E-Book Overview
This volume brings a variety of perspectives to bear on the issue of how higher education institutions can - or should - choose students during the early part of the 21st century. Many of the contributors report on research to develop and validate potential tools to assist those responsible for admission decisions. Other contributors, however, pose broader questions about the nature of selective admissions, about institutional responses to the changing demography of those seeking to enter higher education, or about the appropriate criteria of 'success' in higher education. The volume is particularly timely because the question of how changes in admission tools and processes will affect campus diversity following the recent Supreme Court decision concerning the University of Michigan. Diversity is an important concern of all of the contributors and the chapter by Lee Bollinger--President at Michigan at the time the court cases were filed--is particularly relevant. This book brings together the research that underlies a variety of proposed approaches to improving the selection of students. Providing support for the integrity of the admissions process and the validity of new tools to help a higher education institution to select a diverse student body, this book explores the implications of the assessment component of K-12 school reform for higher education admissions practices. The diverse contributions to this volume reflect the current ferment in educational research and educational practice as institutions of higher education seek to develop a new admissions paradigm for coming decades following the University of Michigan decisions. This book is intended for those leaders and professionals who set admission policies and practices in American colleges, and graduate and professional schools, as well as for those scholars and scientists who research, develop, and validate tools for use in the process of choosing students in ways that are congruent with an institution's mission, values, and goals.
E-Book Content
CHOOSING STUDENTS HIGHER EDUCATION ADMISSIONS TOOLS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY This page intentionally left blank CHOOSING STUDENTS HIGHER EDUCATION ADMISSIONS TOOLS FOR THE 21ST CENTURY Edited by Wayne J. Camara Ernest W. Kimmel The College Board 2005 LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS Mahwah, New Jersey London Copyright © 2005 by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc. All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by photostat, microform, retrieval system, or any other means, without prior written permission of the publisher. Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc., Publishers 10 Industrial Avenue Mahwah, New Jersey 07430 Cover design by Sean Sciarrone Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Choosing students : higher education admissions tools for the 21st century / edited by Wayne J. Camara, Ernest W. Kimmel. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-8058-4752-9 (cloth : alk. paper) 1. Universities and colleges—United States—Admission. I. Camara, Wayne J. II. Kimmel, Ernest W. LB2351.2.C54 2004 378.1'61'0973—dc22 2003062651 Books published by Lawrence Erlbaum Associates are printed on acidfree paper, and their bindings are chosen for strength and durability. Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Contents Preface vii Part I: Diversity in Higher Education 1 Competition in Higher Education and Admissions Testing Lee C. Bollinger 3 2 What Is It We Think We Are Trying to Fix and How Should We Fix It? A View From the Admissions Office Robert Laird 13 3 Who Is at the Door? The Demography of Higher Education in the 21st Century Ernest W. Kimmel 33 4 Broadening