A research report from the Center for Studies in Higher Education at UC Berkeley recommends that UC Berkeley eliminate the SAT as a factor in admissions decisions. The report lists a number of reasons for eliminating the SAT in admissions decisions: 1) the SAT adds little to the much richer body of information available in applicants’ files, 2) the SAT predicts less than 2 percent of the variance in students’ first-year grades at Berkeley, 3) the SAT has a severe adverse effect on admission of students of color beyond what is warranted by test validity, and 4) the cost of the SAT, in terms of its adverse impact on students of color, is far out of proportion with its marginal benefit as an indicator of student success at Berkeley.

The argument against the SAT as a factor in admissions decisions at UC Berkeley is supported by the various NCTE position statements and resolutions on assessment that can be accessed at https://www2.ncte.org/resources/position-statements/all/#Class%20Size/181#Assessment/172

The Center for Studies in Higher Education’s report can be accessed at http://www.cshe.berkeley.edu/sites/default/files/shared/publications/docs/ROPS.CSHE_.4.16.Geiser.SATProposalBerkeley.5.2.2016.pdf