NASHVILLE, Tenn. — Test scores and grades don’t tell universities enough about a prospective student, and there’s a need for race-conscious outreach and recruitment to bring more diverse students onto campus.
So argued two leading researchers of Asian American issues in higher education Monday at the national seminar of the Education Writers Association.
“The idea that grades and test scores are objective is debatable,” said Robert Teranishi, education professor at UCLA’s Asian American Studies Center.
He cited recent changes to the College Board’s SAT as evidence that the college entrance exam lacks validity.
“If it were perfect in defining merit, why would they change it?” Teranishi said.
Although Asian Americans are statistically seen as high achievers, Teranishi reiterated longstanding concerns about how the heterogeneity of Asian Americans often gets overlooked to the detriment of Asian American students who hail from groups—such as Southeast Asians—that struggle academically.
Teranishi was joined in his stance by OiYan Poon, assistant higher education professor at Loyola University Chicago School of Education, who argued that universities often employ criteria in admissions that favor White students—such as geography and residence—and fail to capture important information about minority students by simply looking at grades and test scores.
