Michael Mathioudakis | Echo
For most college students, the SAT is a distant and unpleasant memory, a necessary evil along the path to bigger and better things. However, the SAT may not be so far removed for most college students.
Next year, over 200 schools across the country will require graduating college seniors to take a standardized test called the CLA+, unofficially dubbed the "Post-College SAT." This test, formatted and scored on the same 1600-point scale as the SAT, will be used as a tool for employers to gage the critical thinking abilities of potential employees.
According to a study from Duke University cited in The Wall Street Journal, which evaluated 1.5 million students from over 200 U.S. college and universities, the percentage of A's given by teachers nearly tripled between 1940 and 2008.
As a result, only 1 in 4 employers think two- and four-year colleges are adequately preparing students for the global economy, according to the Association of American Colleges and Universities (AACU). This test will be used as a benchmark to allow employers to determine just that.
For private institutions like Taylor, the test may benefit students, as it will give graduates the opportunity to prove their worth to employers who might not have heard of Taylor. At this point, Taylor has not considered implementing the test, according to Kim Case, director of the testing office."Although no one wants to take another test, if it would help prove to employers that I am just as educated or better educated than people from larger universities, then the test would be worth it," said junior Jordan Melendez.
On the other hand, the test may be a major setback for international students, students with learning disabilities and students who consider themselves poor test takers. For instance, a student who works extremely hard to succeed in their major curriculum and graduate with a 3.9 GPA might do poorly on the exam and miss out on a job opportunity they otherwise deserve.Sophomore international student Fabrizio Brito-Accurso believes he is receiving a quality education at Taylor and that he doesn't need to prove himself any further.
"You do enough testing over your college career to give value to your learning," said Brito-Accurso. "If the test is not even related to your major, it isn't a good judge of your knowledge and you could fail it."
The test may benefit math or English majors (the primary sections of the test), while hindering students who spend their college career honing their skills in degree fields such as music, art, communications or education.
Although the test will not be a national requirement for graduation, many schools are beginning to require students to take the test, and students may eventually have no choice but to take the test in order to prove their worth to employers.
One negative implication of the test could be a decreased student emphasis on course performance. A good score on the CLA+ could make up for a lacking GPA, which would give students a reason not to try as hard to obtain good grades.
The standardization of the CLA+ test could, in the long run, detract from the "you can accomplish anything when you work hard" mentality for which America is notorious, according to AACU.
