University of California President Richard C. Atkinson announced in February that he is recommending that UC no longer include the SAT I test as a requirement for students applying to UC's eight undergraduate campuses.

In a speech to the American Council on Education annual meeting in Washington, D.C., Atkinson said that while he continues to be a strong supporter of standardized tests, he favors abandoning the SAT I because it does not have a demonstrable relationship with the student's course of study and often leads to a preoccupation with improving test-taking skills at the expense of mastering high school subject matter.

"This proposal is about fairness in educational decision making," Atkinson said. "Applicants for higher education should be assessed on the basis of their achievements in high school, in the context of the opportunities available to them. Standardized tests are fair and useful admissions tools when they assess what students have actually learned in school — not how they rate on an ill-defined measure of aptitude or intelligence."

Atkinson's proposal is intended to further the standards-based movement in California and across the country. Over the long term, he said, replacing the SAT I with other standardized tests at UC "will help strengthen high school curricula and pedagogy, create a stronger connection between what students accomplish in high school and their likelihood of being admitted to UC, and focus student attention on mastery of subject matter rather than test preparation."

SAT II
On an interim basis, Atkinson recommended that UC continue to require that students take the SAT II exams in writing, mathematics and a third subject test chosen by the student.

"The SAT II begins to approximate what I judge to be an appropriate test for the university's admissions process," said Atkinson, whose research specialty is memory and cognition. "It tests students on specific subject areas that are well defined and readily described."

Currently, students are required to meet an eligibility index incorporating high school grade point average in specified academic subjects, the SAT I or ACT and three SAT II tests. The index went into effect beginning with UC applicants for fall 2001 and is expected to be in place at least until a decision on the role of the SAT I is made.

"Counselors should advise students to prepare for meeting the current eligibility index," said Carla Ferri, Director of Admissions at UC Office of the President.

Holistic Approach
In addition to proposing the elimination of the SAT I, the president called for a more comprehensive assessment of students' achievements and accomplishments for admission to the University's eight general campuses. While campuses already consider a number of factors in judging applicants, Atkinson emphasized the importance of going beyond what is being done now.

"Atkinson's move towards a more holistic evaluation of student achievement, instead of relying on narrow quantitative criteria, is something Berkeley has been practicing for a number of years," said UC Berkeley Assistant Vice Chancellor Richard Black. "We feel it is the best way to evaluate and build the kind of student body we want at Berkeley."

According to UC Riverside Director of Admissions Laurel Nelson, her campus — which currently admits all of its eligible pool based on the academic index — would be ready for any changes, but she cautions that it's too early to speculate about how admissions offices will conduct business if eligibility criteria are revised.

"The process shouldn't drive the policy," said Nelson. "The important thing is that any new policy needs to be based on measuring what we want it to measure, which are the meaningful outcomes and best predictors of student success at the University."

Review Process
If Atkinson's SAT I proposal wins the approval of the faculty and the Board of Regents, the earliest it could be implemented is for the entering class of fall 2003. According to Michael Cowan, president of UC's Academic Senate, the faculty will take from eight to 12 months to reach a conclusion about the possible change in admission criteria before it sends a recommendation to the Regents for final approval.

"It will be a slow process," cautions Cowan. "The burden of proof is on the proposed change not on the status quo. The faculty need to be persuaded it makes good academic sense, that it won't be perceived as lowering academic standards in order to improve access."

Cowan speculated that any effort to develop an alternative to the SAT II would take at least three to five years. He also predicted that even if the SAT I were modified or eliminated as a criteria that "the vast number of seniors would still take it."

Comprehensive information about Atkinson's proposal is available online.