Press Release: Not So Fast! A Second Opinion on a University of California Admissions Proposal

CSHE > News > Press Release: Not So Fast! A Second Opinion on a University of California Admissions Proposal

November 21, 2008 - A new study by CSHE researcher Saul Geiser responds to a recent recommendation by the University of California’s Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS) to eliminate achievement tests and require only the “New SAT” for admission to the UC system. As Geiser notes, the proposal to endorse the New SAT has thus far drawn relatively little notice and is part of a larger set of proposed changes in how UC identifies the top 12.5 percent of California high school graduates who are eligible for admission.

Geiser argues that the testing component of the proposal deserves much more attention in its own right since, if approved by the Regents, it would reverse a decade of UC research and policy development. The author refers to the University of California's adoption in 2002 of a formal policy and guidelines for admissions tests, becoming one of the first universities to do so. That policy strongly favored achievement tests, which measure students’ knowledge of college-preparatory subjects, over tests of general reasoning such as the SAT. The policy was based on an extensive body of UC research showing that achievement tests predicted student performance in college at least as well as reasoning tests, while having a less adverse impact on low-income and minority applicants.

In response to UC, the College Board introduced several changes in the SAT in 2005, including the addition of a writing exam, intended to position the New SAT as more of an achievement test. The UC Regents provisionally approved use of the New SAT with the understanding that BOARS would conduct a careful evaluation of the extent to which the test conformed to UC’s 2002 testing policy before the New SAT was adopted on a permanent basis. Geiser asserts that this evaluation has never been completed.

The study also asserts that the BOARS’ proposal is based on questionable and often misleading evidence. According to Geiser, the New SAT remains a relatively weak predictor of student success at UC and a strong deterrent to admission of low-income and underrepresented minority applicants. The paper argues that achievement tests remain the better standard for UC admissions.

Info on Author(s)

Saul Geiser was formerly director of admissions research for the University of California system and is a Research Associate at CSHE.

CONTACT:
Saul Geiser
sgeiser@berkeley.edu

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