Does nixing standardized testing make college admissions more equal?

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CounterCurrent:
On The Chopping Block
Does nixing standardized testing make college admissions more equal?

CounterCurrent is the National Association of Scholars’ weekly newsletter, bringing you the biggest issues in academia and our responses to them.
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Category: College Admissions/Standardized Testing;
Reading Time: ~4 minutes
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** Featured Article - On Standardized Testing, the Elites Have It Wrong ([link removed])
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Should standardized tests like the SAT and ACT be nixed from college admissions processes? According to diversity, equity, and inclusion (DEI) activists and anti-test enthusiasts, they should be, because clearly, the SAT and ACT are racist assessment tools that exacerbate systemic inequities.

Wenyuan Wu, a Minding the Campus columnist, recently published an article “On Standardized Testing, the Elites Have It Wrong ([link removed]) ,” where she explores the basis of the anti-testing movement and why it’s ultimately a symptom of the broader war on merit. The movement began at the University of Chicago back in 2018 and since then, 1,843 accredited four-year colleges have made these tests optional, and another 84 have gone “test-blind ([link removed]) .” Wu begins her argument by referencing a February 2023 brief ([link removed]) by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute that directly challenges “five pieces of conventional wisdom behind the systemic assault on tests
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Conventional Wisdom #1: “College admission exams are racist.”
Conventional Wisdom #2: “College admissions exams limit students’ pathways into quality higher education.”
Conventional Wisdom #3: “Other parts of the college application promote equity better than entrance exams.”
Conventional Wisdom #4: “Admissions officers should just focus on grades.”
Conventional Wisdom #5: “The future of college admissions is ‘test optional.’”

A quick look at these conventional nuggets of “wisdom” may leave you scratching your head, as they seem somewhat one-sided in favor of racial equity. But because of the above assumptions, major colleges and universities ([link removed]) are happily hopping on the racial equity bandwagon by cutting out standardized tests. And in addition to undergraduate testing, there is an anti-testing movement on the graduate level as well. The LSAT ([link removed]) , MCAT, and GRE are on the chopping block too because, you guessed it, they’re “racist” evaluation tools.

Casting standardized tests aside doesn’t solve the problems pro-racial equity enthusiasts are aiming to fix. The claim that college admission exams are inherently racist overlooks the facts: ditching the test doesn’t end persistent learning gaps evident in the distribution of SAT scores by race and sex.

It’s also interesting that the anti-testing movement makes the claim that the standardized testing piece of the admissions process is racist and unfair, when it only makes up part of the decision-making process. Wu points out that socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds have a correlation with the other parts of the admissions process too ([link removed]) —like personal essays, letters of recommendation, extracurricular activities, etc. Will those be targeted next by the “racial equity” crowd?

As a recent college graduate myself, I still remember being a senior in high school taking the SAT and ACT nearly 10 times combined, submitting long admissions applications, and going through multiple interviews before I received any answers back, either positive or negative. I was assessed on rubrics not only by my test scores, but equally by my contributions to society, extracurriculars, grades, and overall merit—as the admissions process is supposed to work.

With all that being said, the admissions process should assess, and should remain, a comprehensive picture of the applicant, their background, and their merit. Proposing the “demise of merit” isn’t the solution to the decades-long policy failures “to provide adequate education to all American school-aged children, especially those from underprivileged backgrounds ([link removed]) .” The anti-test argument seems to have forgotten that merit is not based on genetics, it is evidence of a student’s hardwork and pursuit of excellence.

The focus should be shifted to help students achieve greater things, enhance educational aspirations, and pursue excellence, rather than feeding the narrative that certain groups will inevitably do worse because of their skin color. Nixing standardized testing evaluations will not equal the playing field, nor will it solve underlying socioeconomic issues—it will instead open the door wider for equity ideologues to rearrange society in the pursuit of “equal outcomes” over equal opportunity.

Until next week.


Kali Jerrard
Communications Associate
National Association of Scholars
Read the Article ([link removed])
For more on Standardized Tests, DEI, and American higher education:
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February 10, 2023


** The Case for Admissions Selectivity ([link removed])
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Mark Bauerlein

For all the egalitarian talk on campus, the happy photos of smiling diverse faces in marketing materials, and the pledges of sensitivity and tolerance, Yale and every other Tier-One institution want their selectivity rates to hit the single digits, the lower the better.

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May 20, 2021


** UC Abandons Standardized Tests in the Name of "Racial Equity" ([link removed])
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David Randall

The University of California will no longer consider SAT or ACT scores for undergraduate applicants, a move motivated by its pursuit of so-called "racial equity."

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November 29, 2022


** Report: Ideological Intensification ([link removed])
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Bruce Chartwell & Mason Goad

This report documents and quantifies the growing prevalence of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) associated language in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields in the United States.


** About the NAS
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