Beyond the Big Test: Noncognitive Assessment in Higher Education (review)
Linking theory and research to practice is greatly aided when scholars of higher education develop well-grounded measures that provide reliable and valid assessments that can be used to guide practice. William Sedlacek has attempted to do this throughout his career, with the additional goal of providing assessments that are appropriate and fair to all students. The major premise of this book is that in order to serve students from a wide range of backgrounds and experiences fairly, educators, administrators, and researchers need to assess students' noncognitive as well as cognitive attributes. In making this distinction, Sedlacek differentiates between "the traditional verbal and quantitative (often called cognitive) areas typically measured by standardized tests" and noncognitive variables, which he defines as "variables relating to adjustment, motivations, and perceptions" (p. 26). This book is devoted to the examination of noncognitive factors that may affect students' success in collegiate environments.
Beyond the Big Test is written for a very wide audience; it is the author's hope that it will be useful to "anyone working in the education system, or concerned with educating all our students" (p. xii). The extensive array of applications offered and the explicit call for the inclusion of noncognitive factors in making a wide variety of programmatic and institutional policy decisions related to students suggests that this book is intended primarily for practitioners (administrators, program directors, educators); researchers looking for a scholarly review of validation studies and psychometric details about the Noncognitive Questionnaire will have to look elsewhere.
Critiques of "The Big Test"
The "Big Test" (the SAT) has been lambasted by a plethora of academics and popular writers (e.g., Keller, Crouse, & Trusheim, 1994; Lemann, 2000; Wainer & Steinberg, 1992). The most common criticisms are that: (a) the SAT is biased against underrepresented groups in a number of ways; (b) it does not adequately measure "aptitude" or "ability"; (c) it lacks predictive validity beyond first-year college GPA; (d) it receives undue attention in the college admissions process at the expense of more important measures and attributes; (e) students can significantly improve their scores through tutoring; and (f) it serves to perpetuate the [End Page 1104] status quo of who is best prepared for college. Sedlacek shares a number of these concerns. Specifically, he argues that Big Tests and their reliance on cognitive measures are not reliable predictors of academic success in college, especially for "people of color, women, or anyone who has not had a White, middle-class, Euro-centric, heterosexual, male experience in the United States" (p. 6). He also argues that students who do not fall into this dominant group—referred to by Sedlacek as "nontraditional"—must rely more heavily on noncognitive skills for their academic persistence and success. Therefore, he argues, college and universities should take these factors into account, especially when considering nontraditional students.
Sedlacek's work differs from that of previous critics in two important ways. First, he does not suggest that the SAT should be revised or eliminated, but rather that noncognitive variables should be used in addition to established cognitive measures. He argues that this combination of factors will be useful in forming a more complete picture of a student's potential. Second, he provides a specific tool (the NCQ, described below) that can also be used in the admissions process and in analyzing students' needs. Many critics (e.g., Crouse & Trusheim, 1988; Owen, 1999) have urged colleges and universities to stop using the SAT, but few have suggested alternative admissions criteria other than those that many institutions already employ (e.g., personal statements, interviews, evidence of community service, etc.).
The Noncognitive Questionnaire
This book presents an assessment model based on noncognitive variables that relate...
