Do you folks who live in Florida realize that you’re the only state left in the US that still requires SAT/ACT results for public-university admission?
Florida is certainly swimming against the tide in a lot of ways these days. But do Sunshine Staters feel that it’s reasonable to expect test scores from high school seniors–especially those hoping for good news (and/or scholarship $$$) from the sought-after U of F and FSU? Or do you feel that requiring test scores (despite the difficulties of testing due to COVID) penalizes a lot of hard-working, successful students, especially those from disadvantaged backgrounds who won’t be traveling to test and who weren’t advised to test early, pre-pandemic?
And do you worry that you may lose top out-of-state applicants due to this policy or is that good news because it means more places for local kids?
See https://www.tampabay.com/news/florida-politics/2020/10/15/florida-universities-wont-waive-satact-requirement-despite-pandemic/ or https://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/education/article246462015.html for more info
I can see both sides:
- Requirements are clear and the current high school seniors have spent 13 years in a system that uses standardardized tests as a sorting hat. My kids (not in Florida) have followed the mantra of study hard, get good grades, test well. It's "fair" in that there is little subjectivity in admissions when GPA+SAT= admission rank.
- It is an inherently unfair and classist system. Again my kids- Our school district (Long Beach, CA) is frequently heralded as a model big-city school district. It serves a population of around 600,000 (Long Beach and a few adjoining cities). This year there are approximately 6,000 seniors. We had 5 National Merit Semifinalists (NMSF) or a rate of 0.1%, or one-tenth the state average. Harvard-Westlake, a $40,000 private school had about 40 NMSF or about 15%. Canyon Crest Academy, a San Diego public school had about 70 NMSF or 10%. I don't believe that the average student at these two schools is 100X more capable of top test scores than the average Long Beach Unified student. I think it has a lot to do with school environment.
This year it is even more so. All SAT tests have been canceled in our area since March. My son flew to Idaho to take it in August. His testing room had 11 students: 3 from Idaho; 4 from Oregon or Washington; and 4 from California. This put the cost of the SAT well above the resources of most families.
My vote is change the system. Right after my HS senior gets accepted to college.
I’m supportive of standardized testing as a data point in college admissions. But I think the current pandemic and testing restrictions make a very good case for making such testing optional for at least this year, maybe next.
A vast majority of the country agrees. But Florida is Florida…
I think Bright Futures still requires a score in order to get the money. Maybe if it is required by the universities the high schools will make it easier to get the tests, and then students will qualify for BF. It’s a lot of money to leave on the table.
The problem with BFs requiring scores is that BF is run by a state agency and the colleges have no control over the qualifications. UF, FSU, CFU etc can waive the score requirement for admissions, but then they’ll have a lot of students without a way to pay tuition.
FL has had multiple testing dates this Fall and will continue with Dec tests. For better or worse, students seem to have had the opportunity to sit for tests.
The reality is that counselors report many students still do not have a test in Florida. Who knows better than the counselors?
Per the articles in the OP, 60% of students had no test as of September. Some October sites did run tests, but at greatly reduced volumes. Why should students risk their health to take a test? A test that data show has little to no impact on predicting how one does in college? Obviously this impacts low SES kids more significantly, as they are often unable to travel long distances to take tests.
I posted this yesterday on another thread:
Florida Board of Governors (govern the UF system) had a meeting this past week. One of the Florida Board of Governors stated that there are a “significantly lower number of applicants” than last year. Application volume at “many of the institutions is below 50%”.
The BOG then go on to discuss if not being test optional is contributing to this decline. Some members think that is true, but one guy said they are working closely with CB and ACT who assure them that students are able to test (this is just not accurate). Bright Futures obviously still requires a test as well.
I wonder if they have they noticed that some of the surrounding state public schools are seeing large increases in application volume? (UGA up around 30% so far)
The link to the BOG meeting is here, the application volume discussion starts around 2:14:00, followed by testing/test optional chatter until 2:32:00 or so.
https://thefloridachannel.org/videos/11-5-20-florida-board-of-governors-meeting-part-1/
The lack of access to tests is playing out all across the country, but 49 state flagships are test optional. @momofsenior I am working with a number of seniors from your town’s public HS that have no test, and there are no test sites available anywhere within a few hours drive in November and December (same as from March thru October). So far, their HS has refused to run the school day SAT as well.