High school students have breathed a sigh of relief for the last couple of years as some colleges decided to make their applications test-optional during the COVID pandemic, meaning they did not need to submit their SAT or ACT scores. However, following recent researchrevealing that standardized test scores have substantive predictive power for academic success in college, top universities like Harvard, Yale, and Dartmouth have decided to require the tests again. But should it be reinstated at all? Those in favor of reinstating it say the SAT is a usefultool that ensures admitted students have demonstrated high cognitive abilities and aptitude and are ready for college coursework. They argue the SAT acts as a social equalizer by leveling the playing field for applicants who are part of a lower socioeconomic scale. Those against it argue that the test says it is a measure of student potential that favors the affluent and that admissions decisions should be based on a holistic, more inclusive review that considers a wide range of factors, from extracurricular activities to personal essays and recommendations.We debate the question: Should Elite Universities Reinstate the SAT?
David writes a column for the Monday Business section of the New York Times that focuses on media issues, including print, digital, film, radio, and television.
Mainstream media is dying. The network evening news audience is in steady decline; the big three magazine publishers, Time Inc., Condé Nast and Hearst have all closed or consolidated titles; and the newspaper industry has been especially ravaged, with dailies folding across the country. Increasingly people get their news from the internet and from cable channels. Advertisers are moving on to Google and other non-traditional sources. Do these developments leave us better off? The democratization of news, in an unfiltered…
Mainstream media is dying. The network evening news audience is in steady decline; the big three magazine publishers, Time Inc., Condé Nast and Hearst have all closed or consolidated titles; and the newspaper industry has…