Improving Equity in University Admission Through a Class Rank Measure: Easier Said Than Done

• In Event: AERA Poster Session 1
  In Poster Session: Division J Poster Session: College Student Access

Abstract

Evaluative models are crucial to program improvement, yet often evaluation is overlooked by policy-makers, particularly when programs are substantiated by moral arguments that appeal to the common good. The study describes an ex-post evaluation of a major reform aimed to improve equity in university admission: the use of a class-rank measure in addition to high-school grades and tests for selection purposes. The study was collaboratively designed with the participation of researchers and organizational stakeholders including a major actor: the head of the testing agency in charge of the selection process. The study aims to investigate a broad range of positive and negative outcomes associated to the class-rank policy.

Authors

• Sergio Araneda, University of Massachusetts - Amherst

• Mónica Silva, Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile

• Leonor Varas, Universidad de Chile