Misconception #2: Merit can be defined by test scores.

Linda Wightman, in her chapter titled "Standardized Testing and Equal Access: A Tutorial," looks at the history of standardized test use and the evolution of tests as the principal screening device in determining admission to higher education. Arguments against affirmative action and other race-conscious policies that are intended to diversify university campuses, are predicated on the common public notion that there are ways of measuring merit that are fairly precise and scientific, and that departure from using these tests inevitably results in unfair discrimination against someone who is more deserving. Wightman argues that the tests are far from being infallible and comprehensive measures of merit. While these tests are shown to be statistically sound, policies based on such a narrow definition of merit inevitably exclude students whose qualifications are not consonant with this definition. These policies also create a more homogeneous student body who will be unable to profit from the knowledge and perspectives that a diversity of experiences and backgrounds affords. The following points are the key pieces of evidence used to support this claim:

• The factors that determine merit and capacity for success—a mixture of ability, talent, and motivation—are not measured by standardized tests.

• The correlation of standardized test scores with first year college grades is at best modest.

• The misuse of test scores for purposes beyond which they have been validated have had a systematic adverse impact on minority applicants to higher education. The differences in the performance of black and white test takers are a magnitude of approximately one standard deviation in each of the admission testing programs. Much of this significant difference in performance can be attributed to environmental and societal factors that neither reflect an individual’s level of achievement nor his/her capacity to achieve if given the opportunity.

• Although flagrant item bias and insensitivity problems of individual test questions have mostly been eradicated in the past decade, differential predictive validity of tests exists among different racial and ethnic groups. Although the cause of this differential predictive validity is unknown, its well documented existence puts in question the utility of uniformly considering the test scores of all applicants.

• Data from various studies suggest that basing admissions decisions entirely on test scores and grade point averages would substantially reduce the proportion of admitted applicants from select minority groups. More importantly, most minority students who would have been denied admission (if decisions were based solely on numerical indicators) succeeded when they were given an opportunity to participate.