Prepared Statement of John T. Casteen, III, Dean of Admissions, University of Virginia I am John Casteen, Associate Professor of English and Dean of Admissions in the University of Virginia. I came to you in October 1979 to express concern about what I believed would be the adverse effects of passage of H. R. 3564 and H. R. 4949 (as then written) on education in this country. spoke in my own behalf as a teacher and dean. At that time, I Today, I represent the National Association of College Admissions Counselors (National A.C.A.C.), a professional association of some 3000 individual practitioners of college counseling in high schools, colleges, and other settings. My missions are to share with you a report on the progress of the National A.C.A.C.'s task force on college admissions tests and to urge you to delay passing legislation until receiving our report on tests and the college admissions process. The National A.C.A.C.'s members voted at our fall 1980 meeting to call a national forum on college admissions tests, the admissions process, and other related educational matters, and to provide a report that may serve you and other lawmakers who take an interest in the controversy about tests. To this end, a special task force has produced a comprehensive description of the project, and the National A.C.A.C.'s Executive Director has begun seeking financial support for it. I have provided for the record a copy of this description as it now exists. Our plans for the forum are all but complete at this time, and our leaders are working to recruit the best available talent to write investigative papers for our eventual report. We plan to commission four investigative reports: --What Is the Truth about Testing? --Admissions Tests and the Admissions Process --Alternative Ways to Match Up Students and Colleges --College Admissions Tests and the Public Interest Each investigator will work with an advisory committee to develop a suitable outline and to agree on basic methods and goals. A special National A.C.A.C. task force will oversee the designs of all four investigative papers in order to guarantee that all relevant topics are covered. We expect to receive complete drafts of these four documents by early fall. provide draft copies for you at that time. We can In late fall or early winter, depending on funding and on the progress of our four papers, the National A.C.A.C. will convene a national forum on college admissions tests. The formal description identifies likely participants. We hope to persuade members of this committee to take part or to attend as observers. Each investigator will present his or her draft report to this forum, and forum members will advise the investigators and their advisory committees on the content, methods, and conclusions that ought properly to appear in the final report. We expect to hold this forum in the Washington, D.C., area and to attract participants who will bring expertise, commitment to thoughtful deliberation, and credibility to it. Following the forum, the National A.C.A.C. will publish its report on college admissions tests. This report will include the four investigative papers in their final forms, a suitable introduction and perhaps afterword written by the moderator of the forum, and any other documents that may seem to the National A.C.A.C.'s Executive Board. We will provide copies of the final report for you and for others interested in the issue as soon as possible after the forum. We will offer additional copies for sale to the public at cost. appropriate The National A.C.A.C. has entered into this project only after the most serious deliberation. This investigation marks a new departure for us. Our previous endeavors have addressed the professional concerns of high school counselors and college admissions officers. We have not previously addressed issues of public policy. At the same time, our members and leaders include admissions professionals and others competent to conduct investigations in the field and to offer recommendations that may prove useful to you. By voting to sponsor this investigation, the members of the National A.C.A.C. committed themselves to collect the facts, to seek conclusions based on the best evidence and experience available, and to share this information with you and with the public. Everyone in education probably has some opinion on 91-170 0-82--14 college admissions tests. We want to get beyond opinions, whether ours' or others', and to offer the substance that has so far not appeared in the controversy about admissions tests. When I came to you in 1979, I spoke about my concerns about the accountability of our systems of education and especially my sense that Congress might well enhance the quality of life in the U.S. by addressing the problems of our nation's schools and colleges. Since that time, little has occurred to allay my concerns about our schools. In recent months, the Secretary of Education has found it necessary to speak out on what he terms the flabbiness of our public high schools. National news magazines have repeatedly told us that schooling does not work as well as it should for many of our children. James S. Coleman and others have contributed to our awareness that we need to recapture the excellence that our educational system developed (however briefly) in the years between Sputnik and Vietnam. Virtually all commentators have told us that we need to address the core academic skills--reading, writing, arithmetic, foreign languages, and the like. With support from the Ford Foundation, the College Board has begun an investigation of college preparatory curricula that is (from my personal perspective) the most exciting new development in education since the Conant Report. (I am providing a description of this project that I wrote in May for the Richmond News Leader.) With others in education, I welcome your willingness to explore our problems and to seek remedies. We look forward to working with you to understand what problems exist and to seek (4) solutions that will work. In both 1979 and 1980, the National A.C.A.C. annual Conference considered motions on the controversy about college admissions tests. In 1979, the National A.C.A.C. elected not to take a stand in the testing controversy. In 1980, the National A.C.A.C. voted by a substantial majority to take this position. Resolved: That the National A.C.A.C. go on record as opposing passage of the Weiss Bill as presently spokespersons for major test preparation companies to |