It does not surprise me that the Educational Testing Service (ETS) will now offer the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) only on computer format ("Exam graduates from pencils to computers," Friday, April 9, 1999, pg. 1-B). Most testing companies have been moving in this direction for quite some time.

     What I find really amazing, however, is the fact that the GRE is used at all.

     In the article which prompted this response, Robert Schaeffer of FairTest, a group which advocates reform in standardized testing practices, notes that computerizing the GRE does not serve to enhance its usefulness as a graduate admissions screening tool.

     Schaeffer raises an interesting point.

     By most criteria, the GRE is simply not a good test. Statistically, there is a very weak correlation between an individual's scores on the GRE and their subsequent ability to succeed at graduate-level work. As Howard Gardner and Robert Sternberg (two of our leading critics of standardized testing) have argued convincingly, the knowledge and skills needed to be a successful graduate student are not necessarily the same ones measured by the GRE.

     Factors such as perseverance and motivation, for example, have been conclusively demonstrated to be are far more critical determinants of success or failure at graduate-level work than abstract reasoning ability. But these considerations are not measured or even taken into account by standardized tests such as the GRE.

     Finally, there is substantial evidence that the GRE has a disproportionately detrimental impact on students from diverse ethnic and cultural backgrounds. Minorities (especially African-Americans) tend to score substantially below the White means on all three sections of the GRE. The ETS reports the current difference at about one standard deviation, which translates to about a 100-point difference or more on average.

     In plain English, the GRE discriminates against minorities.

     The truth is that tests such as the GRE often restrict access from individuals who are capable of doing the work, completing their degree programs, and then going on to make significant contributions to both their profession and to society in general.

     Perhaps I should be more excited that the GRE is now available only on computer. After all, this obviously represents progress in some sense. But then again, progress can be gauged in a number of ways.