The UFT’s Specialized High School Task Force recently recommended that admission to eight of the city’s elite high schools should not be based on a single score on an admissions test, but should also take into account the student’s grade point average and attendance in high school. New research supporting that recommendation indicates that a high school grade point average (GPA) based on class work is a strong, reliable predictor of student performance in college.

William C. Hiss and Valerie W. Franks, both former deans of Bates College in Maine, examined the records of 123,000 students attending public and private colleges and universities that have an optional SAT or ACT score admissions requirement. The cumulative high school GPA of students who submitted an SAT or ACT score as part of their college application was 3.28, versus 3.45 for those who did not.

When researchers reviewed the grade point averages and graduation rates of the two groups, they found that the students who were admitted solely on the basis of their high school grades did as well as the students who had submitted an SAT or ACT score as part of their application.

Students who did not submit an SAT or ACT score earned a cumulative GPA of 2.83, very close to the 2.88 GPA earned by students who had submitted an SAT or ACT score. Those who had not submitted an SAT or ACT score had a college graduation rate of 65.8 percent, compared to a graduation rate of 67.1 percent for those who had.

The study, which was widely reported in the media, concluded that college and university cumulative GPAs closely track high school grades. While Hiss and Franks believe that test results can be informative, they suggest that postsecondary institutions revise their admissions criteria to decrease the emphasis on standardized test results and focus more on identifying hardworking students with good grades.