Snappy newsletters. Simple Facebook sharing. Spirited comments. Sweet features are waiting… GET THEM NOW!

Throw Out SAT, Say College Deans

Panel recommends move away from standardized testing

By Jason Farago, Newser Staff

Posted Sep 22, 2008 8:28 AM CDT

(Newser) – Colleges should make admissions decisions without requiring the SAT or ACT, says a group of deans led by Harvard's admissions chief in a yearlong study that concluded standardized tests distort students' high school experiences, exacerbate class disparities, and enrich only the billion-dollar test prep industry. Instead, say the admissions officers, colleges should place greater emphasis on high school coursework and introduce a new, broader achievement test.

"It would be much better for the country to have students focusing on high school courses," Harvard's dean told the New York Times, "instead of spending enormous amounts of time trying to game the SAT." Already, more than 280 four-year colleges have stopped requiring standardized tests. The proposed new test would encourage high schools to broaden their curricula—and students would prepare for it by doing coursework, not specialized test training.

[Images (3)]

[Quotes (1)]

A panel of college admissions officers recommends that universities should move away from the SAT and ACT exams. ((c) dsearls)

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

No one in college admissions who visits the range of secondary schools we visit...can come away thinking that standardized tests can measure someone’s true worth or ability. - William Fitzsimmons, dean of admissions, Harvard University

« Prev« Prev | Next »Next » Slideshow

To report an error on this story, notify our editors.

More Newser Stories

20 Students Nabbed in NY SAT Scam

They were paid to take tests for others: Investigators

(NEWSER) - Twenty students linked to five Long Island high schools have been charged with being part of an SAT test-taking scam. They were accused of accepting payments to take the SAT and ACT college entrance exams posing as other students over the last three years. A principal at one of the high schools says he believes such cheating is pervasive throughout the system. “I think it’s widespread across the country,” he told the New York Times yesterday. Authorities, tipped off by rumors, began investigating after noticing widespread disparities between grades and test scores in the area. One of the first students arrested was accused of taking the SAT for six different students, including a girl, at a cost of up to $3,500 per test. More»

New College Rankings: An Ivy Deadheat

Harvard, Princeton top universities list

(NEWSER) - US News and World Report has released its latest college rankings, and it’s full of the usual suspects, with Harvard, Princeton, and Yale topping the list; not much has changed since last year . Among liberal arts colleges , Williams, Amherst, and Swarthmore lead the pack. The magazine also presents its best universities in the world : The UK is on top, with Cambridge at No. 1, followed by Harvard and Yale (don’t ask us why Yale beats Princeton worldwide but not nationally). More»

Chinese Students Go Extreme for College Entry Test

Kids and parents stop at nothing to ensure passing score

(NEWSER) - Suddenly, the SATs seem like a leisurely way to spend a Saturday. Chinese students and their families have turned preparation for the country's college entrance exam into a national obsession. Some students study hooked up to oxygen tanks in an effort to improve concentration, girls take birth control to prevent getting their period during the exam, and parents routinely promise expensive gifts to kids who pass, reports the New York Times . More»

Ivy League Offers False Hope to Kids It Won't Accept

Elite universities profit from acting interested in unqualified students

(NEWSER) - Ivy League schools cram high school students' mailboxes full with glossy recruitment packages, only to greet them weeks later with far less appealing rejection letters. Critics say elite universities like Harvard and Columbia set up potential applicants for disappointment by wooing them with pamphlets, posters, and promise, pocketing hefty application fees of up to $90 from students who have little chance of actually getting accepted, Bloomberg reports. More»

Students Blast 'Unfair' SAT Reality Show Question

'I guess the kids who watch crap TV did well'

(NEWSER) - High school students who studied instead of watching Jersey Shore say they've been left at a disadvantage by a question on the SAT college entrance exam. The students complain that the essay question, which deals with the nature of reality shows, assumes that all students have a television and watch plenty of trashy reality TV, reports the Washington Post . “I’m proud he doesn’t watch television and then he goes into the one test that really counts and he gets pummeled," one father complained. The question is part of the writing portion of the test and counts toward one third of students' SAT scores. More»

NEWS FROM OUR PARTNERS

What is Newser?

Face it: there's too much news. At Newser, we choose the most thought-provoking and entertaining stories from hundreds of US and international sources and reduce them to a headline, picture, and two paragraphs. And we do it 24/7—you can come back morning, noon, night (and in between) for something new that matters. Read less, know more.

Learn more »

Partnering with: Slate

View Newser on the mobile website

Throw Out SAT, Say College Deans