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Colleges Looking for Answers
To Racial Gaps in
Testing
According to a front page report in the November 8th issue of The New York Times, American colleges and universities are facing a serious dilemma when implementing current admissions policies. On one hand, American universities face legal and political challenges if they continue implementing present affirmative action admissions policies. But if they move to a greater reliance on standardized tests, they fear it will lead to virtual racial segregation. Standardized test scores of black and Hispanic students - in all income groups - remain significantly below those of whites.
The focus of the Times article is upon standardized tests, especially standardized tests administered by the Educational Testing Service. Advocacy groups representing black and Hispanic students maintain that standardarized tests are culturally biased. Some academics maintain that standardized tests discriminate against working-class whites and minority group members whose families are not members of an educated socioeconomic group.
A third argument against using present standardized tests for academic admission is that they are weak predictors of future academic performance. The Times article uses Bates College - which does not require test scores for admission - as an example. According to data obtained from Bates, there is no difference in grades or graduation rates between students who submitted SAT scores and those who did not. The Times article points to several other studies with similar findings. The primary reason that more colleges and universities continue to use standardized test results for admissions is because alternatives to standardized tests are expensive and often laborious. The article was written by Times staff reporter Ethan Bronner.