Let me stress that I am not against all standardized testing. On the contrary, I believe tests that are developed properly and used responsibly can help students gauge how they are doing relative to other students while helping the public to assess the effectiveness of schools. The problem is not the use of standardized tests to assess knowledge in well-defined subject areas. The problem is tests that do not have a demonstrable relationship to the student's program of study, a problem amplified when the tests are assumed to measure innate ability. Yet the SAT I looms large, not just in the lives of students, but for teachers, parents, admissions officers and university presidents.
Teachers are under increasing pressure to raise students' scores.
College admissions officers are also under pressure to increase the SAT scores of each entering class. In short, it has become the educational equivalent of a nuclear arms race. It must stop. Under my proposal, UC will use standardized tests in its admissions process that are directly tied to the college preparatory courses required of students. Until these tests are available, we will continue to require three SAT II subject tests in writing, mathematics and a third test of their choice.