{"id":621,"date":"2024-10-25T16:32:05","date_gmt":"2024-10-25T20:32:05","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2024\/?page_id=621"},"modified":"2024-11-18T14:16:24","modified_gmt":"2024-11-18T19:16:24","slug":"tests","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2024\/town-square\/tests\/","title":{"rendered":"A Testing Future for Admissions"},"content":{"rendered":"

Today, about 80% of four-year colleges don\u2019t require standardized tests. That\u2019s good news for the future of education access, according to associate dean at BU\u2019s Wheelock College of Education & Human Development<\/strong>\u00a0Mary Churchill<\/strong><\/a>.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In recent years, standardized tests were found to be poor predictors of a student\u2019s aptitude. More importantly, they have proven to be a serious barrier to equitable access to education. This led the majority of colleges and universities to stop using standardized test scores during the COVID-19 pandemic, already a trend that many experts predict will continue.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe must have the will and tenacity to do the work to close our society\u2019s opportunity and equity gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u2014MARY CHURCHILL<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Churchill\u2019s research echoes advocates who have argued against using standardized tests for admission. Studies show that a student\u2019s high school GPA is a better predictor of college success. These studies also show that other factors related to student experiences are better determinants of college success, indicating that the SAT or ACT may simply be too narrow in predicting academic achievement.<\/p>\n

\"\"
Education researcher Mary Churchill<\/strong> studies the value of standardized tests in college admission.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

What\u2019s more troubling is that standardized tests\u2014with origins in the eugenics movement\u2014can be a tool of discrimination to privilege the already-privileged. Despite this bias, some elite institutions have begun to reinstate the requirement, purportedly to help identify otherwise overlooked students\u2014a choice Churchill considers to be a mistake.<\/p>\n

Because, ultimately, eliminating the barrier of required standardized tests is only the first step in creating a more equitable admissions process. Many admissions directors already view test scores as one optional component in a portfolio of activities, awards, and other material. Churchill hopes this continues.<\/a> If education is to be accessible for all, then \u201cwe must have the will and tenacity to do the work to close our society\u2019s opportunity and equity gaps.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Today, about 80% of four-year colleges don\u2019t require standardized tests. That\u2019s good news for the […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12906,"featured_media":0,"parent":50,"menu_order":1,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"bu-landing","meta":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/621"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/12906"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=621"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/621\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":728,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/621\/revisions\/728"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/50"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/ar.bu.edu\/2024\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=621"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}