The Others: A Systematic Review of Literature on Use of SAT/ACT and College Access

• In Event: Do SATs/ACTs Inform Equitable Admissions and Scholarship Decisions for the 21st Century? A Validation Review

Abstract

Purpose

This particular paper researchers used to provide literature-based perspectives on how the SATs and ACTs related to other student-level variables that do not always predict student success or, rather, the extent to which SAT and ACT output are related to variables other than those of highest import (e.g., student attainment as predicted using the SATs and ACTs).

Perspectives

Per the Standards (AERA et al., 2014), this type of validity evidence refers to the relationship the SAT and ACT output have with other variables, ultimately in terms of how SAT and ACT output empirically support the aforementioned IUA in terms of their predicative capabilities (Zwick & Sklar, 2005).

Methods

Again, as part of the larger empirical study described prior, 58 of the 74 manuscripts selected for the larger study (77% of the sample) included validity evidence related to other variables. Beyond numerical analyses, researchers used an iterative process to analyze and construct themes as per these 58 articles that resulted in pertinent other variables pertaining to: (a) admissions, (b) academic performance, (c) gender, (d) and coaching/interventions.

Results

Researchers found that authors of these 58 articles were neither supportive nor challenging to the IUA. Authors of 46 papers who researched this area directly positioned their evidence as significantly less challenging to the IUA, which countered the 12 authors who positioned the evidence they referenced from other sources as challenging the IUA. Furthermore, authors of these articles yielded mixed positions on the general ability of the SATs and ACTs to predict collegiate success (Crouse, 1985a; Crouse & Trushiem, 1991; Breland & Griswold, 1982), as well as using either test for admissions decisions more expressly (Aguinis et al., 2016; Atkinson & Geiser, 2009). Notable in this area is that several authors (Slack & Porter, 1980a; Royer et al., 1987; Zwick & Sklar, 2005) also evidenced that high school class ranks and grade point averages were better predictors than SAT or ACT scores.

Significance

Validity evidence based on relations to other variables is an essential component to consider in educational and psychology measurement per the Standards (AERA et al., 2014). Because this is a smaller investigation of the larger study, researchers identified articles that either support or challenge the use of SATs or ACTs to measure validity evidence on other variables. Findings suggest that although the SATs and ACTs are valid measurement instruments, the test should be used in conjunction with other predictors or utilize a diverse list of student indicators to measure high school learning and college readiness.

Author

• Emeka Ikegwuonu, Saint Cloud State University