Are You Ready for the Post-College SAT?

Employers Say They Don't Trust Grade-Point Averages.

Next spring, seniors at about 200 U.S. colleges will take a new test that could prove more important to their future than final exams: an SAT-like assessment that aims to judge students' real value to employers.

Are You Ready for the Post-College SAT? - Barrons.com

"The test, called the Collegiate Learning Assessment, "provides an objective, benchmarked report card for critical thinking skills," said David Pate, dean of the School of Arts and Sciences at St. John Fisher College, a small liberal-arts school near Rochester, N.Y. "The students will be able to use it to go out and market themselves."

The test is part of a movement to find new ways to assess graduates' skills. Employers say grades can be misleading and that they have grown skeptical of college credentials. "For too long, colleges and universities have said to the American public, to students and their parents, 'Trust us, we're professional. If we say that you're learning and we give you a diploma it means you're prepared,' " said Michael Poliakoff, vice president of policy for the American Council of Trustees and Alumni. "But that's not true."

 

The cynical side of me sees this as a money making scheme for the Council for Aid to Education (the CLA + test's creator).

 

Agreed, this is not about competency, no matter the intention, this will become about $$$ quicker than you can say "greed".

 

Never gonna happen on a large scale....the schools have too much at stake for this sort of assessment. Think the kids can spell "refund"?

 

Okay, of course it's about money, however, I see this as being a tool in other ways. (research-related mainly)

The reason for such a test would be employer demand, is there such a thing? Do employers care? In my experience, employers almost have a love-hate relationship with academia. They want their employees to have degrees, but don't really give much credibility to "book learnin" when contrasted with "real world experience."

Another thought, what annoys me is that they have created an entirely new test name. Like Maniac pointed out, we already have the GRE and MAT, so what is this going to measure exactly? Besides when was the last time an employer's ad wanted GRE scores?

 

Two points that seem to be missed here:

(1) The CLA is not something new -- it has been around for at least 10 years. The point is that it is becoming more and more popular.

(2) The CLA is not like the GRE, which tests fundamentals like critical reading or math skills in a multiple-choice format. The CLA attempts to be oriented towards real-world analytical scenarios.

For example, the University of Colorado did a study with the CLA in 2010-11. Their report includes an example of a CLA sample task, as follows:

Now, we may or may not agree that this kind of analysis is really relevant for college graduates. But it is clearly different from a multiple-choice, fill-in-the-bubble standardized test like the GRE.

 

I've looked at a few of the sample questions. One question has you look at some graphs on cell phone usage while driving, then write a several hundred word essay on whether it would be a good idea to pass a law banning the use of cell phones while driving. Reasoning from quantitative data doesn't sound like a bad thing to test at all, it something that I do often in my job and even more often in my personal life (viewing news, reading scholarly papers, etc).

The whole test making/taking/tutoring/psychometric's industry provides lots of potential for new revenues. All you have to do is think up a few inclusive and high minded phrases that appeal to emotions and then create new tests then there will be new buzzwords and then more new tests. Rinse and repeat, forever.

 

Except that you also have to convince the higher education establishment -- which is pretty conservative in terms of institutional practices -- to adopt your new test. This is actually rather difficult.

A few years ago, there were lots of threads at degreeinfo about the new "Certified MBA" exam (like this one, or this one, or this one). It was an exit exam for MBA graduates. The developers of the exam had all the right buzzwords, and comparative studies, and distinguished academic advisory panels, and a nationwide marketing campaign.

They had limited success: for example, the Certified MBA exam became mandatory for MBA candidates at Western Governor's University. But it never really caught on anywhere else. So it was a commercial flop, and is no longer available. The CertifiedMBA.com domain is now for sale; might be a good buy for anyone who thinks they can develop a more successful exam.

If the CLA exam is gaining ground in the potentially huge market of graduating college students, that's noteworthy.

 

Well, if they really wanted to scare people, they could

(a) Tell them they're getting an IQ test, or
(b) Call it a CIA exam instead of CLA
Whatever they call it, all test administrators should wear black suits and sunglasses. :jester:

Johann

 

One of the kinks in the Certified MBA program was that you could get your MBA from an unaccredited school and, if you passed the exam, it was "all good." You had a "Certified MBA" - just the same as any RA school grad received, for writing the same exam. I remember there were a couple of "Certified MBA" award-holders whose MBA's were $100 "degrees" from AMBAI University.

AMBAI is still around, but no "degrees," at least here: http://www.ambai.org/ Not a "University" any more.

I'm glad the Certified MBA scheme is gone. It was just a money-making thing, obviously. There were holes big enough for my favourite musical theatre reviewer, Dr. Steve Levicoff, to drive his truck through! :smile:

Johann

 

This quote from the article leads me to believe that "graduates" from your favorite mill will be be able to do the same thing with this test. I MUST say that this test seems pointless.

 

True, but so what? A "graduate" from MUST University could equally well take existing post-graduate tests like the GRE, GMAT, LSAT, or MCAT. Anyone can register for these tests -- there is no requirement that you must be a student or graduate of an accredited school. Does that make them pointless too ?

If the CLA is a competency-based exam, then it doesn't matter whether you learned the material at an accredited school, or at an unaccredited school, or from non-credit MOOCs, or at the library. The test is designed to address what you know -- not where you learned it.

 

And I MUST agree with Airtorn on this one - sorry. Any "degree" mailed to one from a dusty, fly-blown doorway in Lahore would probably suffice to get into the exam-room. Possibly an end-run around proper, competent evaluation of foreign degrees, too, in certain circumstances. Just do OK on the exam and bingo - you're good. No NACES-member or AACRAO required. It won't matter where (or how) you got your foreign degree -- or if it's really genuine.

A new industry - books, guides, practice CDs etc. - How to pass the CLA. "If you can't go to College - take the CLA!"

Johann

 

Correct. And is there a problem with that ?

One of the most commonly administered standardized tests in the US is the TOEFL -- the "Test of English as a Foreign Language".
It's designed to test English language proficiency for non-native speakers.
Many schools, government agencies, and businesses expect applicants to have certain minimum TOEFL scores.

One good way to learn English is to study it an accredited college. But it's not the only way. And so you don't need an accredited college degree to take the TOEFL.
As far as the TOEFL is concerned, it doesn't matter if you learned English by studying with a private tutor, or by attending Oxford, or while working on a cruise ship, or while acting as a drug smuggler, or from a career in prostitution near US military bases.

The only thing that matters to the TOEFL is whether or not you know English. And if you do, you will do OK on the exam.
Is there a problem with that ?

 

You mean like the books, guides, practice CDs etc. for the GRE, LSAT, MCAT, GMAT, etc. ?
If you can have study materials for these tests, then why not for the CLA ?

 

No problem at all with the TOEFL. If a person has learned English well enough, then (s)he has earned all the rights and perks his/her TOEFL score entitles him/her to. Just as you said.

This other thing -- yes, I have problems with it. It basically functions as a degree-equivalent-from-one-test. The honest and the dishonest have an equal chance.

People can be coached - and coach themselves - to pass just about ANY single test. There are usually guides, CDs, forums, whatever, to help them. Some total BS artists are the world's greatest test-passers! I know. :smile:

This "one test = 4 years" is just how some degree mills operate. Pass one test and get one "degree." Only difference - the CLA (I hope) will be harder. That's harder, not foolproof. Not by a long shot!

Johann

 

Before someone brings up the GED - I will. The GED is a good and useful idea. A GED-like test for college --- not so good.

Johann

 

Says who ? Nobody -- no college or university, no government agency, and not the Council for Aid to Education -- claims that.

The CLA is simply a test that claims to measure one important thing (critical thinking ability), just as the TOEFL is simply a test that claims to measure one important thing (English ability). All you get from the CLA is a number -- not a "certificate of degree equivalency".

The CLA is designed to supplement a degree, not replace it. If the CLA was really a "degree-equivalent-from-one-test", do you think that accredited colleges and universities would be adopting it ?

 

If they've coached themselves well enough to get a good score on a difficult test, then most people will not perceive any problem.

Here in California, it is still possible to qualify for the Bar exam (18 hours total) without attending law school, or for the Professional Civil Engineer exam (13 hours total, plus an 8-hour Fundamentals exam) without attending college. Few people succeed by these routes, but those who do are not considered "total BS artists".

I expect that most readers of this forum would endorse the principle of using competency-based testing as a valid (though non-traditional) approach to obtaining qualifications.