廢除SAT和ACT，高校生源更多樣

克勞迪奧·桑切斯

There are now well over 1，000 colleges and universities that dont require SAT or ACT1 scores in deciding whom to admit， a number thats growing every year. And a new study finds that scores on those tests are of little value in predicting students performance in college， and raises the question： Should those tests be required at all？

Colleges that have gone “test optional” enroll—and graduate—a higher proportion of low-income and first generation-students2， and more students from diverse backgrounds， the researchers found in the study， Defining Access： How Test-Optional Works.

“Our research clearly demonstrates that these students graduate often at a higher rate，” said Steve Syverson， an assistant vice chancellor at the University of Washington Bothell， and co-author of the study.

“When a college considers going test-optional， one of the first reactions that people， including alumni， feel is that the college will be admitting less qualified students，” he added. Syverson says the study should reassure admissions officials whove decided to go test-optional.

Syverson and his team of researchers studied 28 public and private institutions that no longer require test scores， and tracked about 956，000 individual student records.

Students like Ian Haimowitz， a sophomore at George Washington University， a test-optional school in Washington D.C.

He says in the beginning， he felt like a fish out of water.

“I know for a fact Im the first Nicaraguan-American， the first Latino， the first Jewish Latino that a lot of kids meet，” he says.

He adds that when he arrived at GW， he looked around and asked himself， “What am I doing here with kids who went to private schools and got the best education possible？”

It was a very different world than he grew up in back in New Mexico.

“I remember my freshman year of high school， I didnt have a math teacher. Maybe thats why you see in my test score that I didnt have a good grounding in math. But I believed my potential was still there.”

Ian was a straight-A student in high school， but his SAT scores were so low he didnt think any top tier school would accept him. He says not having to submit his test scores opened the doors to a top selective school.

This year， George Washington received about 26，500 undergraduate applications from all over the country. Close to 20 percent did not submit their test scores， which GW says has helped enroll more students from diverse backgrounds.

Still， some researchers question the impact that test-optional admissions policies have had on schools.

Jack Buckley， a senior vice president at the American Institutes for Research， notes that while diversity improved at schools that have gone test-optional， that also happened “at the same rate among those that didnt.”

In other words， says Buckley， test-optional schools are not more effective in enrolling minorities than schools that still require test scores.

Syverson says thats not what the evidence in his study is showing. “We certainly are not arguing that everyone should abolish test scores，” he says. “Test scores do have some value.”

Syverson insists that his study shows that tests can be an obstacle not just for students who dont test well， but for students from under-served， under-represented populations.

More importantly， he adds， you can admit pretty good students by looking at something other than test scores.

Thats been the experience at George Washington University. “Our experience is actually that （students） high school performance predicts college performance extremely well，” says Forrest Maltzman， the universitys provost and chief academic officer.

Maltzman says that whatever helped students be successful in high school tends to work for them in college： “Standardized tests dont get at that.”

Two years worth of data show that students who got into GW with high test scores performed no better as freshman and sophomores than those who got in without submitting their test scores， he says.

“The added value of test scores in predicting performance today is really very very minimal，” Maltzman argues. “The best thing these tests match up with is actually family income.”

And that， says Syverson， is consistent with his teams findings. Still， he cautions that test optional policies are no panacea. Theyre just another way to make college more accessible.

“Our study clearly supports the notion that if an institution wants to do a better job serving traditionally under-served populations， test optional （policies） can provide a very useful tool.”

目前有1000多所高校在錄取學生時不要求學術能力評估測試（SAT）或美國大學入學考試（ACT）成績，而且這樣的高校在逐年增多。一項新研究發現，這兩項考試成績對預測學生入學后表現的參考價值有限。這就帶出一個問題：這些考試真的必要嗎？

實行“非強制性考試入學”的高校中，來自低收入家庭、“學一代”的生源錄取率和畢業率更高，學生的家庭背景更多樣。這是研究人員在《定義機會：非強制性考試入學運作方式》研究報告中得出的結論。

“我們的研究表明，這類學生的畢業率往往更高。”本項研究的作者之一、華盛頓大學博塞爾校區助理副校長史蒂夫·賽弗森說。

“一所大學若打算通過非強制性考試來招收學生，那么引發的第一反應會是，就連往屆生也會擔憂這樣錄取到的學生要差一等。”賽弗森表示，這一研究應該能打消本打算實行此政策的招生人員的顧慮。

賽弗森和他的研究團隊調查了28所不再要求考試成績的公立和私立大學，對95.6萬名學生做了追蹤調查。

就讀于喬治·華盛頓大學的大二學生伊恩·哈伊莫威茨就是其中之一，位于華府的這所大學就實行非強制性考試入學政策。

他說，起初感覺自己像一條離了水的魚兒。

“有個事兒我敢肯定，我是很多同學見到的頭一個尼加拉瓜裔美國人，頭一個拉丁裔美國人，頭一個拉丁裔猶太人。”

他還說，剛踏進學校那會兒，四下一看，就自己問自己：“他們都是在私立學校接受過最好教育的，我來這兒摻和什么？”

他從小在新墨西哥州長大，兩地真是天差地別。

“記得我高一的時候沒有數學老師。這可能就是你從考試成績看出我數學基礎不好的緣由。但我相信自己是有潛力的。”

讀高中時，伊恩是優等生，但他的SAT成績卻很低，他覺得沒有哪所一流大學會錄取自己。他說，無須提交考試成績的政策，為他敲開了重點大學之門。

今年，喬治·華盛頓大學收到了來自美國各地2.65萬份讀本科申請。近20%的學生沒有提交考試成績，校方表示，這有助于招收更多來自不同背景的學生。

盡管如此，一些研究人員對非強制性考試錄取政策帶給院校的影響仍抱有疑慮。

美國研究院高級副院長杰克·巴克利指出，盡管實行非強制性考試入學政策提升了學校的生源多樣性，但“未實行該政策的學校生源多樣性也在同步提升。”

巴克利解釋說，換言之，在錄取少數族裔方面，非強制性考試院校的表現并不比強制考試院校好多少。

賽弗森說，他的研究并未得出這一結論。“我們當然不是說每所學校都應摒棄考試分數，考試成績確實有一定的價值。”

賽弗森堅稱，他的研究表明，考試不僅是考試失利學生的一道門檻，對學習條件落后的弱勢群體學生也是如此。

他補充道，更重要的是，考查除成績外的其他方面，也可以招到相當優秀的學生。

這就是喬治·華盛頓大學的經驗。該校教務長兼首席學術官福里斯特·馬爾茨曼說：“我們的經驗是，從學生高中的表現能很好地預測其大學表現。”

馬爾茨曼指出，讓學生在高中階段表現優異的品質，往往在大學期間也會起作用，“標準化考試可檢測不出這種品質”。

他還說，兩年的數據顯示，高分進入喬治·華盛頓大學的學生在大一和大二時的表現并不比未提交考試成績的學生好。

“考試成績對學術評估的附加值微乎其微，”馬爾茨曼認為，“和這些考試成績最匹配的倒是家庭收入。”

賽弗森說，這一點與他團隊的發現是一致的。不過，他提醒道，測試可選政策并不是靈丹妙藥，只不過是讓大學不再遙不可及的另一種途徑。

“我們的研究明確支持這樣的看法：一所大學若是真的為那些從來就沒有獲得充分教育的人群著想，那么非強制性考試入學（政策）會是非常奏效的一招。”

（譯者為“《英語世界》杯”翻譯大賽獲獎者）