Standardized Tests Serve Purpose
Emil H. Posavac
To the Editor:
In the September–October issue of Academe, Jeffrey Milem discusses what he calls the "myths" of higher education regarding affirmative action. The second myth he writes about is that "merit can (or should) be defined ex-clusively by standardized test scores." He provides no example of anyone who holds such a position; he does not, because no one holds it. Minimally, colleges have used a combination of standardized tests and high school work for decades and decades. Although Milem implies that tests are of little value, there is ample evidence that high school work serves as an indication of motivation, while tests serve as a check on the uneven quality of high schools. High school performance and standardized test scores provide different information about college applicants.
The refusal to use easily available information to match students to appropriate colleges is irresponsible, however well intended. As Abigail Thernstrom points out in the same issue of the magazine, the supposed beneficiaries of affirmative action policies who are admitted to elite colleges earn markedly lower grades than those admitted in the standard way. When the applicant’s record suggests that he or she will struggle at a specific college, no one benefits if the applicant is accepted anyway. Well, actually, the college administrators benefit, because they proudly check off boxes in reports indicating how much they are doing to correct social ills.
In his article, Benjamin Baez provides the key to resolving the problem of lower grades earned by those admitted under affirmative action policies. He points out that we need to "ask why we classify, grade, rank, and test students in the first place." I think he suggests that we stop all this nonsense. If we followed his implied recommendations, I suppose we could stop wondering whether physicians have mastered anatomy and physiology or whether plumbers have successfully completed their apprenticeships.
I wish correcting social ills were as easy as proponents of affirmative action in college admissions assume that it is.
Emil H. Posavac
(Psychology)
Loyola University Chicago
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