The Spectator’s Post

Prepare to feel elderly: Beginning with applicants to the class of 2029 (current high school juniors), Dartmouth will once again require prospective students to submit SAT or ACT scores, the school announced yesterday, becoming the first Ivy and the latest top-tier school to reinstate this traditional policy. More than 600 institutions abandoned SAT/ACT requirements during the Covid pandemic. The majority of four-year universities are still test-optional. But Dartmouth is going back to being test-mandatory after new studies found that standardized test scores predict college performance better than high-school grades do. Research shows that higher SAT/ACT scores have a much stronger correlation with post-college success than the high-school GPA does. Making the SAT/ACT optional disadvantaged low-income students, who often opted to withhold scores that they thought were too low but actually could’ve gotten them admitted to Dartmouth, as the school would have considered the environmental challenges of their upbringing in assessing their scores. Dartmouth’s decision could influence other elite universities to follow suit. Georgetown and MIT already switched back within the past couple of years, and MIT admitted the most diverse class in its history after reinstating the testing requirement, the dean of admissions told the NYT.

After MIT reinstated its SAT requirement that it dropped during the pandemic it admitted its most diverse class in history. It seems our priors about the SAT are clouding out what the data is telling us about college admissions. SAT scores may be racially and economically biased, but they are less biased than other measures that determine an applicant’s admission decision. SAT scores are imperfect for sure, but they help disadvantaged students more than other measures that can be coached (essays), bought (extracurriculars), strategically selected (niche sports), or other candidate performance measures. Sometimes the least biased option is the best option. It seems that actually be SAT scores. “I understand why many people dislike standardized tests. They’re unpleasant to take, and they have their flaws. The most significant concern is that they may be racially and economically biased. But the emerging data from academic research tells a different story: Standardized tests are less biased than many other parts of the college application process, like extracurricular activities, college essays and teacher recommendations. An admissions system that drops mandatory tests in favor of these other factors gives big advantages to affluent students.”

The SAT is Back! High schoolers preparing for the future will now face an all-new digital version of the SAT, as Ivy League schools like Dartmouth and Yale reinstate their requirements for ACT or SAT scores, which they consider the best predictor of college performance. High school students preparing for their future are gearing up to take a brand-new, digital edition of the SAT. This significant change is occurring as several Ivy League universities are reverting to their pre-pandemic policies by requiring ACT or SAT scores from applicants. The recent announcements made by prestigious schools like Dartmouth and Yale have caused quite a stir. They argue that these standardized tests remain the most accurate indicator of a student's potential success in college. As a result, high schoolers are now faced with the challenge of preparing for this revamped digital version of the SAT to meet the admission requirements of these esteemed institutions.

“GCSE students in England will get formulae and equations in their maths and science exams under plans to limit the impact of Covid.” So kids have brain damage from SARS-CoV-2/Covid infections (which still spreads like wildfire throughout classrooms near you) and the answer is: ‘Give’m cheat sheets.’ I wonder when parents will become sufficiently informed and enraged enough to take action. Most likely it’ll take death of their own child from SARS-CoV-2 infection and subsequent AIDS-defining illness. So sad and infuriating. I have seen plenty of parents take action against guns, after school shootings. Why do humans always wait to do things until after we realize their direct impact on our lives? Why has everyone abandoned prevention? Covid is still disabling and killing children. Denial keeps you mentally immune from the truth.

Levelling up? Here is the word on Education The analysis of the 12 targets set by Michael Gove in his 2022 levelling up white paper shows there has been no progress in six of them, including three where evidence suggests things have got worse. These include education, skills and wellbeing, which have stagnated, and local pride, housing and health, which have deteriorated in the last two years. Education Goal: By 2030, the number of primary schoolchildren achieving the expected standard in reading, writing and maths will have increased significantly. In England, this will mean 90% of children will achieve the expected standard, and the percentage of children meeting the expected standard in the worst performing areas will have increased by over a third. Verdict: No progress. No surprise here . We are in the midst of a paradigm change born not out of innovation as such but necessity. The levelling up mission for education was always going to be difficult. In 2019, 65% of pupils met the expected standard in reading, writing and maths. In 2022, the number was 59%, and in 2023 it was 60%. In 2019, just a single mainstream local authority – Richmond-upon-Thames – had more than 80% reaching the standards in year 6. In 2023 the rate had fallen to 74%. Jon Andrews, the head of analysis at the Education Policy Institute, said the government’s slim hopes had been blown away by the after-effects of the Covid pandemic. “Instead, we have seen a fall in results overall and a widening of the gap in attainment between pupils from low income backgrounds and their peers,” Andrews said. COvId is a scapegoat. We know it goes deep than this. Whatever the reasons. Change is here. There is no other option Let’s Go. 🚀

IPEDS Fall 2022 data was released today and the numbers for distance education enrollments are below. We will further synthesize these numbers and share results but it appears we are coming out of the pandemic enrollment numbers. Overall enrollment at degree-granting institutions in fall 2022 is down, -0.6% compared to 2021. Enrollments in ALL distance education courses at degree-granting institutions is also down, -10.2% from 2021. The total distance education enrollments of 10,231,478 is still up 38% from fall 2019, pre-pandemic. Enrollments in "Exclusively distance education courses" at all degree-granting institutions is also down 13.5% from fall 2021. The biggest decline was at public institutions, down 19%. These enrollments, 4,982,184, is still up 43% from fall 2019. #highereducation #distanceeducation #IPEDS #Enrollments #research #data #highereducationleadership #distancelearning #onlineeducation

Nine higher education organizations are urging colleges to extend their decision deadlines beyond May 1 for prospective students amid further financial aid delays by the U.S. Department of Education. The #FAFSA is usually made public at the beginning of October, with colleges receiving #applicants’ information shortly thereafter. In turn, many institutions require their first-year applicants to decide if they will enroll by May 1. On Tuesday, the Education Department said colleges will not receive applicant information from the Free Application for Federal Student Aid until the first half of March. The department had originally told colleges they would receive the data in late January.   Statement signatories include:  *American Association of Community Colleges. *AACRAO - American Association of Collegiate Registrars and Admissions Officers. *American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) Colleges and Universities. *American Council on Education. *Association of American Universities (AAU). *Association of Public and Land-grant Universities (APLU) and Land-grant Universities. *National Association for College Admission Counseling. *National Association of Student Financial Aid Administrators (NASFAA) Financial Aid Administrators. *National College Attainment Network (NCAN) Network.   Read the full article by Laura Spitalniak at #HigherEdDive - https://bit.ly/49foVqY   #college #colleges #university #universities #collegesanduniversities #education #highereducation #highered #highereducationleadership #enrollmentmanagement #collegeadmissions #enrollmentmarketing #admission #admissions #application #collegeapplications #campus #collegeaccess #student #students #undergraduate #graduate #financialaid #collegeaccess #financialneeds #AACRAO #AACSU #NACAC #NASFAA #APLU #NCAN #AAU #ACE #AACC #SAT #ETS Common App #commonapp

https://lnkd.in/eK_tuzSq ICYMI: This week’s insights pull a NCES summary report together on National Higher Education enrollment, tuition, and retention over the last decade as we celebrate #NationalHigherEducationDay 🎓🥳

Edit to add: I'm curious to see if this announcement spurs any colleges/universities to, at least temporarily, break up with their May 1 deadline... 🤔 This announcement from the DoE is unacceptable... how they've dropped the ball so thoroughly on this is beyond comprehension, and the ones who are going to pay for their lack of care/concern/organization/listening-to-people-who-work-in-higher-education are students and families. I cannot begin to imagine the amount of extra stress this is putting on families, not to mention financial aid and enrollment professionals. #highereducation #fafsa #collegeadmissions #financialaid

A new new report from the National Student Clearinghouse Research Center found that the number of students who transferred that fall grew 5.3 percent compared to fall 2022. That overall growth included lateral transfers, that is, transfers between four-year institutions or between community colleges, but the surge was mainly driven by a 7.7 percent increase in upward transfer—transfers from two-year colleges to four-year institutions. Transfers also increased among students who previously stopped out of college as well as those who stayed enrolled, up 3.7 percent and 6.5 percent, respectively. https://lnkd.in/gDQBq9uf