scholarly journals Test‐optional policies fast‐tracked by COVID‐19 increase equity in college admissions

2021 ◽  
Vol 25 (1) ◽  
pp. 12-12
Author(s):  
Mary Bannister
Keyword(s):  
College Admissions ◽  
Test Optional

scholarly journals COVID-19 pandemic: Challenges among rising high school seniors, Class of 2021 and effect on stress regarding college admissions

2021 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sarab Anand ◽  
Triptish Bhatia
Keyword(s):  
High School ◽  
Public Schools ◽  
Standardized Testing ◽  
College Admissions ◽  
College Counselors ◽  
Academic Challenges ◽  
High School Class ◽  
Athletic Scholarships ◽  
Test Optional ◽  
Admissions Process

The high school Class of 2021, already facing challenges of their stressful junior year has had multiple changes to their academic routines, athletic & extracurricular opportunities and standardized testing amid the COVID-19 pandemic. With the lockdown, it is also facing unprecedented changes in the college admissions process.  This study was undertaken as a survey of rising seniors in US high schools to understand handling of academic challenges, students’ stress regarding college admissions, changing landscape of the application cycle and attitudes towards strength of applications due to the pandemic. Survey was designed on google forms and was circulated among rising seniors through social media and snowballing methods. The data was analysed using descriptive and inferential statistics.  A total of 331 students responded, majority were females, white and from public schools. Significant stress regarding college admissions was reported by students (63.6%) before pandemic and increase in stress (72.3%) afterwards. About 75% had already taken ACT/SAT, the majority was not satisfied with their scores but 90% planned to re(take) despite colleges declaring a test optional process. 60% of participants with change in summer plans and 70% of students unable to visit colleges reported increase in stress. Level of access correlated with perceived support from college counselors (r=0.677) and uncertainty regarding financial aid and athletic scholarships contributed to stress.  Two broad themes emerged while studying COVID-19 related increase in stress levels and factors contributing to that change: uncertainty about one’s own application strength and stress due to changes in institutional policies.          

Rationalization and Student/School Personhood in U.S. College Admissions: The Rise of Test-optional Policies, 1987 to 2015

2017 ◽  
Vol 90 (3) ◽  
pp. 236-254 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jared Furuta
Keyword(s):  
World War Ii ◽  
Standardized Tests ◽  
Liberal Arts ◽  
Liberal Arts Colleges ◽  
College Admissions ◽  
The United States ◽  
Data Set ◽  
Admissions Policies ◽  
Test Optional ◽  
Admissions Process

This article examines the rise of ‘‘test-optional’’ college admissions policies since the 1990s. I argue that the rationalization of college admissions policies after World War II contributed to the rise of ‘‘meritocratic’’ stratification (in policy) and standardized tests, like the SAT, but it also led to the expansion and legitimation of the roles of student and school personhood in the admissions process. Schools more committed to enlarged conceptions of student personhood are more likely to adopt a test-optional policy, in order to recruit students who fit the distinctive characteristics of their school identity. To test the argument, I use a comprehensive data set of 1,640 colleges and universities in the United States and discrete-time event history models from 1987 to 2015. I also assess alternative arguments that emphasize economic or prestige-driven motives. Liberal arts colleges and schools committed to several dimensions of student personhood are more likely to adopt test-optional policies, net of other factors.

Tests and college admissions.

1981 ◽  
Vol 36 (10) ◽  
pp. 1112-1119 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fred Hargadon
Keyword(s):  
College Admissions

A Good Sentencing Precedent is Hard to Find

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (3) ◽  
pp. 138-144
Author(s):  
Brian A. Jacobs
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
Significant Role ◽  
College Admissions ◽  
The Body ◽  
Federal Law ◽  
Criminal Cases ◽  
Federal Sentencing

In federal criminal cases, federal law requires that judges consider the sentences other courts have imposed in factually similar matters. Courts and parties, however, face significant challenges in finding applicable sentencing precedents because judges do not typically issue written sentencing opinions, and transcripts of sentencings are not readily available in advanced searchable databases. At the same time, particularly since the Supreme Court’s 2005 decision in United States v. Booker, sentencing precedent has come to play a significant role in federal sentencing proceedings. By way of example, this article discusses recent cases involving defendants with gambling addictions, and recent cases involving college admissions or testing fraud. The article explores the ways the parties in those cases have used sentencing precedent in their advocacy, as well as the ways the courts involved have used sentencing precedent to justify their decisions. Given the important role of sentencing precedent in federal criminal cases, the article finally looks at ways in which the body of sentencing law could be made more readily available to parties and courts alike.

People versus Policies: Decision-makers have divergent preferences for decisions about individuals and equivalent policies that affect individuals

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Mauricio Munguia Gomez ◽  
Emma Levine
Keyword(s):  
Real World ◽  
College Admissions ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Preference Reversal ◽  
Lay People ◽  
Admissions Officers ◽  
New Type ◽  
Selection Policies

Across nine main studies (N = 7,024) and nine supplemental studies (N = 3,279), we find that people make systematically different choices when choosing between individuals and choosing between equivalent policies that affect individuals. In college admissions and workplace hiring contexts, we randomly assigned participants to select one of two individuals or choose one of two selection policies. People were significantly more likely to choose a policy that would favor a disadvantaged candidate over a candidate with objectively higher achievements than they were to favor a specific disadvantaged candidate over a specific candidate with objectively higher achievements. We document these divergent choices among admissions officers, working professionals, and lay people, using both within-subject and between-subject designs, and across a range of stimuli and decision contexts. We find evidence that these choices diverge because thinking about policies causes people to rely more on their values and less on the objective attributes of the options presented, which overall, leads more people to favor disadvantaged candidates in selection contexts. This research documents a new type of preference reversal in important, real-world decision contexts, and has practical and theoretical implications for understanding why our choices so frequently violate our espoused policies.

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