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College Entrance Exams

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Reining in the Test of Tests: Some say the SAT is destiny. Some say it's meaningless. Should it be scrapped? The challenge to the SAT by UC President Richard Atkinson is a cannonball shot across the bow. Pres. Atkinson, himself a testing expert, has a counterproposal of his own: use grades and the SAT-II to qualify applicants for admission. This news feature from U.S. News & World Report gets to the meat of the issue in a hurry.

University of California Proposes an Alternative to the SAT-I: The core of this alternate proposal is to find a test that actually assesses what California students are supposed to know. For now, this is best done by the SAT-II, subject specific tests that many seniors already take. In the coming years, California should have new tests of its own that measure students' degree of mastery of each subject area taught. The state's standards are the reference point in these debates, since the standards should now determine what, in fact, gets taught.

No More SAT-I?: NPR's John Merrow interviews Stanford's Michael Kirst on the wisdom of abandoning the SAT-I college entrance exam. Challenges at the highest level, by the head of the University of California, Richard Atkinson, have critiqued the SAT-I. In this interview, Mr. Kirst explains that critique, and brings an extraordinary range of experience to the subject. He brings years of personal experience in government education policymaking--at both federal and state levels--to his classrooms and research. He is also co-director of Policy Analysis for California Education.

The Big Test: Nicholas Lemann's 1999 book, "The Big Test," slams the SAT as a gatekeeper that limited access to colleges. His arguments are often the starting point for today's critics of the test. This interview with him by NPR's education maven John Merrow is a revealing dialogue. Mr. Lemann is a staff writer at The New Yorker and a former national correspondent of The Atlantic Monthly.

Dump the SAT?: The Princeton Review takes a stand, stating that the SAT should be "dumped". Is this just a creative marketing scheme, or is one of the largest test prep organizations finally coming clean?