I looked at the MIT common data set for test scores, and as I was glancing over the ACT scores section, I didn’t see the READING percentages. What’s up?
Maybe the don’t use that. Many schools don’t. In fact only two of the four subscores of the ACT are valid-that is add to the ability to predict grades. The last two simply add noise. It would not surprise me if MIT was one of few schools that took study findings seriously. Scott Jaschik reported about the study in 2011 as follows:
ACT’s Validity Questioned
“A new study has found that two of the four main parts of the ACT – science and reading – have “little or no” ability to help colleges predict whether applicants will succeed.
The analysis also found that the other two parts – English and mathematics – are “highly predictive” of college success. But because most colleges rely on the composite ACT score, rather than individual subject scores, the value of the entire exam is questioned by the study. “By introducing noise that obscures the predictive validity of the ACT exam, the reading and science tests cause students to be inefficiently matched to schools, admitted to schools that may be too demanding – or too easy – for their levels of ability,” says the paper released Monday by the National Bureau of Economic Research.”
@lostaccount Ooo, just noticed they haven’t published the data for the SCIENCE section either…