In this essay, Rebecca Zwick confronts the controversy surrounding the use of standardized tests in college admissions. She examines the degree to which the SAT and its lesser known cousin, the ACT, limit access to college, particularly for racial and ethnic minorities, and considers two alternative admissions policies that do not involve tests:…

Valedictorians are not always the most accomplished students because some academically gifted youth take easy courses to maintain their grade point averages, although others risk their grades by taking more challenging classes. To address this problem, Bear Creek High School (Jefferson County, Colorado) created higher academic standards and…

Describes an alternative to the traditional grading system and its relation to student placement in colleges and universities. (AN)

Based on the Gaussian model, methods for using measurements that depend on the true attribute to compute rankings are proposed and compared. Measurements based on an empirical Bayes model produce estimates that differ from ranking observed data. Ranking methods are illustrated with school achievement data. (TJH)

Examines the use of rank-in-class (RIC) in the college admission process. Reviews the changes occurring in education that have an effect on RIC. Discusses the advantages of using RIC as a predictor of college success. (MKA)

This article uses four data sets to assess changes in the relative weights of test- and performance-based merit criteria on college enrollment during the 1980s and 1990s and considers their significance for affirmative action. Our results support the "shifting meritocracy" hypothesis, revealed by selective postsecondary institutions'…

The document is a summary of the conference proceedings for the 23rd Annual Farmingdale State College Teaching of Psychology Conference held on March 20-21, 2009 at the DoubleTree Hotel in Tarrytown, New York. The conference featured a keynote address by Dr. Jeffrey Nevid on Reaching and teaching the millennials: Helping today's students become…

Freshmen participating in the honors program had higher levels of achievement after one year than did an equivalent comparison group and a comparison group of randomly selected freshmen. (Author)

Nonfreshmen business students at two universities (n=333) evaluated two open-ended arithmetic expressions; 14.8% evaluated the first incorrectly and 33.3% the second. More recent high school graduates performed better. A refresher lesson on order of operations was recommended. (SK)

Describes study investigating why some academically able students attending "star" public high schools are rejected by selective colleges even though their SAT scores are often much higher than those admitted from other high schools. (PKP)

The effects of various college preparation programs, class ranking, and student background characteristics on college retention were studied. The data were obtained from the National Education Longitudinal Study:1988-2000 and NELS:88/2000 Postsecondary Education Transcript Study. The sample contained 4,445 first-time freshmen students who enrolled…

This paper addresses how institutional selectivity influences college preferences and enrollment decisions of Texas seniors in the presence of a putatively race-neutral admissions policy--the top 10% law. We analyze a representative survey of Texas high school seniors as of spring, 2002, who were re-interviewed 1 year later to evaluate differences…

The University School of Milwaukee eliminated class rank and substituted a bar graph system, illustrated and explained in the article. (SP)

Examines the relationship between class rank and intelligence skills for a group of 75 physically handicapped students mainstreamed into two regular vocational-technical high school programs. (Author/CM)