Testing Matters: Why using SAT and ACT scores for admissions still makes sense

08/16/2016 |

Certain academic phrases can spark a heated debate almost anywhere. Consider the possible roundtable discussions pouring forth from the mere mention of such lightning rods as “the Common Core,” “standardized testing” and “SAT and ACT scores.” And from the teacher’s lounge to the kitchen table, there’s no shortage of opinions on what “education” needs.

One recent trend on the higher education landscape (in addition to its hot button possibilities) is a growing number of colleges and universities not using SAT and ACT scores in the admissions process. According to Pam Horne, Purdue’s vice provost of enrollment management, most of the several hundred schools not requiring standardized test scores are open admission or use state-mandated grade point average or class rank thresholds that guarantee admission. However, Horne says a few dozen selective institutions use a holistic review and, although students can submit such scores, they are no longer required for some or all applicants. Purdue is not among them, as are few of its academic peer institutions. Every Big Ten university continues to use ACT or SAT scores for admission consideration.

“Test scores provide the only common benchmark available to us to evaluate applicants,” Horne says. “At Purdue’s current level of competitiveness, the majority of our applicants come to us with A averages in high school, so the grade point average is not always a means to differentiate among students. In addition, high schools vary considerably in how they calculate the GPA, and many no longer rank their students. However, we are well aware that grades in core academic courses and the rigor of those courses are together the best predictors of college success at Purdue and elsewhere. Test scores provide some information, but we care much more about what students accomplish over four years than how they perform for four hours on a Saturday morning.

“We also look at test scores in context of a student’s socioeconomic background, and the opportunities available to them,” says Horne, who works closely with top university officials on setting and managing enrollment projections. “We are well aware that test scores are correlated with economic background and that’s one reason we continue to admit and enroll students with a wide range of SAT and ACT scores.”

Additionally, Horne’s office conducts studies to ensure that test scores add incremental validity to predict first-year grades. “And they do at Purdue,” she says. “We want to admit students who have achieved well in their schools and communities, but the tests help the university to identify students who may be at some academic risk and in need of academic support.”

Anne Traynor, assistant professor of educational psychology, knows a thing or two about testing. As a high school teacher and principal, she routinely administered admissions tests and became well aware of student testing anxiety and other practical realities of the assessment process. That experience spurred her to pursue her own PhD. These days her research focuses on how well tests are aligned with particular school curricula.

“A basic principle of assessment is that anytime a test score would contribute to a high-stakes decision that would have a long-term impact on someone’s life, such as a college admission exam, you would want to use multiple sources of information,” Traynor says.

Unfortunately, Traynor says, many of those other measurable factors, including sports, club affiliations, and other extracurricular activities, could also be reflective of a simple lack of opportunity. Some students might work or watch younger siblings after school, effectively hurting their own college chances.

To consider each student applicant holistically, Horne says they look at that kind of personal experience, along with the student’s essay and school counselor recommendations. Purdue admissions counselors, who visit hundreds of high schools and community groups, are sensitive to both the challenges and opportunities students encounter in their own environments.

A revised SAT exam offered nationwide this winter even got a trial run on campus last fall as Purdue served as a field test site. Horne says participating students agreed to have their first-year grades sent to the College Board for analysis with their test score results. “We were privy to the validity results for our students. It was unique and fascinating for Purdue staff to help facilitate the field testing.”

– William Meiners

From the July/August issue of the Purdue Alumnus, http://bit.ly/2cs0H1I

Above: Illustration by Brucie Rosch