New Mexico high school students might consider buckling down on their day-to-day schoolwork instead of putting all of their college admission eggs into the standardized test basket.
On Wednesday, the Student Affairs Committee from the Board of Regents approved a redesigned admissions process that emphasizes high school GPA, additional college preparatory courses and a new grade-point average weighting system.
High school GPA is the largest indicator of collegiate success, said Terry Babbitt, associate vice president of Enrollment Management. By emphasizing grades over ACT and SAT scores, for example, UNM students are more likely to succeed throughout college, he said.
“We are trying to address retention and the graduation rate issue through the things that have a longer term impact on staying power and graduating on time — having to do more with the core of what students learn in high school, the curriculum, content and number of units they take in those areas,” Babbitt said.
The new standards still have to be approved by the Board of Regents.
The University cannot ignore the importance that standardized tests have for funding and rating purposes, said Maria Probasco, UNM Parent Association President.
“The reality is we are tested nationally,” she said. “You have students in high school getting our advertising saying ‘UNM is de-emphasizing test scores.’ We have to think, ‘Is that something we want to be promoting?”
Babbitt said test scores will not be completely disregarded, but the decreased importance placed on them will allow UNM to reach a broader base of New Mexico students.
“Our population has test score challenges,” he said. “I think it is the right thing to do take the population with English as a Second Language components and cultural issues. We have always had a de-emphasis on test scores here at UNM and this continues to support that aspect. Test scores have a lot of deficiencies and we continue to have this proposal emphasize high school performance. Something that we think all our students can achieve versus a test score.”
Holding New Mexico students to higher standards from the get-go will supplement the University’s academic environment, said Carolyn Abeita, chair of the Student Affairs Committee.
“It’s human nature to take the path of least resistance. Teenagers will take the path of the least work,” she said. “We have to tell our students in the state of New Mexico, ‘You can do this. You are expected to do this because this will help you in the long run. This will help the University.’ This will help the state because it makes students more prepared for higher education and create opportunities for them.”
A weighted GPA system will alleviate concerns about the varying grading standards of Albuquerque schools, Babbitt said.
“We propose a weighted scale that will give students incentive to take more rigorous courses,” he said. “Schools are different, grades are different, scales are different. Standards are different from school to school. If we apply it ourselves, we establish the standards.”
The standards’ gradual implementation is necessary to make sure they stick, Abeita said.
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“You can raise the bar higher, but it’s like an athletic event. You don’t just go and jump over that bar. You have to start at a lower level and work up,” she said. “If you don’t set that bar high — you don’t set the expectations for our children — then, you know, we’re human and we do what we are told.”
