The Future of Testing — Tutor Associates Community Blog

Jun 3

Jun 3 The Future of Testing

Amidst the crisis of COVID-19, spring standardized tests were canceled, some colleges & universities declared an intention to go test-optional this fall, and testing companies began considering online, at-home testing for the fall.

So what’s next for standardizing testing? Below are our current thoughts as well as some interesting articles about the future of higher education.

Students will likely not have the option to take the SAT at home this year…
The College Board recently announced that they do not plan on continuing the development of an at-home SAT for students, citing issues around security and wifi access. They are instead doubling down on frequent in-person testing for the fall and potentially adding testing sessions in January. TA students who are taking the SAT should make sure to register as soon as they can. Students in the class of 2020 or 2021 who do not currently have an SAT score can register now, and registration for all students opens this week. The College Board is also requesting that colleges be flexible with students applying in 2020-2021.

College admissions will be (sort of) flexible about tests this fall...
Some schools (such as Williams, Amherst, Cornell, and Barnard) have announced that they will be test optional for students applying to college this fall. Test optional schools are nothing new. However, typically our students only choose not to test when achieving competitive scores is either difficult, or not worth the tradeoff in time. This year is only slightly different–students without scores will have more options when it comes time to apply, but students who can send competitive scores should still do so. And of course, many universities will continue to require scores from all applicants.

Most top universities will continue to require standardized testing for admissions...
Harvard receives over 40,000 applications each year for a little over 1,500 freshman spots. As long as applications far outnumber available spots at elite universities and colleges, admissions officers will need to rely on standardization to make decisions. Smaller admissions offices have always had the ability to review applications holistically, but most larger schools will continue to use scores–along with grades, extracurriculars and application essays–as they make admissions decisions. For example, the UC system, which includes top schools like UC Berkeley and UCLA, has announced that they will be dropping the SAT/ACT requirement, but they are looking into replacing it with their own admissions test.

The required tests might change...
15 years ago, few students in NYC took the ACT. Now, the majority of our students prefer it. The SAT was out of 1600, then 2400, and now it’s back to 1600. The ACT was already planning to go online, and high school admissions tests like the ISEE have offered an online version for some years.

The tests may change, but the approach won’t: kids will still need exposure, practice, customized strategies and tools, as well as the support of tutors, teachers, learning experts, and their families, in order to excel.