appears very unlikely that they will be able to design an instrument that is more accurate and fairer than relying on applicants' high school records,” Mr. Schaeffer said. “And, if a new test somehow meets those goals promoters would face massive adoption barriers, including persuading UC and the rest of the admissions world that a third test is truly needed or useful,” he also stated.
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