We've all seen The New York Times headlines about higher education institutions announcing a return to required admissions testing. In this presentation, Dr. Nathan Kuncel, a nationally recognized researcher on the validity of standardized tests for predicting academic performance, explains the research behind those decisions and why it applies to K–12 admissions. 

Dr. Keith Wright, Vice President of Psychometrics and Assessments at the Enrollment Management Association, elaborates on the strict SSAT practices that ensure fairness for all test takers.

In addition to the video, you can also access the presentation deck to share and discuss with your admissions team. 

Some of the key talking points include:

• Grade inflation has made test scores a more reliable predictor than grades [04:45, slides 6–7]
• As a result, schools will see more variability in student performance when relying solely on grades and transcripts [08:41, slide 9]
• How can testing help with diversity? [09:18, slides 10–13]
• Applied research with three K–12 schools revealed that the SSAT was the single best predictor of student grades [16:05, slides 15–16]
• Suggestions for evaluating the whole student in the application process [19:13, slides 17–20]
• Mitigating bias in a holistic admission process [25:20, slides 23–24]
• EMA's extensive assessment construction process is engineered explicitly to mitigate bias and promote fairness [27:37, slides 25–29]
• Removing test scores from consideration emphasizes criteria rich with economic bias [35:33, slides 30-31]
• Misuse of test scores [40:37, slide 32]

Independent schools are invited to contact us with questions about the presentation or the SSAT.