Sorry About the Dust...

Good afternoon. I apologize for not posting in a month and a half. Things have been very busy for me at work and are only now starting to slow down somewhat. It is indeed dusty in my little corner of the internets. Today I want to present a thought-provoking link.

The following article from Inside Higher Ed is the choice du jour. It seems that UC Berkeley researchers have been looking at how high school grades and SAT/ACT scores correlate with student success in college. What they found was that high school grades correlated most closely to college success and retention - not standardized test scores. This is interesting because much of the logic behind standardized testing is that no matter who you are or what school you attend you can be measured equally using the same standards. The argument was that high schools grade differently and what is hard at one school is not so hard at another. Standardized testing leveled the field and told admissions officials who the best students were and supposedly, who was therefore likely to succeed in college.

Importantly, the researchers found that all of the criteria that are currently used by admissions offices only explained 30% of the variance in grades achieved in college, and hence, success. This means that 70% of how well one will do in college cannot be explained by any of the measures currently used to admit students (extra-curricular activities, standardized testing, grades, letters of recommendation, etc...). Isn't that interesting?

Have a wonderful weekend!