In May 2019, College Board published the first national operational SAT® validity study on the new SAT introduced in 2016. Based on data from more than 221,000 students across 169 four-year colleges and universities, the study showed that the SAT was essentially as effective as high school grades in predicting students' college performance and…

The continued accumulation of validity evidence for the intended uses of educational assessment scores is critical to ensuring that inferences made using the scores are sound. To that end, the College Board has continued to collect college outcome data to evaluate the relationship between SAT® scores and college success. This report provides…

Admission offices at colleges and universities often use SAT® scores to make decisions about applicants for their incoming class. Many institutions use prediction models to quantify a student's potential for success using various measures, including SAT scores (NACAC, 2016). In March 2016, the College Board introduced a redesigned SAT that better…

In February of 2013, the College Board announced it would undertake a redesign of the SAT® in order to develop an assessment that better reflects the work that students will do in college, focusing on the core knowledge and skills that evidence has shown to be critical in preparation for college and career. The redesigned test will be introduced…

The current study examines how the integration of SAT scores with context information about students' neighborhood and high school from the College Board's Landscape™ resource can provide institutions with a nuanced perspective on students' expected performance and retention. This allows institutions to identify incoming students that may benefit…

The purpose of this study was to address Advanced Placement (AP)® policy-related questions from administrators at the University System of Georgia (USG) using current AP Exam records and student course performance at four institutions. Specifically, comparisons of sequent or subsequent course grades were made between AP and non-AP students. This…

During the transition period between the use of exclusively old SAT® scores and the use of exclusively new SAT scores, college admission offices will be receiving both types of scores from students. Making an admission decision based on new SAT scores can be challenging at first because institutions have methods, procedures, and models based on…

This study examines the value of SAT Math scores for predicting first-year college math course performance, beyond HSGPA, and across colleges and universities of varying selectivity. Findings demonstrate that SAT Math scores are a highly useful tool for course placement, above and beyond HS grades, and that the validity of scores hold across…

Previous research has examined undergraduate student performance changes pre- and post-covid, overall and by institutional subgroupings. Standardized test scores tended to decline while high school and undergraduate grades increased. The current study expands upon this research by examining changes across student subgroups of interest, notably by…

Utilizing course grade data from 22 four-year higher education institutions, this study highlights the trends in first-year grade point average (FYGPA) between the 2017-2018 and 2021-2022 academic years, the period immediately before and after the pandemic disrupted both K12 and higher education. Results showed that while FYGPAs generally…

This pilot study examines digital SAT® score relationships with first-year college performance. Results show that digital SAT scores predict college performance as well as paper and pencil SAT scores, and that digital SAT scores meaningfully improve our understanding of a student's readiness for college above high school grade point average…

Traditionally, a college grade point average (GPA) of 2.00 or higher has signified that a student has made acceptable academic progress and avoided academic probation. However, having a 3.00 or higher has signified a level of success that is often required for admission to graduate school, maintaining a scholarship or enrollment in an honors…

Over the past several years, content experts, psychometricians, and researchers have been hard at work developing, refining, and studying the digital SAT. The work is grounded in foundational best practices and advances in measurement and assessment design, with fairness for students informing all of the work done. This paper shares learnings from…

This study examines relationships between digital SAT scores and other relevant educational measures, such as high school grade point average (HSGPA), PSAT/NMSQT Total score, and Average AP Exam score, and compares those relationships to current paper and pencil SAT score relationships with the same measures. This information can provide…

This SAT® validity study focuses on SAT relationships with student outcomes in career and technical education (CTE) programs at two-year postsecondary institutions. This study draws upon two samples, one with 14,357 students initially enrolled at 55 two-year institutions and another with 46,098 students initially enrolled at 580 institutions.…