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Myths and Tradeoffs: The Role of Tests in Undergraduate Admissions (1999)

Chapter: Appendix A: Agenda, Workshop on the Role of Tests in Higher Education Admission

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Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Agenda, Workshop on the Role of Tests in Higher Education Admission." National Research Council. 1999. Myths and Tradeoffs: The Role of Tests in Undergraduate Admissions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9632.
×

Appendix A

Agenda

The Role of Tests in Higher Education Admissions

A National Research Council Workshop sponsored by the Board on Testing and Assessment and the Office of Scientific and Engineering Personnel

DECEMBER 17-Wyndham Bristol Hotel, 2430 Pennsylvania Avenue, 202-955-6400

8:30 am

Welcome and Introduction

 

This workshop is designed as a preliminary exploration of key issues in the debate over the rational role of standardized test results in the selection of students for college. Its purpose is to assist BOTA and OSEP in examining the proper role of test data in higher education admissions, and in identifying directions for further investigation.

 

M.R.C. Greenwood, University of California, Santa Cruz, chair, OSEP

 

Robert Linn, University of Colorado, Boulder, chair, BOTA

8:45 am

Defining Successful Students and Institutional Goals

 

Moderator. Robert Linn

 

Presentation: What is the range of successful college performance across institutions? How do schools determine which questions they want answered about applicants?

 

Thomas Kane, Kennedy School, Harvard University

 

Discussion:

Richard Atkinson, University of California

Maryanne Fox, North Carolina State University

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Agenda, Workshop on the Role of Tests in Higher Education Admission." National Research Council. 1999. Myths and Tradeoffs: The Role of Tests in Undergraduate Admissions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9632.
×

9:45 am

Break

10:00 am

Demystifying the Numbers

 

Moderator. John Wiley, University of Wisconsin, Madison

 

Paper: High Stakes and Ubiquitous Presence: An Overview and Comparison of the ACT Assessment Program and the SAT program.

 

Richard Jaeger, University of North Carolina

Linda Wightman, University of North Carolina

 

Paper: National Trends in the Use of Test Scores in College Admissions

 

Hunter Breland, Educational Testing Service

 

Discussion: Are the uses of test results consistent with the intentions of the examiners?

 

Discussants: Nancy Cole, Educational Testing Service

Richard Ferguson, American College Testing

Howard Everson, The College Board

12:00 pm

LUNCH

 

Current Practices and Their Impacts

 

Moderators:

Michael Kirst, Stanford University

William Taylor, Attorney at Law

1:00 pm

Paper: Validity in College Selection: Context and Evidence

 

Warren Willingham, Educational Testing Service

 

Paper: True Scores, Consequences, and People: Tests and Their Impact on Selection and Educational Progress of Minorities

 

Sylvia Johnson, Howard University

Discussant: Gary Natriello, Columbia University

2:00 pm

Break

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Agenda, Workshop on the Role of Tests in Higher Education Admission." National Research Council. 1999. Myths and Tradeoffs: The Role of Tests in Undergraduate Admissions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9632.
×

2:15 pm

Presentation: Rethinking Selection in the Current Legal Environment

 

Susan Sturm, University of Pennsylvania Law School

 

Discussion

3:30 pm

Panel Discussion: Admissions officers reflect on political, practical, and legal pressures that affect the selection process

 

David Cuttino,Tufts University

Thomas Parker, Williams College

Robert Seltzer, University of Wisconsin

4:30 pm

Adjourn

DECEMBER 18-National Academy of Sciences, 2101 Constitution Ave., 202-334-1578

 

Current Practices and Their Impacts

8:30 am

Paper: Prominent Explanations and Potential Prominent Factors in the Black/White Test Score Gap

 

Samuel Lucas, University of California, Berkeley

 

Discussion: Is the predictive validity of test scores sufficient to outweigh evidence of disparate impact?

 

Discussants: David Breneman, University of Virginia

Stacey Berg Dale, The Andrew Mellon Foundation

Meredith Phillips, UCLA

Debra Stewart, North Carolina State University

 

Moderator. Christopher Edley, Harvard Law School

10:15 am

Break

 

Alternatives and Supplements to Testing

 

Moderator. Carlos Gutierrez, California State University, Los Angeles

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Agenda, Workshop on the Role of Tests in Higher Education Admission." National Research Council. 1999. Myths and Tradeoffs: The Role of Tests in Undergraduate Admissions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9632.
×

10:30 am

Presentation: Current practices on University of California campuses

 

Dennis Galligani, University of California

 

Panel Discussion: Admissions officers reflect on promising alternatives and supplements to test scores

 

David Conley, University of Oregon

William Hiss, Bates College

Robert Seltzer, University of Wisconsin

Audrey Smith, Hampshire College

Peter Van Buskirk, Franklin and Marshall College

12:30 pm

LUNCH

1:30 pm

Panel Discussion: Perspectives on the practical and policy issues associated with the selection process

 

Moderator. Robert Linn

 

Daniel Koretz, Boston College

Ronald Latanision, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

Susan Sturm, University of Pennsylvania

Thomas Kane, Kennedy School, Harvard University

3:00 pm

Synthesis and Reflections on Next Steps

 

Moderators: M.R.C. Greenwood and Robert Linn

3:30 pm

Adjourn

Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Agenda, Workshop on the Role of Tests in Higher Education Admission." National Research Council. 1999. Myths and Tradeoffs: The Role of Tests in Undergraduate Admissions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9632.
×
Page 37
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Agenda, Workshop on the Role of Tests in Higher Education Admission." National Research Council. 1999. Myths and Tradeoffs: The Role of Tests in Undergraduate Admissions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9632.
×
Page 38
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Agenda, Workshop on the Role of Tests in Higher Education Admission." National Research Council. 1999. Myths and Tradeoffs: The Role of Tests in Undergraduate Admissions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9632.
×
Page 39
Suggested Citation:"Appendix A: Agenda, Workshop on the Role of Tests in Higher Education Admission." National Research Council. 1999. Myths and Tradeoffs: The Role of Tests in Undergraduate Admissions. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press. doi: 10.17226/9632.
×
Page 40
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More than 8 million students enrolled in 4-year, degree-granting postsecondary institutions in the United States in 1996. The multifaceted system through which these students applied to and were selected by the approximately 2,240 institutions in which they enrolled is complex, to say the least; for students, parents, and advisers, it is often stressful and sometimes bewildering. This process raises important questions about the social goals that underlie the sorting of students, and it has been the subject of considerable controversy.

The role of standardized tests in this sorting process has been one of the principal flashpoints in discussions of its fairness. Tests have been cited as the chief evidence of unfairness in lawsuits over admissions decisions, criticized as biased against minorities and women, and blamed for the fierce competitiveness of the process. Yet tests have also been praised for their value in providing a common yardstick for comparing students from diverse schools with different grading standards.

Myths and Tradeoffs identifies and corrects some persistent myths about standardized admissions tests and highlight some of the specific tradeoffs that decisions about the uses of tests entail; presents conclusions and recommendations about the role of tests in college admissions; and lays out several issues about which information would clearly help decision makers, but about which the existing data are either insufficient or need synthesis and interpretation. This report will benefit a broad audience of college and university officials, state and other officials and lawmakers, and others who are wrestling with decisions about admissions policies, definitions of merit, legal actions, and other issues.

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