Editorial: Score Choice program bad for test-takers

‘ ‘ ‘ The College Board, the company that distributes and scores the SAT, recently announced… ‘ ‘ ‘ The College Board, the company that distributes and scores the SAT, recently announced that a new option would be available to anyone taking the test after this March. The option allows students to show only the scores of their choice to school admissions boards, rather than every score of every test. The program, called Score Choice, is aimed at reducing student stress over the admission process, according to the College Board. ‘ ‘ ‘ Some notoriously selective schools like Stanford and the University of Pennsylvania have already said that they would not work with Score Choice, preferring students to send in all their scores so the admissions officials can compare subscores from different test dates rather than simply seeing a student’s best single test overall. ‘ ‘ ‘ In some respects, the program looks like a good idea. By removing the pressure of a school seeing every score, students shouldn’t be as worried about getting perfect scores on their first attempt at the test. And if they would happen to get a bad score, on any one of their test sittings, they can choose that prospective schools not see it. ‘ ‘ ‘ Some critics, though, accuse the College Board of using Score Choice as a marketing tool that encourages students to take the test multiple times without fear of penalty. The ACT, the biggest competitor to the SAT, has offered a system much like Score Choice for several years and has also enjoyed increasing numbers of test-takers each year. ‘ ‘ ‘ Score Choice could simply be a way for the SAT to compete with the ACT more directly, or to attract students back to the former test. It’s also possible that it’s a ploy to get students to take the test multiple times without worrying about a decrease in scores. ‘ ‘ ‘ SAT critics have said that college admission boards place too much emphasis on standardized tests, and an increasingly large number of schools no longer require SAT or ACT scores as part of students’ applications. As more schools remove these tests from their lists of requirements, it’s likely that they will fall out of favor with the majority of students applying to college. Score Choice might simply be an encouragement for students to take the SAT stress-free. ‘ ‘ ‘ More generally, Score Choice seems like only one of an increasing number of examples of artificial enhancement for students that allows them to look better under increasingly harsh scrutiny. The policy could be compared to the 50-percent grading policy of the Pittsburgh Public Schools, where the lowest grade a student can receive on an assignment or test is an ‘E,’ which ranges from a 50 to 59 percent score. ‘ ‘ ‘ These policies seem more concerned with weighting grades and appearances in a favorable manner, rather than presenting the students according to the levels of actual achievement. ‘ ‘ ‘ Students taking the SAT should be encouraged to do their best, but the people administering the tests shouldn’t encourage students to cover up potential mistakes to look a little better to admissions boards. Students aren’t given the option to remove other poor grades from their records, so the SAT shouldn’t be an exception.