New admissions test to combine SAT I, II must be made national

Benjamin is the co-founder of Students First in California.

By David Benjamin

Last week, the Board of Admissions and Relations with Schools, a
key University of California faculty committee, made a proposal
that the UC system move to a new single-day math and English test
within the next few years, in lieu of the SAT requirement.

The UC committee reported that both the College Board ““
who compiles the SAT ““ and ACT, Inc. would be working on a
new test that will be designed specifically for California. The
proposal stated that this test would likely be ready within a
couple of years.

First of all, it is wonderful to know the UC system is
listening. I and other members of Students First in California have
written letters and appeared before the UC Board of Regents to
promote the idea of merging the SAT I and SAT II math and English
sections into a single-day test.

If the new proposal is passed by the UC Academic Senate and the
regents it would be a major step forward for California
students. Because UC applicants would take a new comprehensive
math and English test instead of two separate SAT tests in math and
English, testing time would be reduced ““ along with testing
expenses for students.

But with all the good news, major improvements can still be
made.

The public needs to be reassured that no other changes will be
made until the new tests are developed. UC President Richard
Atkinson has been floating the idea of temporarily moving to a
“five SAT II plan.” This means the current UC
requirement of three SAT II tests would be expanded to five SAT II
tests. But the five SAT II plan would be disastrous for California
students; many would be forced to take two days of SAT II for the
UC system, the SAT I for the majority of other universities, and
the ACT for some Cal State campuses.

In addition, when any major change in admissions requirement is
made, students, parents and high school guidance counselors suffer
an enormous amount of confusion. It is better to make one quick
change when the new College Board and ACT tests are ready, while
still maintaining the current requirements.

My greatest concern with the new UC proposal is that the new
test would be a California-only test. Why is the new test not
designated for the whole nation? I believe there are two reasons.
First of all, the College Board has been very slow to give up the
SAT I. Although privately some College Board members have expressed
a willingness to create a new nationwide test, publicly College
Board spokespeople keep reiterating that the rest of the country is
satisfied with the SAT I. But I strongly feel if the College Board
announced it was creating a new and better SAT, the majority of
universities would support this action.

The UC system has to do its part as well. Right now, the UC
system is insisting the new test conform exactly to California
standards. But in order for this new test to become a nationwide
test, the UC system may need to bend a little. Why would the UC
system want to segregate itself from everyone else? The UC system
is off to a sound start in asking for a new test, but we need to
turn this good idea into a great one by making it a national
one.