Commentary: Standardized tests reward kids from wealthy families

A University of California task force is expected to report in February on whether the UC system should drop the requirement that applicants take the SAT or ACT. Critics of standardized tests say they are biased against minorities and have little predictive value when it comes to college outcomes. Defenders say they reflect college readiness and help students who have potential to stand out. Here are two views on the topic.

If I could make one big change in higher education that would have an immediate impact, it would be to eliminate all standardized admission exams in college, starting with the SAT and the ACT.

Why? Because these admissions tests are a better measure of students’ family background and economic status than of their ability to succeed in college. We in higher education profess to put students first, yet we cling to deeply entrenched practices that deny students the opportunity to achieve their full potential.

High-stakes standardized tests create racial, cultural and class barriers and perpetuate income inequality by holding back students who would otherwise succeed in our top colleges and universities. Here in California, the most diverse state in the nation and one of the wealthiest, we must do more to improve access to higher education for everyone.

Students from wealthier families do better on standardized admissions and placement tests, but those tests are poor predictors of college performance. Being rich doesn’t make you better at college, but it does give you opportunities to do well on standardized tests. This fact became clear in the recent college admissions scandal. Many well-resourced students have far greater access to test preparation, tutoring and taking the test multiple times, opportunities not afforded the less affluent.

Predictably, test publishers have added some access points like fee waivers and open prep courses in an attempt to stay relevant as the evidence against them mounts. But test publishers are missing the point.

The National Center for Fair and Open Testing found as recently as September 2019 that SAT score gaps between demographic groups grew even larger for the high school class of 2019. Students of color score lower on college admissions tests in ways that are related to privilege, not academic performance. Thus, many capable youth are denied entrance or access to elite colleges and so-called “merit” scholarships, further widening the huge racial gap in college enrollments and completion.

The tide is shifting, but too slowly. More than 1,050 colleges and universities nationwide have decided not to require the SAT or ACT for admissions. And the evidence is clear — these colleges and universities are increasing diversity without harming academic quality.

In the California Community Colleges, we admit anyone who can benefit from a college education. Our proud motto is: “We serve the top 100 percent of students.” Yet even within our open access system we are confronting — and changing — inequitable practices that were fueled by the use of flawed standardized tests.

For decades we used standardized tests to determine whether community college students were prepared to tackle courses that counted toward transfer to a four-year institution, or whether they should be placed into remedial education. These tests inaccurately placed untold millions of students, especially students of color, into dead-end sequences of remedial classes that didn’t count toward degrees or transfer opportunities.

We’ve thrown out the tests and now use more accurate indicators such as students’ high school performance. We’re placing far more students directly into college-level English and math and building in concurrent support for students who need it.

The early results are heartening, as they confirm that amazing things happen when you trust in students’ capacity. The Public Policy Institute of California found that colleges that significantly broadened students’ access to transfer-level courses, instead of shuffling them to remedial classes, saw dramatic gains in student success, with large increases in the number of first-time students completing transfer-level courses in English and math. And these increases extended to all students.

This important reform is part of a broader set of changes designed to achieve the goals of our Vision for Success , which was adopted two years about by the California Community Colleges Board of Governors. The idea is to put students at the center of education and create pathways to success that are responsive to our diverse population’s needs.

In that same spirit, California’s other two outstanding systems of public higher education, the California State University and University of California, should join the growing ranks of prestigious colleges and universities that are doing away with the SAT and ACT.

We have a long way to go to make the California dream accessible to everyone in our state. We can open the door to thousands more with one bold move — drop the SAT.

Ortiz Oakley is chancellor of California Community Colleges and a University of California regent.