Last month I wrote on my blog about the great SAT debate and whether or not colleges should put more or less consideration into standardized test scores with their current format. My point was that, in general, the SAT is a good indicator of a student’s potential to do good college level work, but that putting more emphasis on SAT II subject tests would give admissions officers better ideas of students’ abilities and erase many problems with grade inflation at different high schools.
Accuracy and predictive power is one aspect of the debate, but there are also many questions about the alleged fairness of the exam. If coaching and tutoring can improve test scores, then people with the most money will definitely be the ones getting the best scores and admissions offers from the best colleges. There is now new research that says that, on the whole, SAT coaching produces at most moderate improvement in test scores:
The NACAC study was prepared by Derek Briggs, chair of the research and evaluation methodology program at the University of Colorado at Boulder. He reviewed all the existing studies of SAT and ACT test preparation services and found that “a consensus position” has emerged over the last 10 years. That view is that coaching has a demonstrable, but minimal impact in improving SAT scores — about 10-20 points on average in mathematics and 5-10 points in critical reading. Far less work has been done on the ACT and evidence is inconclusive, Briggs writes.
At the same time, even these small boosts could have large implications on which students are given admissions offers. Nothing is mentioned about the SAT II subject tests, but I imagine that there is much more coaching potential for these examinations that definitely test subject matter more than general test taking abilities. Full article here.
