Scandal of Standardized Tests

This update to SAT Wars provides new evidence in the case against standardized college entry tests, including the experiences of test-optional colleges. The Scandal of Standardized Tests sheds significant light on key problems such as: Are the tests stronger proxies for race and family income today than they were 20 years ago? Does going test-optional promote racial and economic diversity? Are there any differences in academic records between students admitted without test scores and those with them? How does testing figure into race-sensitive admissions legal controversies? Why is the College Board's "environmental dashboard" inadequate as a way to create a fair playing field? How are the odds of attending and graduating from college stacked against low-income youths and racial minorities? What does the FBI Varsity Blues sting tell us about college admissions in America? Book Features:Provides 25 years of data on California showing how the correlation of test scores with race has grown over time while their predictive powers have declined. Shows how the disparate results of SAT/ACT scores by race provide grounds for a constitutional challenge to the use of those tests.Provides an overview of our current national situation regarding college applications, attendance, and graduation rates according to family income and college major.Offers a devastating critique of the College Board's "adversity index."Includes a national balance sheet on the experiences of test-optional colleges.

"At a time when many educational practices and traditions are being questioned and challenged, it might be expected that people are also reexamining and contesting the usefulness of standardized tests such as ACT and SAT. In The Scandal of Standardized Tests, Soares (Wake Forest Univ.) and the contributing authors build a powerful case for the elimination of such tools."--CHOICE

Joseph A. Soares is chair and professor of sociology at Wake Forest University.