Measuring Success: Testing, Grades, and the Future of College Admissions ed. by Jack Buckley, Lynn Letukas, and Ben Wildavsky

Abstract

Reviewed by: Measuring Success: Testing, Grades, and the Future of College Admissions ed. by Jack Buckley, Lynn Letukas, and Ben Wildavsky Ashley B. Clayton and Jenifer F. Godfrey Jack Buckley, Lynn Letukas, and Ben Wildavsky (Editors). Measuring Success: Testing, Grades, and the Future of College Admissions. Baltimore, MD: John Hopkins University Press, 2018. 344 pp. Hardcover: $49.95. ISBN 9781421424965 The value and proper role of standardized tests in American higher education admissions processes has been vigorously debated for decades. Proponents and critics have disagreed about the use and fairness of the two most popular college admissions tests: the ACT and SAT. To further the discussion of standardized admissions testing, Jack Buckley, Lynn Letukas, and Ben Wildavsky edited Measuring Success: Testing, Grades, and the Future of College Admission, as a result of their shared "frustration with the fragmented and incomplete state of the literature around the contemporary debate on college admissions testing" (p. 2). In the Introduction chapter, "The Emergence of Standardized Testing and the Rise of Test-Optional Admissions," the editors give a clear overview of the history of standardized admissions testing, the arguments for and against testing, and the growing test-optional movement. The book consists of three parts made up of eleven chapters authored primarily by researchers, but the practitioner point of view is represented as well. Part 1 (Chapters 1–5), "Making the Case for Standardized Testing," challenges many of the common arguments made in opposition to relying on standardized tests in college admissions. Part 2 (Chapters 6–8), "The Rise of Test-Optional Admissions," narrows the focus of the book to a small subpopulation of colleges utilizing test-optional admissions to illustrate the value of standardized tests in the college admissions process. Lastly, Part 3 (Chapters 9–11), "Contemporary Challenges for College Admissions," focuses primarily on whether test-optional policies yield larger applicant pools and more diverse classes or merely increase college rankings. With the contributions of leading experts in the field, Buckley et al. "sought to foster serious and robust empirical debate about the proper role of standardized admissions testing through rigorous methodological approaches" (p. 2). In Chapter 1, "Eight Myths about Standardized Admissions Testing," Paul R. Sackett and Nathan R. Kuncel present eight commonly cited criticisms of standardized testing that they label as "myths" and their arguments aimed at debunking each. It is evident from the intentional use of the word "myth" in the first chapter, that despite widely held public criticism of standardized testing, the authors believe that these claims are not substantiated. The eight myths cover common critiques of standardized testing such as class, gender, and racial bias, to the claim that standardized tests are highly correlated to socioeconomic status (parental education and family income). The authors dispute each of the eight myths and ultimately conclude that standardized tests are a valuable component in the admissions process. Specifically, they argue that the use of standardized tests "in conjunction with other valid predictors of academic achievement (e.g., high school grades) results in a clearer picture of academic preparation and improves the quality of admissions decisions" (p. 35). In Chapter 2, "The Core Case for Testing: The State of Our Research Knowledge," Emily J. Shaw unpacks the simple truth about admissions tests: [End Page E-17] they provide a common benchmark to compare applicants from a vast sea of educational institutions of varying and largely unknown rigor. Shaw recounts numerous studies that unfailingly conclude that admissions tests are strong and reliable predictors of college performance that become even stronger when coupled with high school grade point average (HSGPA). In addition, the author explains statistical missteps, such as relying on uncorrected correlations or failing to acknowledge multicollinearity, that often lead to contrary conclusions. The authors of Chapter 3, "Grade Inflation and the Role of Standardized Testing," move toward addressing a concern highlighted in Chapter 2: the lack of a standardized assessment of high school performance. Michael Hurwitz and Jason Lee present decades of data revealing widespread high school grade inflation and that HSGPA is higher than ever before. The authors explain that grade inflation is problematic because it reduces the variability in HSGPA, making it harder to distinguish between students' academic preparedness on...