Why The SAT Is Making A Comeback

Standardized tests, notably the SAT (Scholastic Assessment Test), have been the subject of ongoing debate in education and college admissions. Critics denounce them as biased towards higher income groups and question the ability of standardized tests to predict college success. In response, colleges adopted test-optional or test-flexible admission policies, allowing students to choose whether to submit standardized test scores.

However, recent research (as reported by the New York Times) indicates that these tests accurately predict college and graduate school performance and that any bias in the tests reflects our society, not the tests themselves.

The SAT was introduced in 1926 as a tool to assess a student's readiness for college. Over the decades, it became a widely accepted standard for college admissions. However, in recent years, it has faced criticism, leading to a decline in its popularity.: Critics argued that standardized tests like the SAT exhibited socioeconomic bias. Wealthier students had access to test prep resources, giving them an advantage over their less privileged peers. Critics also questioned the ability of standardized tests to predict college success. They argued that other factors, such as high school GPA and extracurricular activities, should carry more weight in admissions decisions.

Addressing the disparities in average SAT scores along racial and economic lines is essential as a central point in the debate over standardized tests. On average, upper-income students tend to perform better than lower-income students, and there are also significant gaps between racial and ethnic groups, with White and Asian students outperforming Black and Latino students.

However, when we examine the role of test preparation in these disparities, a more nuanced picture emerges. Evidence suggests that test prep may contribute only minimally, if at all, to these score gaps. To illustrate this point, we can look at other standardized tests taken by millions of students nationwide, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP), often called the Nation's Report Card.

The NAEP is a nationwide test taken by elementary and middle school students, and it serves a different purpose than the SAT. Unlike the SAT, individual students do not take test prep for the NAEP because, for an individual student, the NAEP does not impact their college admissions. Instead, the NAEP is used to assess the performance of school districts and states, providing insights into the educational landscape.?

What is of interest is that the NEP mirrors the same results as the SAT. Socioeconomic groups that do well on the SAT also do well on the NAEP.?The absence of widespread test prep for the NAEP suggests that test preparation is not a significant factor contributing to score disparities.?The tests are picking up fundamental inequities in American life, and the problem is the underlying reality. It's not the test instrument.?

The critical thing is that the SAT and the ACT are excellent predictors of students' academic performance in college, especially at the most selective colleges. The data shows that students who do better on the SAT will have higher GPAs in college. On average, the SAT and the Act also predict what kind of graduate schools these students are going to go to, which is a sign that they did better overall in college. SATs turn out to be a significantly better predictor than high school grades.?

More on this next week and some thoughts on college selection in the age of LLMs, like ChatGPT.