The University of California plans to drop the SAT and ACT, and develop its own admissions test. Some supporters say the move will increase diversity, though UC’s own research reveals otherwise, while other supporters hope the decision will lead to no testing at all.

As COVID-19 continues to wreak havoc in the United States, standardized testing hasn’t been immune from disruption either. Testing dates have been postponed or eliminated, at least for this year. And as more people are reflecting on some of the economic and racial issues that prevent our society from being as fair and free as it should be, they are asking out loud: “Do we even need testing?”

We do because testing, despite its flaws, actually does more to promote diversity than grades alone.

California in the News

The recent decision by the University of California, the nation’s most prestigious public university system, thrust the role of testing in college admissions into the spotlight.

Approving the proposal put forward by UC’s president Janet Napolitano, the UC Board of Regents voted to drop SAT and ACT testing requirements, and develop its own admissions test. But if the new test is not established by 2025, UC will abandon testing requirements altogether.

As the Report of the UC Academic Council Standardized Testing Task Force (STTF) (commissioned by the UC president) noted in its opening, “standardized test scores tend to exhibit differences along lines of race and class, with students who belong to many of the demographic groups historically excluded from educational (and other) opportunities on average receiving lower scores.” Which is why there have been persistent concerns over the years that standardized testing is biased against disadvantaged groups or even “racist.”

However, in the study, UC’s faculty discovered that using SAT or ACT scores in college admission decisions (and not just high school grades alone) helped to reduce rates of underrepresentation, allowing more underrepresented students to attend UC schools than otherwise would have.

In fact, UC’s faculty found that it wasn’t testing that was the barrier to UC eligibility for underrepresented students; it was “disparities in access to and completion” of the right high school courses.

Yet, the Board of Regents, made up of political appointees, swept aside the UC faculty’s findings. Some supporters of the new decision believe that diversity will increase without the SAT and ACT. However, other supporters could be described as odd bedfellows—testing opponents who hope that UC will fail by its 2025 deadline and then scrap admissions tests altogether. But that isn’t necessarily better.

Diversity on the Line

With the wide disparities that currently exist in K-12 education across the United States, an over-reliance on high school grades in college admissions isn’t likely to do underrepresented students many favors in the long run.

Of course, there is always room for improvement, and tests often serve as living documents with test items being regularly added or removed over time. But at the end of the day, tests like the SAT and ACT serve a purpose and they give students from underrepresented groups more chances to succeed in attending the college of their choice.

History Test

Did you know that standardized testing was originally developed to give students from underrepresented groups the chance to earn admission to a good college? At the time, that meant students with Jewish, Irish and Italian backgrounds, and then later, students with Asian backgrounds.

Standardized testing has largely delivered on that promise, but time doesn’t stand still. We must continue working to promote fairness and diversity for the new generations of underrepresented students (Latino, African American and Native American) who are seeking admission to college today.

We Support Diversity, Fairness and Inclusion in Education

At Responsive Translation, we believe in allowing all students the opportunity to improve and to shine—no matter what language they speak. We specialize in translation, adaptation, validation and review for high-stakes educational assessments.

For more information, I can be reached at 646-847-3309 or [email protected].