Entrance Examinations for Negro Colleges

Abstract

The portion of this study which is now being reported was undertaken in an effort to determine whether or not college entrance examinations are of value as presumptive tests of the quality of work of which students are capable. Writers have suggested the use of intelligence tests as entrance examinations, and others interested in Negro education have urged the compilation and use of tests prepared especially for Negro pupils. The present writer in recommending the use of intelligence tests as presumptive made two definite suggestions to help the high schools do a better job: First, that the faculties of the colleges for Negroes plan ... written examinations to test entering freshman students on three things: (1) command of factual knowledge (Has our high school graduate actually gained knowledge that one might reasonably expect of a high school graduate?); (2) reading and comprehension (Has the pupil mastered tool subjects so as to be able to read fluently and to understand what he reads?); (3) ability to solve problems (Can the pupil do reflective thinking? Is he resourceful enough to arrive at solutions to the problems that may confront him in any environment?). Second, that the results obtained from such examinations be considered presumptive, in that they be used in comparison with the college records of the students during the ensuing years of study. After the first two or three years, the authorities could (begin to study and compare) the (entrance test) results . . . with the college records of the students and make a fairly accurate guess as to which students would have fair chances of success in college. Thus there could be decided upon a certain minimum entrance-test score, arrived at by studies of these actual scores and of the collegiate records of the students examined. In later years, only those examinees who make scores above this certain decided minimum would be allowed to make formal application for admission to the colleges. Though the above suggestions have not been adopted and there seem to be no special intelligence tests devised for Negro pupils, a certain college for Negroes has for some time been using well-known standard tests for entering pupils, and it seemed that here was an opportunity to investigate the plausibility of the use of entrance examinations as presumptive tests on which admission might be based. Even if the study as yet justifies no generalizations for the selection of the college pupil, it should at all events reveal in the light of certain standard tests where these Negro students actually stood at the end of their high-school course.