Tuesday, November 11, 1997
Test scores fail
to keep pace with soaring high school GPAs
STANDARDS Some claim grades have become inflated in last 10
years
By Mason Stockstill
Daily Bruin Staff
Amid the controversy surrounding the use of the Scholastic
Assessment Test in college admissions, one fact is often
overlooked: high school GPAs have been steadily rising over the
past eight years, while SAT scores remain constant.
High school performance is usually considered the most reliable
indicator of college success by admissions officers, and GPAs are
what most schools use to measure performance.
The last three freshman classes enrolled at UCLA have had
successively higher and higher GPAs, with this year’s incoming
class averaging above 4.0 – the theoretical "perfect" score.
"Those who would want to remove SAT scores from the admissions
process would be making a mistake," said Tom Lifka, assistant vice
chancellor of Student Academic Services. "The SAT can be used as a
corrective device.
"Since the SAT is not subject to the same inflation that high
school grades are, we use the SAT to counter that inflation."
Recent studies by the College Board, the organization that
administers the SAT, and American College Testing, makers of the
American College Test, say that scores have remained essentially
stable while GPAs have risen.
Since 1987, the population of SAT takers with A-plus, A, and
A-minus GPAs has grown from 28 percent to a record 37 percent,
while their SAT scores have fallen an average of 13 points on
verbal and one point on math, according to College Board
officials.
The average GPA for all 1997 SAT takers is 3.22 on a four-point
scale – well above the average of 3.07 in 1987.
The ACT reports similar activity, showing a higher proportion of
students who report higher GPAs than in the past.
But Lifka says that this national data can’t be used to draw
conclusions about the quality of UCLA freshmen.
"UCLA’s students are so skewed towards the highest level of
achievement that trends like these are not reflected here," he
said. "In our experience, average SAT goes up faster than GPA. This
is because our average GPAs are so high to begin with."
Also contributing to the rise in high school GPAs is increased
enrollment in advanced-placement courses.
AP courses are designed to prepare students for AP tests, which
are also administered by the College Board. The tests usually count
for college credit when passed.
Most high schools add an extra point to grades earned in AP
courses, as does the UC application.
"There are some high schools that don’t have the extra point,
though," Lifka said.
The average number of AP courses at U.S. high schools is 5.8,
while the average number of exams administered per course is
12.4.
Assuming that most classes have more than 13 students — an
assumption that most higher education pundits would support — this
would mean that there are plenty of students across the country
enrolled in AP classes who will get the extra grade point, but not
bother to take the AP test that they are supposedly preparing
for.
On top of that, 40 percent of the exams taken come back with
scores that will not get the test-taker any college credit. But
these students still often get the extra grade point added onto
their GPA.
Lifka said that 1997’s incoming students have an average of over
20 college units before even taking a class at UCLA, up from 18.3
in 1992. Students can earn these units from college courses taken
during high school or from passing AP tests.
"This number creeps up gradually each year," Lifka said.
Accordingly, the number of students who don’t pass the Subject A
requirement, and therefore enroll in English 2, has diminished
somewhat over the years, said Shelby Popham, a lecturer in the
Writing Program.
"I don’t think the quality of students has decreased any over
the past eight or 10 years," she said.