"There is widespread concern about over-testing in schools. Yet we need all students to take the right tests if low-income and minority children are to have a good shot at a quality college education.
The two standard college admission tests — the SAT and the ACT — could be administered universally and free of charge to students. That would reduce the administrative barriers to applying to college, help identify talented disadvantaged children, and increase the likelihood they will attend a college that matches their skills.
A child born into a high-income family is six times as likely to earn a college degree as one who is poor, research that I have participated in shows. This gap is largely rooted in disparities in achievement that appear as early as preschool. But even for students who perform well in high school, parents’ income strongly predicts whether they will attend and complete college." …
The College Board and ACT are private companies. Can’t go around nationalizing things with impunity. And there are plenty of fee waivers and help available for these tests already–if the issue is that they’re underused, then that’s an issue in and of itself. The issue isn’t that these tests aren’t free.
And if low-achieving students are skipping the tests, then that’s an education issue–education of the sort that makes you realize how important that test could be. Maybe knowledge would be the better word.
Maybe the Department of Education should make their own series of tests instead (rather than intruding on a private market for that action’s supposed benefits).
@mohammadmohd18 in the article we see that nothing is nationalized but rather certain states have taken on the cost of giving the test to all HS juniors and have gotten good results from doing that.
The national GCSE and A-Level exams in the UK works very well. University knows exactly what an A in A-Level Physics means whether the kid is from a bog standard comprehensive or an elite private school. It’s an easier system than trying to estimate the rigor of the wide disparity of US high schools when evaluating GPA and I have to assume that that benefits disadvantaged kids.
It’s not a panacea by any means; better prepared students, with more resources, who are statistically more likely to come from richer families than from deproved ones, do better on any kind of test.
I think the author has demonstrated quite convincingly that state-required and paid SAT/ACT tests help poor kids. You have to go through the hoops to get a fee waiver, which I gather many poor families are not capable of handling it.
@hzhao2004 - just on CC, which is a pretty advanced set of kids college-awareness-wise, we see many post who have no idea fee waivers are even an option, much less how to go about getting them.
@JenJenJenJen Haha it was meant to be sarcastic. As in, having the USDE create tests would be just as bad of an idea as the government taking over the College Board and ACT.
@OHMomof2 I meant, the government mandating these tests–a sort of government/private entity partnership–would just waste money. It’s easy to say that yes, the government should provide this, and it should provide that, and it should pay for kids to take these tests. Not to sound too libertarian, but it would mean your tax money would go to pay for another person’s kid to take a test. From personal experience, I know that a lot of kids didn’t really need those mandated tests–they had either already taken them, or planned to study throughout the summer and take them right before school started up. Yes, you obviously will get a lot of poor kids who would have had some difficulty in getting waivers previously, but who now have a chance to take the test(s). But maybe the conversation should be about making the fee waiver process easier, and not investing millions and millions of dollars right off the bat.
Just my 2 cents (or…6 cents? I’ve written thrice). The tests will probably end up being mandated regardless.
Unless you’re an international student. Even though many schools don’t require subject tests if you can’t afford it, the SAT is still $100+ (and the international testing fee doesn’t help)
I have watched several families spend up to $1000 (or more) for SAT/ACT tutors and yes, the scores increased dramatically. How does this make these test valid? Where does that leave the low income or the middle income family who really can’t justify the expense. As we are journeying through the college admissions process I am watching a great deal of the experience be about money making (testing, test prep, college visits, application fees and I’m sure hiring professionals to create your admissions videos is either here or on its way). But with that being said, I wouldn’t want the government in charge of any of this either. Having just paid $668 out of pocket for my annual mammogram after insurance, if the government gets involved in something, it will be a debacle. The test optional schools seems to be making out just fine. Maybe the first step is eliminating the exams completely.
How is that possible? Doesn’t the law require they be covered without copay if you are 40 or older? I haven’t paid anything for one since the ACA passed. Not my annual checkup either.
Oh, its possible. This is my adjusted rate after insurance. Prior to the ACA I did not pay anything. Prior to the ACA I had reasonable co-pays for all of my medical appointments. When you hear on the news that some are paying sky high deductibles, premiums and are now spending huge amounts of their incomes on healthcare - its true! And everyone in Washington just went home rather than fix this. Unfortunately colleges also aren’t asking how much we are spending on health insurance and healthcare costs - we qualify for nothing there either. It’s great fun.
@Empireapple Maybe some students do improve with a lot of prep, but Collegeboard reports that SAT scores only increase a small amount after prep. A motivated student with Internet access can improve just as much with Khan Academy. Anyways, low income students should be smart enough to just do well their first or second time. It isn’t rocket science.
This may not be a popular stance, but how about “one and done.” Prep for your test, take practice tests to get the format and timing down and then take it. Students don’t retake (for the most part) AP or IB tests, and your HS teacher doesn’t let you retake tests multiple times till you are satisfied with your results. I see students here on CC that retake the SAT or ACT multiple times, often asking how can they only submit their best score to schools that require all tests to be reported. Well, duh. If you take the test 5 times, you may get lucky on one of them with a decent score increase. That still doesn’t make that student smarter, it just makes them a test grind. And as to the OP, schools have a responsibility to let low income students know about fee waivers.