Claudia Buchmann, Dennis Condron and Vincent Roscigno's study, titled "Shadow Education, American Style: Test Preparation, the SAT and College Enrollment," demonstrates that vigorous use of expensive test preparation tools, such as private classes and tutors, significantly boosts scores on standardized exams such as the SAT or ACT. This…

"America in Black and White: One Nation Indivisible: Race in Modern America," by Stephan and Abigail Thernstrom, has become important in the movement to abolish affirmative action in higher education. Suggests the book seriously misinterprets and misuses evidence to make its case, refuting specific results the book cites related to…

Addresses the question of why there is a decrease in college participation by blacks and whether this indicates that American society is becoming more racist. It explains how low expectations about going to college can negatively affect secondary school performance and how government policies contributed to those expectations. (GR)

Discusses the consequences to the nation and to Blacks of abolishing affirmative action in college and university admission policies. It examines the impact of abandoning racial preferences on school admissions, particularly as it concerns graduate and medical schools. The author argues that without the use of racial preferences far fewer Blacks…

Race-sensitive admission policies prevail at most private colleges. Questions why more lawsuits have not challenged such policies, discussing difficulties in mounting lawsuits; legal differences between suing public and private institutions; the court's passion for private decision making; racial gaps in test scores at private institutions;…

The question of how graduate schools can include race as an admission criteria and give equitable treatment in admissions decisions is addressed by considering some aspects of the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) scores and the use and misuse of test scores in admissions procedures. The GRE is used in admissions procedures to prove an…

The uses and limitations of tests and college admissions policies and procedures are considered, and some testing/admissions guidelines for selective graduate and professional schools in the post-Bakke era are suggested. Among the uses of tests are the following: diagnosing academic deficiencies and weaknesses; determining the level of mastery;…

Major assumptions and goals on which professional school admission decisions are based, the use of the Law School Admission Test (LSAT) as an admission criteria, and approaches to admission used by the Temple University Law School are examined. One consideration in making admissions policies is group needs, or whether there is a need for more…

Questions whether the nation's most prestigious colleges and universities are admitting large numbers of black students who are not capable of competing with their white classmates and if admission double standards are doing more harm than good. The article is followed by editorial comments addressing the author's position on mismatching. (GR)