High school officials mixed over SAT elimination plan

Angelique Flores

Huntington Beach Union High School District officials have mixed

feelings over the UC president’s proposal to eliminate the SAT as a

requirement for admission to the university’s undergraduate campuses.

“It’s not unexpected, it has been under discussion for quite some

time,” said Dorothy Crutcher, the district’s director of pupil personnel,

who oversees the standardized testing in the district.

The Scholastic Assessment Test is a standardized exam required for

admission to many colleges and universities. UC President Richard

Atkinson has said the test is unfair and fails to measure how much

students learned in high school.

“My question is what are they going to replace it with?” Trustee Susan

Henry said.

Because UC campuses still need a common measure to compare students

from different high schools, Atkinson is calling for test makers to

create a new exam that would be directly tied to college preparatory

courses.

“No test is perfect; whatever replaces it is still going to be a

standardized test,” Trustee Matthew Harper said.

Because grade point averages are not a standard measurement, the SAT

provides a uniform assessment of students.

However, some would argue these scores are not always fair. Students

who can afford to take the test preparatory courses can pack in an extra

50 or 100 points on SAT sores, Crutcher said.

“Are we getting so elite that only the wealthy can have preparation in

test-taking skills?” she asks.

SAT scores correlate with family income, Crutcher said, adding that

SAT II tests and ACT tests better measure what the students are taught in

high school. The SAT II multiple-choice exams test students in specific

subjects. The ACT assesses students in English, mathematics, reading and

science reasoning.

“There’s validity there, and it’s fair,” said Crutcher about the the

ACT and SAT II exams. “I hope they survive this.”

Some colleges have already ceased using the SAT, or at least put less

weight on the scores, district officials said.

“Colleges for the last several decades rely more and more on

preparation than a number,” she said. “I’d like to get away from the

simple numerical evaluations: IQ, SAT, class rank . . . none of those

really mean much.”

While Atkinson has already gained support from the chairman of the

faculty’s Academic Assembly and some of the regents, his proposal would

need the approval of the UC faculty’s academic council and the UC Board

of Regents. The tests are expected to remain in use for another two

years.

“I think it’s really silly that it’s getting that much press, there’s

not a second half of the proposal,” Harper said.

Harper also wonders if the UC system’s move to eliminate the test will

be a detriment to the high academic reputation it has.”I’m going to take

a ‘wait and see’ attitude,” Henry said.