The University of California responded to pandemic needs in May by suspending testing requirements for two years and omitting test scores from in-state applications for 20. Some universities are responding to inequities as well, trending towards dropping traditional standardized tests temporarily and even permanently. This results in decreased access to the test. Hundreds of thousands more SATs were administered last year through publicly funded programs during school days.” As schools around the country remain in a virtual or hybrid setting, testing in person during the school day will be another casualty of the pandemic. Numerous exam centers closed for public health reasons, sometimes with little notice. But only about 900,000 tests were taken during those sessions. In 2020, the College Board said, “Students filed 2.2 million registrations to take the SAT on a weekend. Students also need equal access to testing. The regular SAT itself still measures writing and editing skills, too.
Instead, students can show their essay writing through the actual college essay, their AP English score, and other testing means. Students can still show writing and subject-level skills. We’ve yet to determine the true extent of pandemic living and learning on our youngest populations. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention quantifies the mental health crisis for students age 12 to 17 years old: from March to October 2020, the number of hospital emergency room visits for mental health concerns rose 31 percent. Their mental health depends on a less rigid and competitive process, with fewer total steps required to begin in the fall at their dream schools. This optional testing “opportunity” is now one less thing to worry about. My high school seniors already feel stressed over college essays, deadlines, the prospect of virtual learning both for the rest of high school and for college, and testing access during the pandemic. The change helps alleviate student stress.
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