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CA trying to ditch standardized testing in college admissions


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2020 May 20, 8:26pm   1,245 views  4 comments

by Hircus   ➕follow (1)   💰tip   ignore  

It looks like CA is trying to get rid of mandatory SAT/ACT test scores in college admissions, making them optional / deemphasized instead. It started as a temporary thing to react to covid, but it sounds like now they're trying to keep test scores optional on a trial basis until at least 2023. They say ultimately they will replace it with a new test, but I'll be the first to call it - I bet the replacement test will be a joke that will invoke crap like intersectionallity and identity to argue that your answer to the math question isn't really wrong per-se, just "different", and still equally correct. I guess we'll see.

https://www.insidehighered.com/admissions/article/2020/05/18/university-california-president-proposes-dropping-satact
https://edsource.org/2020/uc-suspends-sat-act-requirements-for-2021-applicants/627670

Arguments against standardized tests say that success in college is more correlated with high school gpa than test scores, and also that those with high test scores tend to have higher family income, giving unfair advantage. Neither of these points surprise me, but the idea of getting rid of standardized tests and ways of measurement is just oh so convenient to the diversity-hire over competence mantra we see being pushed acapolitically.

I don't like this.

IMO and experience GPA sucks as a measure for competence, mainly because you can get a good GPA primarily via effort and good study habits while having very mediocre mental capacity. I know from personal experience that I was able to move up from my usual ~3.2 gpa to a 4.0 for years when I slightly boosted my efforts but focused on reducing risk/volatility (ie, no doing last minute homework that might end up late, costing me points). While you can study for the SAT/ACT, it's much harder to get a high score far beyond what you deserve. Basically, I think a good standardized test score is much much more trustworthy. Also, some schools set the bar much lower than others, making GPA suck more.

While I do think there's some value in looking at how hard a student works when considering whether they will succeed in college, I just can't get onboard with the idea that things would be better without a standardized test. If we do that, then you'll see more teachers and schools giving out participation trophy report cards with the hope of helping a student get into the college. And then, once the student is admitted, their failures and struggles will become a big problem because they'll tend to have racial correlations. So, it will be blamed away as raycism / sexism etc... at the college level, and calls will be made to make more system changes because "these highly qualified students shouldn't be struggling in college like this! raycism!!"

Meanwhile, the poor student believes they're a victim, and will become jaded and angry at society, even though it was really the system that tried to make them pretend their way through it all, but once they hit the job market, pretending doesn't work.

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1   AD   2020 May 20, 8:34pm  

.

I've been following this movement for many years. I am not surprised California would be in the lead with this movement.

They basically want more diversity at elite colleges. The Democrats have basically called the ACT and SAT as racist exams.

What they will find, just like in Silicon Valley, is that whites are underrepresented, and Asian Americans (mostly Koreans and Chinese) are extremely over represented.

And the Democrats will have to carefully manage this without upsetting their Asian American voting base.

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2   SunnyvaleCA   2020 May 20, 9:07pm  

California crazies have been systematically reducing merit-based admission metrics. Out goes standardized SAT and AP tests. So much for recordings of 2-century-old music benchmarks demonstrating skill and diligent practice. Kids will now get into expensive taxpayer-funded schools based merely on having the appropriate skin color or sexual depravity.
3   RWSGFY   2020 May 20, 9:49pm  

Hircus says
those with high test scores tend to have higher family income


People with more brains tend to have more money. They also tend to have smarter kids due to simple genetics. Duh!
4   RWSGFY   2020 May 20, 9:50pm  

SunnyvaleCA says
Kids will now get into expensive taxpayer-funded schools based merely on having the appropriate skin color or sexual depravity.


Prefferably both.

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