Former UC president and UCSD chancellor Richard C. Atkinson spoke on his experiences working to change the Scholastic Aptitude Test I exam at Mandeville Auditorium on April 28. Recounting the development of the S.A.T. debate, Atkinson highlighted the importance of standardized testing in the American education system and shared many of the personal events that inspired him to seek a new method of standardized testing.
In addition to serving as UC president, Atkinson’s support of achievement tests, such as the S.A.T. II, over aptitude tests helped to prompt significant changes in the S.A.T. I. Atkinson also served as the chair of the National Academy of Sciences’ Board on Testing and Assessment.
Beginning in 2005, the S.A.T. I exam will feature a 25-minute writing segment and a more advanced quantitative section.
“During his eight-year tenure as the president of the [University of California] … he challenged this country’s most widely used admissions examination — the S.A.T. I,” said Center for the Humanities director Gergios Anagnostopoulos, who hosted the event. “[It was a] challenge that led the way to major changes that millions of American students will be tested for admissions.”
During his speech, Atkinson emphasized the role of standardized testing as a determinant of K-12 curriculum.
“An important aspect of the admissions test is to convey to students, as well as their teachers and parents, the importance of learning to write and the necessity of mastering of at least eighth through 10th grade math,” he said.
Atkinson also described the encounter that led him to begin his effort to change the nature of standardized testing.
“On the way home [from a conference], I stopped in Florida to visit my grandchildren,” Atkinson said. “I found my granddaughter, who was in the seventh grade, already diligently preparing for the S.A.T. by testing herself on long lists of verbal analogies … I was amazed at the amount of time and effort involved, all in anticipation of the S.A.T. Was this how I wanted my granddaughter to spend her study time?”
Atkinson then described the development of the debate during his term as UC president, citing a four-year-long study conducted by the University of California that determined that the S.A.T. II was a superior predictor of college success than the S.A.T. I. Following the release of the study, the College Board, which administers the S.A.T. exams, began revising the exam.
“College admissions tests should not try to measure innate intelligence, whatever that is,” Atkinson said. “It should focus on achievement … such a test should have an actual writing sample and that test should have more mathematics than simply an eighth grade introduction to algebra.”
Following his speech, Atkinson fielded questions from the audience, including questions regarding the A.C.T. and the relative importance of aptitude as opposed to achievement.
“I’m not interested [in a student’s IQ],” Atkinson said in response to the question. “I’m interested in knowing what a student has achieved.”
The speech, which included numerous humorous anecdotes, elicited laughter from the audience on several occasions.
“I’m glad to see that he has not lost his sense of humor after so many years in administration,” Anagnostopoulos said.
Atkinson served as the 17th UC president between 1995 and 2003 and as UCSD chancellor between 1980 and 1995. He has also served as director of the National Science Foundation and as a member of the National Academy of Science, the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Education and the American Philosophical Society.
“If all that is not enough in terms of distinction, a mountain in Antarctica has been named in his honor,” Anagnostopoulos said. “I would like to see if anybody in here tonight can top that.”
