Reviews two books criticizing the use of standardized testing. Nicholas Lehmann considers selective college admission based on the Scholastic Assessment Tests (SAT) offensive, since such tests never tap innate abilities. Peter Sacks develops a broader critique not confined to the SAT. The books suggest that effective education reform depends upon…

Examines the accessibility of higher education in nine western European countries in terms of selectivity and affordability. Finds much variation in relative selectivity, ranging from strong entrance selection procedures (Finland, Sweden, and the United Kingdom) to those with open systems (Austria, Belgium-Flanders, and the Netherlands). Finds…

In the minds of most people, the best colleges are those that are the most selective. The purpose of this document is to discover if students at more selective institutions have or take greater advantage of learning opportunities. Two independent datasets were used to research this idea. The first is the National Study of Student Learning (NSSL),…

Most colleges and universities emphasize identifying smartness much more than developing smartness. This value is made explicit in the many influential rankings of colleges and universities, in which elitist schools who recruit students with high SAT scores, grade point averages, and class rankings are declared "better" than other…

As the Aimhigher programme is a targeted initiative, partnerships have to find ways of locating groups that are under-represented in higher education (HE) and selecting participants for interventions. If the selection criteria are not robust, resources will be misdirected, while overly narrow indicators can exclude legitimate participants and risk…

This article examines secondary school admissions criteria in England. The analysis revealed that in a significant minority of schools, notably those responsible for their own admissions--voluntary-aided and foundation schools--a variety of criteria were used which appear to be designed to select certain groups of pupils and so exclude others.…

Magnet schools have been criticized for intensifying the concentration of disadvantaged, low-achieving students at neighborhood high schools. This article investigates the impact of academically selective magnet high schools on the average achievement of ninth graders enrolling in neighborhood high schools in a large urban school district. The…

High attrition from a selective school is an especially unexpected institutional outcome: Students and schools invest significant resources to ensure a match. This study examines the departure process underlying students' decisions to leave college, based on a case study of attrition at a major selective urban American university. The analysis is…

In its much-anticipated review of affirmative action, the Supreme Court upheld the educational importance of diversity. Amid great controversy, confusion, and debate, the U.S. Supreme Court this June issued its much-anticipated decisions in two University of Michigan cases addressing affirmative action in higher education admissions. The Court was…

As a counselor at Montclair High School (New Jersey) for the past eleven years, the author worries about the best and the brightest of U.S. high school students who are suffering from anxiety, depression, anorexia and panic attacks. The author suspects that the common thread among these students is the obsessive desire to obtain admission to the…

Students from low-income families are greatly underrepresented at selective colleges and universities in the United States. In an attempt to increase applications from low-income students, some institutions have developed programs involving increased recruitment of and more attractive financial aid packages for students from low-income families.…

There are few historical studies about the sex education of Australian youth. Drawing on a range of sources, including the oral histories of 40 women and men who attended two single-sex, selective high schools in a provincial Australian city (Newcastle, New South Wales) in the 1930s-1950s, this paper explores the adolescent experience of sex…

Service learning has been recognized as an effective pedagogical tool in the writing classroom. It has also served to help students develop an awareness of diversity and multicultural issues. In this article, the author examines the benefits of service learning in a basic writing course designed for students of color attending a disproportionately…

Three methods for studying college textbook chapters were compared, with 50 college special admissions students as subjects. Utilizing a counterbalanced design, students enrolled in a study skills course were given instruction in three study techniques: SQ3R, outlining, and underlining. The SQ3R method (Francis Robinson, 1946) consists of five…

A proposal to institute "a common test in the academic competencies" of English and mathematics as an admission requirement for all Nova Scotian universities was announced by the Royal Commission on Post-Secondary Education in 1985. The commission viewed writing proficiency as an innate ability, independent of learning, environment,…