UC Regents propose new test
By Daily Bruin Staff
March 13, 2002 9:00 p.m.
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By Robert Salonga
Daily Bruin Staff
SAN FRANCISCO “”mdash; High school students looking to go to the
University of California might say goodbye to the SAT I in favor of
a brand new test, if a proposal, currently under review, is passed
by the UC Board of Regents.
On Tuesday the Regents met in a special meeting to discuss the
proposal of an admissions test that would aim to be more closely
tied to high school curriculum in the state.
“We want to send the message to teachers, students and
parents that studying courses in high school will pay off because
you will be tested on them in the admissions process,” said
UC President Richard Atkinson.
The proposed test will encompass an enhanced version of the SAT
I math section and a writing portion similar to that of the SAT II
writing test, said Dorothy Perry, chair of the systemwide Board of
Admissions and Relations with Schools, which presented the test
design to the regents.
In addition to the proposed 3-4 hour test, students would have
to take two one-hour examinations within the UC’s A-G range
of required high school coursework in math, English, science and
foreign language.
Details beyond these specifications have not been fully decided,
in order to allow further faculty and regent input. The regents
will address the proposed test at its May meeting after more
developments have been made.
“This is much more fair in that it aligns itself to
curriculum that has been introduced in high schools and state
standards,” said Regent Monica Lozano, adding that the SAT I
does not “address learning opportunities in any
way.”
But others warned the regents not to be fooled by the idea of
having a test tied to the state’s high school curriculum.
“Even if there is the same curriculum in the state, it
doesn’t mean there is equivalent teaching,” said
Rebecca Zwick, professor education at UC Santa Barbara. “A
lot depends on the socioeconomic status of students and their
school. Whose curriculum are we going to test?”
Currently the university is working with the creators of the SAT
and the ACT to design a universal test for the UC system. BOARS
hopes to have the test ready to use on the freshman class of Fall
2006. The time will allow test makers to develop and field test it
and will let students adjust to the new unforeseen requirements,
said Calvin Moore, BOARS member and mathematics chair at UC
Berkeley.
The systemwide Academic Senate reported in January the need to
create a whole new test from scratch so that material would have
better relevance to what students are learning in high school. An
independent study released by the UC Office of the President in
October said SAT I scores are more directly related to
socioeconomic standing than its SAT II counterpart, and that the
latter is more effective in predicting student performance in
college.
Some argued that scrapping the SAT I would leave the UC unable
to compete with other universities.
“(SAT I) is the only way we have of comparing our students
with everyone else in the United States and California,” said
Matthew Malkan, professor of physics and astronomy at UCLA.
“Once we drop it we run the long-term danger of eroding
academic standards because we can’t measure (the new test)
with other institutions.”
No other university in the nation is considering a proposal
similar to the one the UC is considering. Also, BOARS has not yet
figured out a definite way for out-of-state students to apply to
the UC, since the proposed admissions test will only be given to
California students at its onset.
However, Moore said the UC could achieve the same concordance
with other universities that is currently applied to find
equivalent scores between the SAT I, a reasoning test, and the ACT,
which is curriculum-based. With this concordance, the university
could accommodate out-of-state students, he added.
Regent George Marcus did not see the admissions test overhaul as
a feasible way to achieve Atkinson’s goal of telling students
to study subjects rather than verbal analogies.
“We’re about to embark on a complex process where
we’re not certain of the outcome,” Marcus said.
