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PAGE 12
Ralph Nader
The Pervasive Power Of ETS
The next time you pick up a
well-sharpened No. 2 pencil and
be£!n to hurriedly answer a
standardised, multiple-choke
teat, chances are that your test
is one of more than eight million
given annually by the Education
al Testing Service (ETS). You
may know ETS manufactures
SATs. LSATs, GREs and
GMATs. Wi'h these tests alone.
ETS influences the educational
and career opportunities of
millions of people. But the
power of ETS does not begin or
end with those testa.
ETSmsTkets 299 different
tests. ETS tests are used to
determine entrance to over 60
occupations inchiding firefight
ers. actuaries, policemen, real
estate brokers, sailors, teachers
gynecologists, engineer?, and
found, contrary toETSdaims
results are the standards of
access to some of the most
powerful professions: Foreign
Service officers. New York
stockbrokers, lawyers in over 40
states. CIA agents.
Two million elementary stu
dents take ETS tests, and ETS
is even developing ways to test
infants ETS helps determine
who will be eligible for financial
aid and how much they will
receive. The financial informa
tion ETS obtains on nearly two
million families is more detailed
Debators
than a mortgage application or
an JRS return. ETS consultants
and trainees help shape educa
tion and labor allocation policy
in scores of countries, including
Singapore, Brazil, and Saudi
Arabia. And ETS has test
centers in 120 countries.
ETS's sales and near mono
poly power, combined with its
privileged legal status as a
non-profit corporation, make it
unprecedented in corporate
history. ETS is exempt from
federal and state income taxes,
is effectively beyond the reach
of many anti-trust lavra, and has
no stockholders. ETS escapes
the restraints governing other
corporations because it is an
institution.
The power of ETS is massive,
as even one ETS executive
conceded. “No matter what
they try to tell you here about
how we really don't have much
power," Jte said, “we know we
do. We know we're the nation's
gatekeeper." This. gatekSej*R
can determine who enters
college, graduate and profes
sional schools, aa well as many
occupations and professions. Is
that power legitimate?
ETS defends its role ae the
gatekeeper by chiming it baa
developed . the "science of
mental measurement,” .but aa
our report will argue, the teds
Rolling Up
measure nothing more than how
you answered a few multiple-
choice questions. The correla
tion between SAT scores and
first-year grades in college, for
example, is often lower than, the
correlation between the test
scone and the income of the
test ■ taker's parents. At best,
standardized tests measure the
specialized skill of teat-taking,
but they do not measure key
determinants of success such aa
writing and research skill,
ability to make coherent argu
ments. creativity, motivation.
...in. judgment, experience,
or ethics.
ETS -not only influences how
institutions judge individuals,
however; it also influences how
individuals judge themselves.
As Nairn says, "A false
self-estimate or image is instil
led in the mind of the individual
who receives a standardized
teat score. For although the
scores ere significantly deter
mined by social class, he is told
they are objective, scientific
measures of the individual."
Moreover, tot takers are
subject to numerous injustices,
ranging from incorrect scoring
of tests, to late reporting of
applicant information, to secret
evaluation of grades and teat
scores—and they have no
recourse.
Victories
Mercer University varsity
debaters Ronald Hill and John
Watkins placed fourth overall in
the nationally ratad 46ch Annual
Baylor debates held on Februa
ry 1-3. In preliminary competi
tion Hill and Watkins defeated
teams from the- University of
Southwestern Louisiana. Drury
Collage ^Missouri). Eastern
Illinois University, Augustana
College (South Dakota). South
western College (Kansas!, and
the University of Southern
California. In addition. HOI was
named third speaker in the
tournament. Baylor debates
drew- the top varsity debate
teams from over fifth colleges
and universities from all over
the countrey.
Mercer University Junior
Varsity debaters Phil Bernes
and Mika Kelley placed third
overall in the junior varsity
division of the Dean Rusk
Debate Tournament held at the
University of Georgia on Feb.
3-6. Barnes and Kelley defeated
junior varsity teams from
Georgia Stats University, Au
burn University, the University
of Georgis, ■ Florida State
University, and Vanderbilt Uni
versity. Barnes and Kelley will
compete next in the Junior
Varsity Division of the Samford
University Debate Tournament
to be bald later this month.
Speak On Education
one of, -he
to bear a nationally recognized
What yoo really want out of collage, but don't
know it!
What college courses reeRy teach.
you learn from your college
Be there—Wednesday. February 21. 1979, Willett
Sdee « Caster Auditories, at 11:00 e.se. to hear DP.
W R.roid Grant. Special Assistant to the President,
Auburn University. It could be the beat investment
you've made this quarter.
Dr. W. Hassid Giant
We must begin to examine
the examiners.
. There is a growing movement
to reform end restructure the
testing industry. In New York,
Ohio, Texas, and other states,
student-run Public Interest Re
search Groups (PIRGsl have
introduced "Truth in Testing"
legislation in their state legisla
ture*. This legislation would
force ETS end other testing
companies to disclose test
questions and answers, and all
studies and data on the tests; it
would also require companies to
keep information on applicant*
confidential. Disclosing test
answers would enable students
to contest disputed answers,
and thus eliminate much of the
mystery surrounding the tads.
ETS has said it is 'willing to
release 99% of its test dale.
But. Nairn says, the bulk of thie
99% iathe material provided by
the test-takers themselves-
name, social security number,
eu. Nairn says it is crude! to
disclose that last one percent.
Students now have opportuni
ties to challenge the test
makers.
Individuals interested in this
issue, or in sponsoring Truth in
Testing legislation, can contact
Ed Hanley at our office at P.O.
Bo* 19312, Washington, D.C.
20036.
Health Week
Do you spend much time
thinking about your health? If
you’re like most busy college
students, the answer is probab
ly no.
We tend to think of our health
when we don’t have it. When
fever, sore throat, and sniffles
sat in, and ws can’t endure one
more minute of studying, we
finally succumb to the age-old
advice of parent* and doctors;
get some sleep, eat good food,
and take care of yourself.
Consider this: Whet if we
UxAi care of our health end our
bodies when we were well.
as it indudee ETS’s extrapola
tions from the information
provided by teaC-takere-such as
predictions of future academic
The testing reform movement
has other facets Jesse Jackson
is organizing around the issue
of the ETS National Teacher
Could we feel better than
better? Could we experience a
higher level of wellness?
February 26-March 1 you will
have an opportunity to consider
these questions and to enjoy
health related workshops, dis
plays and films that are
concerned with wellness, not
Examinations which have sys
tematically eliminated qualified
black applicants from teaching
jobs. The FTC has apparently
auiomecbanics.ETS test results
that certain kinds of prep ox
cram courses can raise ted
score*-but the report has been
withheld at thie time. And
gidaWM.
The Health Enrichment Work
shop will emphasize 4 essential
areas of wellness:
1. self-responsibility
2. physical activity 'and
fitness *
3. stress reduction and
control
several members of Congress
have called for an inveetigatkm
of the testing industry.
4. nutritional awareness
Contact Nancy Anchors, Stu
dent life, Ext. 249.