Thread by @JonBoeckenstedt

Thread: Going test optional.

Clue:

The song is about troops returning from WW I: The premise is that it's going to be hard to keep them on the farm after they've experienced Paris and the culture of Europe.

And that made me think about the wave of test-optional announcements in the last few months, and especially the last few days.

There seem to be three ways to approach this:

The first is the way all the public universities in Oregon did it: Test optional. It's permanent.

outhereinoregon.net/2020/03/the-wh…

The second is via a pilot program, the way @DavidsonCollege did it. It's also the way we did it at @DePaulU back in 2011. It makes sense: You have the data, but you want to be sure, so you go all in and see what the data tells you davidson.edu/news/2020/03/3…

The third is the way some universities, like @BU_Tweets did, via a one-year elimination of tests. bu.edu/articles/2020/…

Let's talk about that for a minute. Why one year?

1) Perhaps you've not done the research (which is kind of hard to believe), and this is just a business decision. You want to keep enrolling students, or keep your admit rate high, and you'll take a gamble on other's research

2) Perhaps you have done the research, and testing is important at your university. It's also a business decision, but somewhat problematic: In the name of academic integrity, wouldn't it be better to take a few-point hit on admit rate, or a one-year dip in tuition revenue?

3) Maybe you've known all along that testing isn't really that valuable (like almost all the research not sponsored by College Board or ACT tells you). So what took you so long? Is it because you know, like Yale did in 1965, that tests mostly predict income and keep aid $$ low?

That too, is a business decision. All are moderately problematic, IMHO.

But there is an operational issue, too. Let's say you admit freshmen for Fall, 2021 without tests (good for you).

Your application for Fall, 2022 will open in August, 2021, before those freshmen enroll.

And you're going to tell them that the SAT is now important again? Just because it's (presumably) available, post-COVID-19?

You won't have any research or data for at least four more months, and more likely, a year. But you're going to stick to the SAT?

Good luck with that.

How you gonna keep them taking the SAT once they've seen test optional? How you gonna keep them down on the farm>

Of course, students with privilege will do it. Because it benefits them.

Think about it. One-year test optional seems strategically nonviable at best, and disingenuous at worst.

Again, this calls for EM Leadership. You know you'll do it if @Stanvard_U does.

Oh, and #EMTalk