The test-optional movement in American college admissions emerged as a response to the challenged notion that standardized tests, such as the SAT and ACT, predict student success. Research has shown that the tests may be discriminatory towards students from disadvantaged racial and ethnic backgrounds. This study examined two cohorts of incoming…

Annually, ACT provides each state with "The Condition of College & Career Readiness," a report that details the college readiness of students who took the ACT[R] test. Based on extensive empirical research, ACT has defined "college and career readiness" as the acquisition of knowledge and skills a student needs to enroll…

This report presents a comprehensive look at girls' educational achievement during the past 35 years, paying special attention to the relationship between girls' and boys' progress. Analyses of results from national standardized tests, such as the National Assessment of Educational Progress (NAEP) and the SAT and ACT college entrance examinations,…

This paper presents and reviews gender, racial/ethnic, language, and socioeconomic subgroup performance differences on the SAT® over nearly the last two decades. Theories on the existence of subgroup differences are examined. Substantial revisions to the SAT were made in 1994, and again in 2005. The short-term and long-term impact of these…

Group differences among ethnic and racial groups on a series of educational measures and outcomes are examined. African-American and Hispanic students perform substantially lower than white and Asian students on the SAT I. These substantial differences also exist on a variety of other admissions tests used for undergraduate, graduate, and…