I think this is also partly a shell game: you drop requirements for standardized tests, but you still report the means, and US News and others consider that in computing your schools "rank."
Well, guess which students volunteer to submit their scores? What does that do to the mean? And then what does that do to the college rankings? I think it's a scam. Standardized tests are somewhat biased, but they're still decent predictors of first-year success -- at least, they are here. I've run the numbers. High school GPA turns out to be even better, but adding standard scores into the regression sucks up a bunch of the variance. And *interviews*? Cripes. When're people going to learn that they're not reliable unless they're structured very carefully. I am on the committee that reviews applicants, and I've refused to do them until we figure out what sort of information we can get from the students that will be predictive of their success. As it is now, I sit and listen to others on that committee tell me "what a nice young man" they spoke with, or how "she agreed to all the terms for the conditional admittance," or worse: how nicely dressed the applicant was. Sheesh. m ------ "[F]aculty have an obligation to the students collectively to prescribe a required course of study designed specifically for liberal education that is comprehensive, coherent, and rigorous." -- Jerry L. Martin -----Original Message----- From: Ken Steele [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 9:01 AM To: Teaching in the Psychological Sciences (TIPS) Subject: Re: [tips] Smith College & Wake Forrest U Drop Entrance Exam Requirement The WFU decision was poorly thought out and I bet it will backfire on them in the near future. 1. WFU had about 9000 applicants this year. They are going to rely more heavily on personal interviews. They have 12 people in admissions. That works out to be about 750 interviews per staff person. (And we know how good are clinical judgments.) 2. WFU wants to reduce the admission bias that favors upper SES families. So, in addition to interviews, they will rely on GPA and extracurricular activities. But guess which group has time to engage in all those Spirit, Junior Business Leader, drama, soccer, band and other favored activities. Which group is working at McDonalds after school? I just went to my son's HS award ceremonies and the same upper SES students got all the awards. WFU could have taken the stance that they wouldn't weigh the SAT as heavily in the admissions process. Instead they threw the baby out with the bathwater. Ken Disclaimer: My daughter applied and was admitted to WFU. She didn't matriculate because we couldn't afford the cost. Mike Palij wrote: > The link below is to the NY Times story on this but other sources > are probably available: > http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/27/education/27sat.html?_r=1&oref=slogin > > There are at least two implications of this decision: > > (1) More colleges and universities will feel justified in dropping > standardized tests (e.g., SAT, ACT, etc.), thus, increasing the > reliance on other measures of academic abiliity and decreasing > the need for standardized tests > > and > > (2) If ETS, the College Board, and other test providers begin > to find their customer basis shrinking, what will happen to them > and the psychometricians and statisticians they employ? > > Will psychological testing become and even more esoteric field > of study? What will happen to the undergraduate tests and > measurement course? > > -Mike Palij > New York University > [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > > > > > --- > To make changes to your subscription contact: > > Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) -- --------------------------------------------------------------- Kenneth M. Steele, Ph.D. [EMAIL PROTECTED] Professor Department of Psychology http://www.psych.appstate.edu Appalachian State University Boone, NC 28608 USA --------------------------------------------------------------- --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED]) --- To make changes to your subscription contact: Bill Southerly ([EMAIL PROTECTED])
