The 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.

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

“The authors deliver a mighty blow to the standing of standardized testing. If Soares and his colleagues are not able to kill the beast, they may convince more admissions officers to go test-optional. This would represent a meaningful step toward equalizing access to higher education.
—Amy J. Binder, professor and chair of the Department of Sociology, University of California San Diego