SAT/ACT ratings are a better indicator of academic performance than high school GPA: research.
A new research is in the works of a research group that might lead to the debate about whether standardized test scores should be included in the college application process.
According to an abstract for the working report, which was published online on the National Bureau of Economic Research website, the researchers looked at the connection between students ‘ standardized test scores, their high school performance, and their school performance.
According to the scientists,” Standardized test scores predict educational outcomes with a standardized hill four times greater than that from high school GPA, which are all dependent on individuals ‘ race, gender, and social position.”
After dropping the condition during the COVID-19 pandemic, some universities have recently started requiring applicants to submit SAT or ACT ratings. Some academics argued for the end of the testing requirement, raising issues like racial inequality and structural bias.
However, new research points out that standardized tests are certainly biased and may even have the same effect.
Professor John Friedman, the lead author and professor of economics at Brown University, shared some of the specifics of his group’s job with The College Fix.
According to Friedman, the crew used information from first-year students at “multiple Ivy-plus colleges” to determine the exploration test.
In a recent interview with The Fix, Friedman explained to The Fix that” the decision to look at first time scores was totally driven by data,” not” for longer-term grades,” but rather, that we were able to gather similar data from our companion institutions. The general pattern (test ratings are predicted, high school GPA is not ), as we’ve looked at grades in personal schools in later years of school, has persisted.
According to the professor,” I have also demonstrated that high school GPA and test scores are a factor in students ‘ post-college outcomes, including earning higher salaries, attending elite graduate schools, and working for prestigious firms,” according to a separate document.
” Since this is a requirement for this particular report, I’m not concerned that the results would be very different if we looked at longer-term results,” he said.
According to Friedman, Friedman stated in response to the study’s findings on “race, sex, and social position” that” we are measuring the predictive power of both test scores and GPA among students with the same race, sex, and economic position.” Importantly, this does not involve comparing test scores and grades between students from various cultural group groups, genders, or classes.
Adam Kissel, a former U.S. Department of Education official and visiting fellow in education policy at the Heritage Foundation, also spoke with The Fix about the implications of Friedman’s team’s findings.
According to Kissel, standardized tests that are meant to assess college aptitude actually accurately predict college success, without bias, on X.
This study shows that standardized tests are highly predictive of college success at more selective colleges,” Kissel stated in a recent interview with The Fix. This study demonstrates why selective colleges that turned to test-optional have been finding that they have done a worse job of admitting students who are likely to succeed.
According to Kissel,” Highly selective colleges that want their students to succeed should heavily rely on standardized test scores as a first approximation of scholastic aptitude, regardless of group identity,”
Kissel’s advice was specifically tailored to the discretion of the school with regard to potential students.
He said,” This study takes note of other literature that suggests that less-selective colleges ‘ test scores may be a predictor of success.” ” Going test-optional is not as bad as going to selective universities,” according to the statement.
Students should disclose their test results, especially when applying to selective colleges, unless the results are significantly lower than the student’s GPA or the published test score range, according to Kissel.
The full findings of the study will take a while to become available.
According to Friedman,” Our paper (or, to be more precise, a slightly shorter version of it given space constraints in the publication ) will be published in the AEA Papers and Proceedings for the 2025 Annual Conference, which I believe will be published in May.”
MORE: Ivy League changes its mind, SATs no longer racist
A student takes a class test in the area of image capture and credit. Photo/Shutterstock: Pantanitan
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