Let's Discuss: What are your thoughts on waiving the assessment requirements for adults?

What are your thoughts on waiving the assessment requirements for adults and allowing them unchallenged entry into an academic or training environment?

I fully support the need to waive assessments for adult learners. The SAT, ACT, GRE, GMAT, MCAT, computerized testing, and all other forms of standardized testing can be viewed as a form of "structural segregation." The National Institute of Minority Health and Health Disparities defined structural segregation as macro-level factors that limit opportunities, resources, power, and the well-being of people or populations, and these assessments do. Universities over the years have emphasized or de-emphasized the importance of standardized tests for many reasons, the most recent (COVID) restrictions…making their importance irrelevant. As higher education institutions are ramping up their online offerings, Vigdor & Diaz's (2020) article highlights that institutions are waiving testing requirements.

Forester's (2022) article highlighted the FL Department of Education refuses to move away from the requirement despite pandemic concerns. I fully support the call for standardized testing reform across all academic institutions and a deep dive into their policy regarding standardized testing. These tests have met with their share of controversy, scrutiny, and challenge over the years; however, because the states control the school districts, control and oversight are left to the political environments/arenas. Successful completion of these standardized tests in no way guarantees academic success at the higher education levels, so what's their point? How does the university benefit from a student that successfully completes the assessment but fails every class…I assert they don't, so why have them in place? One must also ask if there is a waiver process…what is the purpose for the assessments in the first place? Well, I say "possibly" for structural segregation purposes.

The U.S. Department of Education (2021) article recognizes the importance of State assessments in advancing equity, identifying needs, and institutional resources; however, I assert all of these can be identified without the traditional standardized testing formats. One could also argue for the importance of keeping them in place because the assessments lead to a higher quality in the curriculum and the overall educational experience for the learner (if the standards are enforced). These are still true with institutions that don't have standardized assessments in place. Any student that has demonstrated they have completed High School and has achieved their diploma, or the HS diploma equivalent deserves the same opportunity to be accepted to a higher education institution without additional requirements being levied. The completion of a HS diploma "should" signal to all that the member is prepared to continue their education, ready for a promising career, and ready to meet higher education's academic rigors. There are many options for learners regarding these institutions that have standardized testing requirements and those that don't...and I am personally overjoyed about this these days. Schools will either remain "rigid" to capture a specific population or become more adaptive and attract the masses while providing high-quality education.

? Personal Story:?I have learning disabilities. I also have test anxiety. I have had learning disabilities all my life; however, they were more prevalent in my early life. In Maryland the minimum requirement to graduate HS is a 2.0. I graduated HS with a 2.3. I feared going to college after HS, so I joined the Air Force instead. Little did I know, if I wanted a long-term career in the AF, I needed to attend college…and that's what I did. None of the colleges or university I have attended required anything more than a HS diploma and transcripts from my previous colleges. To date, I have only received 4.0 GPAs across all institutions I've attended, and I assert all of the coursework in college was more difficult than the HS coursework. So, imagine if there were no options for me to attend college or university because I simply couldn't pass the standardized assessments for entry?

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References:

Forester, T. (2022). More colleges are waiving SAT and ACT requirements, not a lot in FL. Retrieved from https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/us/more-colleges-are-waiving-sat-and-act-requirements-not-a-lot-here-in-florida/ar-AAT8VuA

National Institute on Minority Health and Health Disparities (2022). Structural Racism and Discrimination. Retrieved from https://www.nimhd.nih.gov/resources/understanding-health-disparities/srd.html#:~:text=Structural%20racism%20and%20discrimination%20%28SRD%29%20refers%20to%20macro-level,including%20but%20not%20limited%20to%3A%20Gender%20Sexual%20orientation

U.S. Department of Education. (2021). States on assessing student learning during the pandemic. Retrieved from https://www.ed.gov/news/press-releases/us-department-education-releases-guidance-states-assessing-student-learning-during-pandemic

Vigdor, N., Diaz, J. (2020). More colleges are waiving SAT and ACT requirements. Retrieved from https://www.nytimes.com/article/sat-act-test-optional-colleges-coronavirus.html