DIFFERENCES AMONG RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS IN MEAN SCORES ON THE GRE AND SAT: LONGITUDINAL COMPARISONS

Abstract

ABSTRACTIf one compares racial/ethnic group differences on verbal and quantitative tests from published data on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test, some group differences appear to be relatively larger (in standard deviation units) on the GRE General Test than on the SAT. The objective of this study was to undertake a retrospective, longitudinal analysis of a group of individuals who had taken both tests to see if group differences remain the same or change over time.After merging records on the GRE General Test with SAT records for the same individuals, the realized sample had 69,494 cases.In this sample, the pattern of results from longitudinal evidence was very different from that found in cross‐sectional comparisons of published GRE and SAT data for the various groups. The changes in the relative size of mean differences were in the direction of closing the gap between non‐Hispanic (NH) White and minority groups, especially for Asian American and Puerto Rican examinees.The regressions of GRE General Test scores on SAT scores (i.e., growth) for various racial/ethnic groups were dissimilar from that of the NH White group, but the differences in growth patterns did not widen the distance in means between NH White test takers and minority groups.There was also evidence that racial/ethnic groups may vary in the degree of self‐selection that occurs for entry into the graduate‐school‐bound pool of GRE test takers. This pattern may explain the relatively larger disparity in group means in the GRE population than in the SAT population that is evident in the cross‐sectional comparisons. However, this explanation needs to be verified with more complete data on pathways to graduate school that include non‐SAT test takers and students who apply to professional schools.