A special commission of the National Association for College Admission Counseling studying the use of standardized admissions tests didn鈥檛 call for the expulsion of the SAT at the association鈥檚 annual meeting here last week, but it鈥檚 clear the 81-year-old exam would not be voted 鈥渕ost popular鈥� either.
In a session billed as a 鈥渓istening meeting鈥� of the commission, which is chaired by Harvard University鈥檚 dean of admissions and financial aid, more than 100 high school counselors and college-admissions officers packed a standing-room only meeting room to listen and voice thoughts about the validity and usefulness of admissions tests.
On the subject of the SAT, though, most of the speakers differed mainly on whether they wanted to see the SAT made optional or replaced altogether.
鈥淢aybe we should try to stake something out鈥� on making the test optional, William R. Fitzsimmons, the Harvard dean, suggested to the crowd. 鈥淪hould we be for it or against it? I鈥檓 serious.鈥�
鈥淔or it,鈥� several people said loudly.
鈥淚 think the negatives far outweigh the positives,鈥� said Brad MacGowan, a counselor at Newton North High School in Newtonville, Mass., who favors making the SAT at least optional.
鈥淭here is a lot about [the SAT] that 鈥� has nothing to do with the curriculum. The emperor has no clothes, and he鈥檚 pretty ugly, too.鈥�
Discussion over the value of the SAT has been at a low boil for years, but the debate has heated up in recent months.
鈥楢 Negative Force鈥�
Last July saw the publication of an article by onetime SAT champion Charles Murray, co-author of the controversial 1994 book The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life.
The article, which appeared in the July/August issue of The American, a magazine of the American Enterprise Institute, a Washington-based think tank where Mr. Murray is a scholar, argues that 鈥渆vents have conspired to make the SAT a negative force in American life.鈥�
Then, in advance of the annual meeting of the Alexandria, Va.- based National Association for College Admission Counseling, Mr. Fitzsimmons distributed the article to all his fellow commissioners.
That move fueled speculation that when the commission issues its recommendation to the 70-year-old organization鈥檚 10,000-plus members sometime in the next year, it might recommend some kind of alternative to the hegemony now jointly enjoyed by the SAT and the ACT, the other nationally used college- entrance exam.
鈥榃hat Works Best鈥�
When the 20-member commission started its work this past June, said David Hawkins, NACAC鈥檚 director of public policy, it found 鈥渁 surprising degree of agreement that we needed to go ahead with a statement about the appropriateness of the SAT and ACT.鈥�
But by no means, he added, are the commissioners鈥攚ho include high school counselors, college-admissions officers, and others鈥攑redisposed to recommend dumping the SAT or the ACT, which is owned by Iowa City, Iowa-based ACT Inc.
鈥淲e鈥檙e not sitting here with an alternative assessment in our back pocket,鈥� he said. 鈥淲e just want to 鈥� articulate the admissions officers and counselors鈥� wish list about the process, and in so doing, exercising what leverage they have in the process.鈥�
The commission was announced late last year, partly in response to a rash of SAT scoring errors, but also because of what is said to be a 鈥済rowing鈥� number of colleges adopting optional-test policies, though the size of that movement is in dispute.
Mr. Fitzsimmons estimated there to be about 鈥�700-some-odd.鈥�
Robert Schaeffer, a spokesman for the Cambridge, Mass.-based testing watchdog National Center for Fair & Open Testing, lists 755 colleges and universities as not requiring test scores from substantial numbers of applicants before admissions decisions are made.
Sandra Riley, a spokeswoman for the New York City-based College Board, which owns the SAT, said 88 percent of four-year colleges require admissions-test scores.
Mr. Schaeffer called that 鈥渂ogus,鈥� saying the number was closer to 70 percent.
Laurence Bunin, the general manager of the SAT program at the College Board, noted, 鈥淚t鈥檚 really up to the colleges to figure out what works best for them.鈥�
But he said the SAT is a vital tool for admissions officials trying to counteract the effects of secondary- school grade inflation. Mr. Bunin also dismissed any suggestion that a critical mass of opinion might be building against the SAT.
鈥淭he statistics don鈥檛 show that,鈥� he said. 鈥淭he number of SAT-takers this year is higher than it鈥檚 ever been. 鈥� The kids are showing up and taking their tests, so it鈥檚 obviously still a very important piece of information.鈥�
Shift to Subject Tests?
Many of the speakers here called for the replacement of the SAT reasoning test by the kinds of subject tests in sciences, history, foreign languages, and other disciplines that are administered by the College Board and formerly known as the 鈥淪AT II.鈥�
鈥淚 think the SAT subject tests are very nice鈥攊t鈥檚 a nice battery,鈥� said Mr. Murray in an interview. His review of SAT research showed the SAT reasoning test is no better a predictor of students鈥� success in college than the subject tests.
He also said that if the SAT reasoning test were dumped for an expanded set of subject tests, affluent students wouldn鈥檛 stop cramming, but at least they鈥檇 鈥渂e cramming for subject matter.鈥�
While taking test-prep classes for a chemistry subject test, for example, 鈥渢hey鈥檙e also going to be learning chemistry,鈥� Mr. Murray said. 鈥淭hat鈥檚 better than learning test-taking.鈥�
Mr. Fitzsimmons noted, however, that only 鈥�65 colleges, some tiny number like that, require the subject tests.鈥� He likened the prospect of shifting the whole system of higher education admissions to turning the proverbial ocean liner.
Then there鈥檚 the sheer quantity of added staffing that would be required for a shift from one SAT to, for example, three subject tests, as Harvard requires.
鈥淚鈥檓 being a little bit of a devil鈥檚 advocate,鈥� Mr. Fitzsimmons said. 鈥淏ut I think a lot of places really, really need [standardized admissions tests].鈥�
