Equity

Not So Fast! A Second Opinion on a University of California Proposal to Endorse the New SAT

Saul Geiser
2008

A University of California faculty committee, the Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools (BOARS), has recommended eliminating achievement tests and requiring only the “New SAT” for admission to the UC system. The proposal to endorse the New SAT has thus far drawn relatively little notice, as it is part of a broader and more controversial set of proposed changes in how UC identifies the top 12.5 percent of California high school graduates who are eligible for admission. Yet the testing proposal deserves much more attention in its own right since, if approved by the Regents, it would...

Back to the Basics: In Defense of Achievement (and Achievement Tests) in College Admissions

Saul Geiser
2008

Summarizing a decade of research at the University of California, this paper concludes that admissions criteria that tap student mastery of curriculum content, such as high-school grades and performance on achievement tests, are stronger predictors of success in college and are fairer to poor and minority applicants than tests of general reasoning such as the SAT.

From Diversity to Educational Equity: A Discussion of Academic Integration and Issues Facing Underprepared UCSC Students

Holly Gritsch de Cordova
Charis Herzon
2007

While the positive effects generated by student-faculty interaction associated with multiple student outcomes are well-documented, little is known about how various student subgroups experience student-faculty interaction differently. Among studies that have investigated this issue, some demonstrate that the levels and effects of student-faculty interaction may differ by student gender, race, and major field. The current project improves our understanding of the conditional effects of student-faculty interaction by examining different patterns of student- faculty interaction for...

Different Patterns of Student-Faculty Interaction In Research Universities: An Analysis by Student Gender, Race, SES, and First-Generation Status.

Young K. Kim
Linda J. Sax
2007

This study examined the conditional effects of student-faculty interaction in a large research university system, based on various student characteristics including gender, race, and socio-economic and first-generation status. The study utilized data from the 2006 University of California Undergraduate Experience Survey (UCUES), a longitudinal survey of UC undergraduate students based at the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley. Cross-tabulations with Chi-square statistics and blocked separate regression analyses were employed as analytical methods. The study found...

The Transformation of Academic Work: Facts and Analysis

Christine Musselin
2007

This paper outlines the main changes that have effected a transformation in the nature of academic work: on the one hand, the increasing diversification and specialisation of academic tasks, and on the other, new forms of control over academic work. An analysis of these trends leads to a discussion of the relationships between the evolution of academic work and non-academic work.

Race, Income, and College in 25 Years: Evaluating Justice O'Connor's Conjecture

Alan Krueger
Jesse M. Rothstein
Sarah Turner
2006

In Grutter v. Bollinger (2003), Justice Sandra Day O'Connor conjectured that in 25 years affirmative action in college admissions will be unnecessary. We project the test score distribution of black and white college applicants 25 years from now, focusing on the role of black-white family income gaps. Economic progress alone is unlikely to narrow the achievement gap enough in 25 years to produce today's racial diversity levels with race-blind admissions. A return to the rapid black-white test score convergence of the 1980s could plausibly cause black...

The Merits Of The National Merit Scholars Program: Questions And Concerns

Patrick Hayashi
2005

After passage of Proposition 209, the University of California began searching for race-neutral admissions criteria that would allow it to minimize drops in enrollment of underrepresented minorities. Concern for underrepresented minorities led to several changes in admissions policies, most notably the introduction of comprehensive or holistic review for freshmen admission at all UC campuses. These efforts to identify criteria that would support UC’s efforts to maintain a racially and ethnically diverse student body have led to another unexpected development. The Board of...

The Educational Benefits Of Sustaining Cross-Racial Interaction Among Undergraduates

Mitchell J. Chang
Nida Denson
Victor Saenz
Kimberly Misa
2005

This study examined whether or not students who either had higher levels of cross-racial interaction during college or had same-institution peers with higher average levels of this type of interaction tend to report significantly larger developmental gains than their counterparts. Unlike previous quantitative studies that tested cross-racial interaction using single-level linear models, this study more accurately models the structure of multilevel data by applying Hierarchical Linear Modeling (HLM). The general pattern of findings suggests that higher individual levels of cross-...

The Logic of Opportunity: A Formal Analysis of the University of California's Outreach and Diversity Discourse

John W. Mohr
Michael Bourgeois
Vincent Duquenne
2004

Since 1995, the University of California has been prohibited from employing affirmative action principles in student admissions. In response to this constraint, the UC has sought to pursue a number of other avenues for promoting the selection and retention of a diverse student body. In this paper we look at how officials and staff within the UC system have sought to develop an alternative rationale for managing the categorical problem of identifying types and classes of applicants along with strategies of action that stay within legally allowable frameworks. We argue that a new...

"Rigorous Courses" And Student Achievement In High School

Robert Shireman
2004

Holding schools accountable for student achievement can only work if the goals are clear. California's school standards are well-regarded nationally for their clarity and their rigor, but it is not clear what courses students are expected to take beyond the minimum graduation requirements. The paper discusses the relatively successful efforts to encourage students to take higher-level courses in high school in two states, Indiana and Texas; it outlines potential stumbling blocks in these efforts; and it suggests three options for California: (1) Do not focus specifically on higher-...