I wanted something that backs u you know this is who I
am, this is what I know, this is what I can do. A
number, some students say defines you through one of
the most formative years of life, holding enough power
to decide their educational fut You can open up a
world of access that you may not have thought possible
for nearly a century. The A.C.T. And S.A.T. Exams were
held as gold standards for admissions in the US. And
when applying for college students typically take one
or the other. The A.C.T. Assesses for curriculum
skills, english, math, reading and science with a high
score of 36. The S.A.T. Measures literacy, writi
math and reasoning skills topped at 1600 points. The
scores have typically been used as key factors not only
in college admissions but scholarship opportunities t
but covid shutdowns made it harder to take the test,
accelerating the switch to test optional admissions.
Out of the 850 schools who use the common application,
only 5% requested scores for the 2021 2022 school year,
that's down from 55% the year before the pandemic.
Today, more than 1700 schools are test optional
including all eight ivy league universities, accord
to the nonprofit fair test and the University of
California School system is among more than 80
institutions that are test blind, meaning they won't
accept test scores at all the tests have accomplished
history and claims of inequity are motivating schools
to approach missions differently. The first
standardized test began at the turn of the 20th century
after the founding of the college board, the nonprofi
organization still administers S.A.T. Today. But at
the outset of World War One, psychologist robert Ye
convinced the army to create a new aptitude or I.Q.
Test to measure intelligence and separate recruits by
their scores and their race. The results indicated
white men had higher IQ's than black men. Leading
psychologists to falsely believe race and intelligence
were connected. In 1923 psychologists and genesis Carl
Bringem, who helped develop the army test, published a
book claiming testing would prove white americans were
superior to minorities. Bringem used his findings as
the basis for the scholastic aptitude test, or S.
He later took back his stance but the college board
didn't change the questions for decades. Then in 1958
doctor Everette linguist create the A.C.T. As another
option he claimed instead of measuring students natural
intelligence like the S.A.T. The A.C.T. Evaluated
skills taught in high school. Fast forward to 2022.
When Priscilla Rodriguez, a vice president at the
College board told the Washington Post, the group has
rigorously reviewed the test to remove any hint of bias
or similarities to an I.Q. Score and Greg walker. The
college board, Senior vice president for state and
district partnerships says this about their mission
because we are about fairness, we're about access,
we're about opportunity. But critics of the test argue
they still create inequity, which is another reason
colleges are rethinking the exams. Fair test points out
wealth influences the quality of education because
public schools are mostly funded by property taxes. The
amount of money a school has is directly tied to the
socioeconomic status of its students. Families,
Wealthier families are also mor likely to be able to
afford test prep with private tutoring costing anywhe
from $95 to $250 an hour. And fair test argues tyin
the test of financial scholarships cuts out millions
underrepresented students from gaining much needed
financial aid. One survey of some test optional schools
found diversity did increase modestly under the new
policies. Although researchers question whether the
shift indicates a long term change. Tina Grader, the
vice president for the Center for Equity and Learning
says the racial gap still needs to be addressed long
before college. The test does not create the inequity.
It reveals the inequities that are currently showing up
in many areas of our K through 12 system and walker
adds the test helps close the gaps by identifying
students who have potential outside of their grades. Do
our grades and courses all mean the exact same thing or
do we have potential variances through all the stuff
that we've gone through during this pandemic. How are
you going to raise your hand and show what you can do
to help close achievement gaps the A.C.T. Created the
Center for Equity and Learning and offers wave testin
fees, free access to online prep and review and support
for english learners. The S.A.T. Is going digital later
this year and was made shorter. In an effort to make
the test more accessible. Some educators like Joyce
Quin Hernandez say that might not be enough to help
students score better just because they've experience
a lot of setbacks along with COVID maybe unemploy
in their home and other issues. And the changes aren't
permanent with many schools saying they'll reevalua
after a year or two. M.I.T. Is already really statin
its testing requirements for fall admissions this year.
After the dean of admissions said the scores help
identify academically prepared socio economically
disadvantaged students walker w sits on the college
board also believes the test is the best way to guide
students toward any future they want. What you don't
have a standardized test or you don't have a measure
then what you're really doing is telling people
navigate but we don't really know where we're going
when you have a north star, you give people something
to strive towards to focus on. But for now when it
comes to deciding students academic future, it's
undecided whether standardized tests are the answer.
I'm Amber strong reporting