UChicago Consortium study finds high-school GPAs outweigh ACTs for college readiness

It already has, it looks like. Knowing about this may have been behind the decision to make all standardized testing optional.

That said, it’s a really interesting study, and a really complex one. All of the data comes from the Chicago Public Schools, which means (a) there is a large variation among the schools, which is a big part of what was being studied, but (b) there may well be less variation among public schools in the same district than there would be if the whole range of schools in different places with different governance and different curriculums were considered. In other words, notwithstanding the extreme variety of public schools in Chicago, it would not be that surprising to find that a “B” grade has more consistent meaning across those schools vs. across all schools of all types nationally. And that finding – relative consistency of GPA meaning across schools – is central to the study. There are other interesting aspects to look at, too.

Also, I suspect this study – which focuses on college enrollment and 6-year college graduation rate – tells us almost nothing about admissions and success at UChicago or any other hyperselective, elite college. I can’t look into that now, though.