SAT和ACT真的沒用了嗎？

現在已經有超過60%的美國大學，在本科申請中不再要求學生提供SAT、ACT或其他標準考試的成績，有不少甚至更進一步，即使學生遞交了標準考試成績，審核時也完全不看。那麽(me) 是不是說SAT/ACT被拋棄已是定數了呢？其實我們(men) 之前就談過，這仍然是一個(ge) 有爭(zheng) 議的話題，沒有定論。各個(ge) 學校的看法是不一樣的，現在有不少大學，包括MIT、哈佛、布朗這樣的名校，都覺得還是應該要求標考成績。

而且很遺憾的一點，這已經變成了一個(ge) 政治化議題，也就是說，是否取消SAT已經不是單純為(wei) 了對學生更公平有利，還取決(jue) 於(yu) 各大學是站在激進派一方還是傳(chuan) 統派一方。我們(men) 今天就轉載來自反方的一篇報道，看看各大名校招生官的真實看法：

SAT defended from 'misguided' attacks as test increasingly becomes optional for students

'It's not politically correct,' the Georgetown admissions dean said of supporting the SAT

ByJeffrey ClarkFox News

Standardized testing for college admissions has come under intense scrutiny, especially during the COVID pandemic. But some administrators and testing experts are arguing that the backlash against tests like the SAT and ACT is unfair and based on little evidence, according toThe New York Times.

"[A] growing number of experts and university administrators wonder whether the switch has been a mistake," New York Times reporter David Leonhardt wrote in a feature on the trend away from testing requirements at U.S. colleges.

標準化考試作為(wei) 大學入學的評估手段受到了很大的質疑，尤其在COVID疫情期間。但一些校方人員和測試專(zhuan) 家認為(wei) ，對SAT和ACT的反對是不公平的，並且缺乏足夠的證據。《紐約時報》記者大衛·萊昂哈特在一篇關(guan) 於(yu) 美國大學放棄考試要求趨勢的專(zhuan) 題中寫(xie) 道：“越來越多的專(zhuan) 家和大學懷疑這種改變是一個(ge) 錯誤。”

"Research has increasingly shown that standardized test scores contain real information, helping to predict college grades, chances of graduation and post-college success,"Leonhardt wrote in a featurefrom Sunday. "Test scores are more reliable than high school grades, partly because of grade inflation in recent years."

“越來越多的研究表明，標準化考試成績包含了真實信息，有助於(yu) 預測學生將來的大學成績、畢業(ye) 率、和畢業(ye) 後的事業(ye) 成功，”萊昂哈特在一篇周日的專(zhuan) 題中寫(xie) 道。“考試分數比高中成績GPA更可靠，部分原因是近年來的美高GPA成績出現了不少水分。”

Some administrators at America's top universities agree that tests like the SAT and ACT are valuable predictors of academic success. "Standardized test scores are a much better predictor of academic success than high school grades," president of Brown University Christina Paxsonwrote in a letterpublished in June.

一些美國頂尖大學的官員們(men) 同意，像SAT和ACT這樣的考試，對預測學生在大學學習(xi) 的成功有很大的價(jia) 值。“標準化考試成績比高中成績GPA能更好地預測大學學習(xi) 成功”布朗大學校長克裏斯蒂娜·帕克森在6月發表的一封信中寫(xie) 道。

Dean of admissions at MIT Stuart Schmill told the Times that grades did not tell the entire story of a student. "Just getting straight A’s is not enough information for us to know whether the students are going to succeed or not," Schmill said.

麻省理工學院招生主任斯圖爾特·舒米爾告訴時報，GPA成績並不能完全反映一個(ge) 學生的全部情況。“隻是得到全A並不足夠讓我們(men) 知道學生是否會(hui) 成功，”舒米爾說。

Schmill has also argued that MIT, one of the few elite institutions in the U.S. that maintained its testing requirement, actually increased diversity on campus. "Once we brought the test requirement back, we admitted the most diverse class that we ever had in our history," Schmill told The Times. "Having test scores was helpful."

舒米爾還指出，作為(wei) 美國為(wei) 數不多保持標考成績要求的精英機構之一，麻省理工實際上增加了校園學生的多樣性。“在我們(men) 恢複了考試要求後，我們(men) 錄取了曆史上最多元化的年級，”舒米爾告訴時報。“標考成績是有幫助的。”

"Test scores have vastly more predictive power than is commonly understood in the popular debate," Brown University economics professor John Friedman said. Friedman was one of theauthors of a studyon the importance of testing for highly selective colleges in the U.S.

“在當前社會(hui) 流行的爭(zheng) 論中，大家普遍低估了標考成績的強大預測能力，”布朗大學經濟學教授約翰·弗裏德曼說。弗裏德曼是一項關(guan) 於(yu) 標考成績對美國頂尖大學重要性的研究的作者之一。

Liberals have led the outcry against standardized testing, claiming that the tests discriminate against Black and Hispanic students, who tend to score lower than White and Asian students.

自由主義(yi) 者一直在強烈反對標準化測試，聲稱這些測試歧視黑人和西班牙裔學生，他們(men) 的分數往往低於(yu) 白人和亞(ya) 裔學生。

Leonhardt, however, objected to the argument that "racial and economic gaps in SAT and ACT scores" prove that the "tests are biased.""After all, most measures of life in America — on income, life expectancy, homeownership and more — show gaps," he wrote for the New York Times. "No wonder: Our society suffers from huge inequities. The problem isn’t generally with the statistics, however. The relatively high Black poverty rate is not a sign that the statistic is biased. Nor would scrapping the statistic alleviate poverty."

然而，萊昂哈特反對“不同種族和貧富群體(ti) 中的SAT/ACT分數有較大差異”，就說明了“標考是帶歧視偏見”的論點。“總的來說，美國生活的大多數方麵 —— 收入、預期壽命、房屋擁有率等等 —— 都存在差異，”他在紐約時報上寫(xie) 道，“沒錯，我們(men) 的社會(hui) 存在巨大的不平等。然而問題通常不在於(yu) 這些統計數據結果。相對較高的黑人貧困率並不意味著該統計數據有歧視偏見。取消或忽視該統計數據也並不能緩解貧困。”

"When you don’t have test scores, the students who suffer most are those with high grades at relatively unknown high schools, the kind that rarely send kids to the Ivy League," Harvard economist David Deming said. "The SAT is their lifeline."

“當大學錄取沒有標考成績時，受害最多的是那些在相對不知名的高中取得高GPA的學生，這類高中的學生很少進入常春藤大學，”哈佛經濟學家大衛·德明說，“SAT是他們(men) 的救命稻草。”

Other professors advocate for an entirely revolutionary admissions system tohigher education. University of California Riverside professor Eddie Comeaux told The Times that "[h]aving a lottery" would force the education system to "radically rethink what it means to gain access and also to learn, rather than accepting the status quo."

其他教授主張對高等教育進行完全革命性的招生製度。加利福尼亞(ya) 大學河濱分校教授埃迪·科默克斯告訴時報，“進行彩票抽簽”將迫使教育係統“徹底重新思考獲得通行權和學到東(dong) 西的含義(yi) ，而不是接受現狀”

Some school administrators said that the conversation about standardized testing is a highly political one. For progressives, supporting tests like the SAT and ACT can be dangerous."It’s not politically correct," Georgetown University admissions dean Charles Deacontold Intelligencer in a 2022 interview.

一些校方人員表示，關(guan) 於(yu) 標化考試的討論是一個(ge) 高度政治化的話題。對於(yu) 所謂進步人士來說，支持像SAT和ACT這樣的測試是危險的。“支持標化考試不是政治正確的，”喬(qiao) 治敦大學招生主任查爾斯·迪肯在2022年接受Intelligencer采訪時說。