Worcester Business Journal

8 Worcester Business Journal | June 24, 2019 | wbjournal.com e SAT's latest revision isn't enough for local col- leges to embrance stan- dardized testing again BY DEVINA BHALLA Worcester Business Journal Intern BEST & brightest E ven as standardized tests try to regain some of their lost luster, nearly all Central Massachusetts colleges have found more holistic ways to assess applicants' potential and aren't looking back. "Tests weren't the most reliable factor," said Meredith Twombly, vice president of admissions and financial aid, at Clark University in Worcester, which went test optional in 2014. is year, the College Board – the not-for-profit administering the SAT standardized test – rolled out its new Environmental Context Dashboard in order to factor in students' socioeco- nomic status. is effort comes as more colleges are eschewing standardized test scores altogether in their admissions process, preferring to evaluate appli- cants on a host of factors. Of the 12 Central Massachusetts colleges and universities who have his- torically used the SAT, nine have since become test optional: Clark, Worcester Polytechnic Institute, College of the Holy Cross in Worcester, Fitchburg State University, Nichols College in Dudley, Dean College in Franklin, Worcester State University, Assumption College in Worcester and Anna Maria College in Paxton. "We are at a critical point in higher education," said Andrew Palumbo, dean of admissions and financial aid at WPI. "Enough is known about the subjective nature of standardized testing and its negative correlation to social inequalities. "We realized we had better tools to predict success," Palumbo said. Test-optional colleges e college admissions process around the country is making the switch to being test optional. More than 1,030 U.S. college and universities are test optional, up from about 850 in 2015, according to FairTest, the nation- al center for fair and open testing. Twombly said socioeconomic, racial, and cultural biases in standardized test- ing create weaknesses to tests like the SAT and its cousin the ACT, which is why Clark stopped relying on them. She said someone is creating the test and inserts their own biases. It is impossible for the test, therefore, to be as objective as it claims to be. e College Board's own data shows SAT scores correlate to wealth, gender, and race. Traditionally marginalized groups are further disadvantaged by tests like the SAT and ACT. "From our perspective, it is less accu- rate than our team of trained admis- sions officers … and a clumsy tool," said Twombly. "Students want their applica- tions read as seeing them as a human and being read by a human." Clark instead uses the school report submitted with applications and employs extensive admissions officers training. School reports include comprehen- sive context from the high school about everything from offered curriculum, average scores and GPAs, to even the percent of students on federal lunch programs, Twombly said. ough Clark applicants can still sub- mit test scores, "they play a very small role...[and are] 5% or less of admission's thinking," said Twombly. WPI in 2009 became the first test-op- tional technical school. WPI wanted to give its applicants more of a fair shake, Palumbo said. "Standardized tests are problematic as a gatekeeper to higher education," said Palumbo, further emphasizing the so- cioeconomic, gender, and racial biases Twombly mentioned exist in the test. Clark and WPI are two of many schools using a holistic approach, look- ing at all of the pieces of an application and the unique characteristics of each individual, with a focus on GPA. e context in which a student lives is extremely important to their applica- tion, Palumbo said. "We care more about who you are and what you've done in the past four years than in the four hours of a test," said Palumbo. Environmental Context Dashboard Within this changing admissions landscape, the College Board is hoping to use the ECD to level the playing field for applicants. e ECD attempts to standardize and quantify the aspect of context for different students to help admissions officers. e ECD does not alter a student's score nor does it take into account any personal characteristics of the student. However, it does show how students' scores compare to those in their schools and aims to give admissions officers better context about an applicant's neighborhood and school system. In the 2018-2019 admissions process, College Board piloted the ECD with more than 50 colleges and universi- ties. It plans to include more than 150 colleges this fall and later to make it broadly available for free. "e Environmental Context Dashboard shines a light on students who have demonstrated remarkable resourcefulness to overcome challenges Andrew Palumbo, dean of admissions and financial aid at WPI, believes the school can to a better job of measuring applicants' potential than a standardized test. Meredith Twombly, vice president of admissions and financial aid at Clark University, says the school's admissions staff is able to spend significant time reviewing each application. PHOTO/MATT WRIGHT PHOTO/GRANT WELKER

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