We are all born with varying abilities, talents, intelligence, and determination. Standardized tests are not necessarily that great at measuring these attributes but obviously have predictive value. There is a correlation between ACT/SAT scores and success in college. It is not that great but it has been shown repeatedly that the tests do a better job of predicting success than human interviewers. This is something that was not mentioned in the article.
The tests do the best job of predicting how well you will score on similar tests. When I was trying to get on a larger municipal fire department in the 1980s there were 5,000 applicants for 30 jobs over the next 3 years. 10 of those jobs were reserved for women and minorities(affirmative action). Veterans got extra points for their service. Your written test score plus your veteran’s service points determined your position on the list. The physical agility test was pass/fail.
The written test they had been using previously was thrown out because women and minorities did poorly on it and sued the city. They replaced it with a standardized test that was very similar to an IQ test. They thought that in this way they wouldn’t have to go so far down the list to get people in their target affirmative action groups.
Fortunately, I have always been extremely good at standardized tests. There were 16 of us hired in the first class. There were a couple of us that got near perfect scores and a few veterans who scored well enough to make it into the top ten with their extra points. So I got a job. There were 6 affirmative action hires, 4 women, a black guy and an Asian guy. They still had to go down to something over 650 on the list to hire a black woman which they really wanted. The highest affirmative action hire was around 100 on the list. 6 people mostly the affirmative action hires didn’t make it through our “probationary” year. We lost half of them in the first two months while we were being trained. Despite pulling an unbelievable amount of crap and doing poorly all year the black woman didn’t get fired.
The standardized test that was suppose to keep the city from getting sued “discriminated” against women and minorities exactly the same as the tests that the city had been using previously.
Very interesting story, thanks.