scholarly journals Test‐optional policies fast‐tracked by COVID‐19 increase admissions equity

2021 ◽  
Vol 22 (9) ◽  
pp. 12-12
Author(s):  
Mary Bannister
Keyword(s):  
Test Optional

Assessment in American Higher Education: The Role of Admissions Tests

2019 ◽  
Vol 683 (1) ◽  
pp. 130-148 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rebecca Zwick
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
United States ◽  
The United States ◽  
College Performance ◽  
Admissions Tests ◽  
Higher Education System ◽  
Wide Range ◽  
Test Optional ◽  
The Impact

In this article, I review the role of college admissions tests in the United States and consider the fairness issues surrounding their use. The two main tests are the SAT, first administered in 1926, and the ACT, first given in 1959. Scores on these tests have been shown to contribute to the prediction of college performance, but their role in the admissions process varies widely across colleges. Although test scores are consistently listed as one of the most important admissions factors in national surveys of postsecondary institutions, an increasing number of schools have adopted “test-optional” policies. At these institutions, test score requirements are seen as a barrier to campus diversity because of the large performance gaps among ethnic and socioeconomic groups. Fortunately, the decentralized higher education system in the United States can accommodate a wide range of admissions policies. It is essential, however, that the impact of admissions policy changes be studied and that the resource implications of these changes be thoroughly considered.

scholarly journals Test-Optional Admissions and Student Debt

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Alexia Bevers ◽  
Sean E. Mulholland
Keyword(s):  
Student Debt ◽  
Test Optional

Untested Admissions: Examining Changes in Application Behaviors and Student Demographics Under Test-Optional Policies

2021 ◽  
pp. 000283122110035
Author(s):  
Christopher T. Bennett
Keyword(s):  
Interrupted Time Series ◽  
Pell Grant ◽  
Private Institutions ◽  
Interrupted Time Series Analysis ◽  
Undergraduate Admissions ◽  
Admissions Policies ◽  
Test Optional ◽  
First Time ◽  
Racial Ethnic ◽  
Application Volume

This study examines a diverse set of nearly 100 private institutions that adopted test-optional undergraduate admissions policies between 2005–2006 and 2015–2016. Using comparative interrupted time series analysis and difference-in-differences with matching, I find that test-optional policies were associated with a 3% to 4% increase in Pell Grant recipients, a 10% to 12% increase in first-time students from underrepresented racial/ethnic backgrounds, and a 6% to 8% increase in first-time enrollment of women. Overall, I do not detect clear evidence of changes in application volume or yield rate. Subgroup analyses suggest that these patterns were generally similar for both the more selective and the less selective institutions examined. These findings provide evidence regarding the potential—and the limitations—of using test-optional policies to improve equity in admissions.

scholarly journals COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges among rising high school seniors, Class of 2021 and effect on stress regarding college admissions

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarab Anand ◽  
Triptish Bhatia
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
College Admissions ◽  
College Counselors ◽  
Academic Challenges ◽  
High School Class ◽  
Athletic Scholarships ◽  
Test Optional ◽  
Admissions Process

The high school Class of 2021, already facing challenges of their stressful junior year has had multiple changes to their academic routines, athletic & extracurricular opportunities and standardized testing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With the lockdown, it is also facing unprecedented changes in the college admissions process.  This study was undertaken as a survey of rising seniors in US high schools to understand handling of academic challenges, students’ stress regarding college admissions, changing landscape of the application cycle and attitudes towards strength of applications due to the pandemic. Survey was designed on google forms and was circulated among rising seniors through social media and snowballing methods. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.  A total of 331 students responded, majority were females, white and from public schools. Significant stress regarding college admissions was reported by students (63.6%) before pandemic and increase in stress (72.3%) afterwards. About 75% had already taken ACT/SAT, the majority was not satisfied with their scores but 90% planned to re(take) despite colleges declaring a test optional process. 60% of participants with change in summer plans and 70% of students unable to visit colleges reported increase in stress. Level of access correlated with perceived support from college counselors (r=0.677) and uncertainty regarding financial aid and athletic scholarships contributed to stress.  Two broad themes emerged while studying COVID-19 related increase in stress levels and factors contributing to that change: uncertainty about one’s own application strength and stress due to changes in institutional policies.          

Test-Optional Admission at a Liberal Arts College: A Founding Mission Affirmed

2007 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
pp. 429-435 ◽  
Author(s):  
BRIAN SHANLEY
Keyword(s):  
Test Performance ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Standardized Test ◽  
Liberal Arts College ◽  
Academic Preparation ◽  
Standardized Test Scores ◽  
Student Body ◽  
History Of ◽  
Test Optional ◽  
The Impact

In this essay, Father Brian J. Shanley discusses Providence College's pilot program to eliminate standardized test scores from the required components of an admission application. Building on the college's ninety-year history of opening the doors of higher education to underrepresented populations, Providence College's test-optional policy is designed to ensure that students with strong academic preparation are not excluded from matriculating because of poor test performance. Shanley provides insight into the college's process of holistic application review and the institution's plan to study the impact of its new policy on the makeup and success of its student body.

Rationalization and Student/School Personhood in U.S. College Admissions: The Rise of Test-optional Policies, 1987 to 2015

2017 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared Furuta
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
College Admissions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Admissions Policies ◽  
Test Optional ◽  
Admissions Process

This article examines the rise of ‘‘test-optional’’ college admissions policies since the 1990s. I argue that the rationalization of college admissions policies after World War II contributed to the rise of ‘‘meritocratic’’ stratification (in policy) and standardized tests, like the SAT, but it also led to the expansion and legitimation of the roles of student and school personhood in the admissions process. Schools more committed to enlarged conceptions of student personhood are more likely to adopt a test-optional policy, in order to recruit students who fit the distinctive characteristics of their school identity. To test the argument, I use a comprehensive data set of 1,640 colleges and universities in the United States and discrete-time event history models from 1987 to 2015. I also assess alternative arguments that emphasize economic or prestige-driven motives. Liberal arts colleges and schools committed to several dimensions of student personhood are more likely to adopt test-optional policies, net of other factors.

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