Differences Among Racial and Ethnic Groups in Mean Scores on the Gre and Sat: Longitudinal Comparisons

Abstract

If one compares racial/ethnic group differences on verbal and quantitative tests from published data on the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) and Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) General Test, some group differences appear to be relatively larger (in standard deviation units) on the GRE General Test than on the SAT. The objective of this study was to undertake a retrospective, longitudinal analysis of a group of individuals who had taken both tests to see if group differences remain the same or change over time. After merging records on the GRE General Test with SAT records for the same individuals, the realized sample had 69,494 cases. In this sample, the pattern of results from longitudinal evidence was very different from that found in cross‐sectional comparisons of published GRE and SAT data for the various groups. The changes in the relative size of mean differences were in the direction of closing the gap between non‐Hispanic (NH) White and minority groups, especially for Asian American and Puerto Rican examinees. The regressions of GRE General Test scores on SAT scores (i.e., growth) for various racial/ethnic groups were dissimilar from that of the NH White group, but the differences in growth patterns did not widen the distance in means between NH White test takers and minority groups. There was also evidence that racial/ethnic groups may vary in the degree of self‐selection that occurs for entry into the graduate‐school‐bound pool of GRE test takers. This pattern may explain the relatively larger disparity in group means in the GRE population than in the SAT population that is evident in the cross‐sectional comparisons. However, this explanation needs to be verified with more complete data on pathways to graduate school that include non‐SAT test takers and students who apply to professional schools.

Bias, Fairness, and Validity in Graduate Admissions: A Psychometric Perspective

“…The subgroup differences get larger when considering average GRE-Q scores; Black Americans score 1.03 standard deviations below White Americans and 1.40 standard deviations below Asian Americans. Pennock-Román (1993) found that when tracking students who took both the SAT and GRE, the racial subgroup differences stay fairly stable across time, with only a small narrowing of the gap. In addition to racial subgroup differences, there are also smaller gender differences, as women score on average, approximately half a standard deviation below men on the GRE-Q (Bleske-Rechek & Browne, 2014).…”

“…Many psychologists in higher education are deeply concerned about issues of equity and equal opportunities (e.g., Hu, 2020). Over the years, significant concerns have been raised about the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) due to substantial score disparities, which are viewed by many as a systematic barrier to higher education for underrepresented minorities (URMs), such as Blacks, Hispanics, and low-income and/or first-generation students (Bleske-Rechek & Browne, 2014;ETS, 2012;Pennock-Román, 1993). These are legitimate and important concerns to address, as relying heavily on GRE scores as the basis for admission to graduate training programs may result in limited diversity in academia.…”

Differences Among Racial and Ethnic Groups in Mean Scores on the Gre and Sat: Cross‐sectional Comparisons

“…The same pattern would result if the highest scoring Black students were more often left out of the GRE population because they tended to apply more frequently to medical or other professional schools than did the highest scoring NH White students. These and other possible explanations are explored in another report (Pennock-Roman, 1992).…”

“…This inference is incorrect because the SAT and GRE population data are not based on the same individuals, followed longitudinally. In fact, differences between the Black and NH White groups on SAT and ORE scores in a longitudinal data set containing both tests for each individual were analyzed, and no changes in Black-White group differences over time were found (Pennock-Roman, 1992). It would also be incorrect to infer from tables 3 and 4 that Puerto Rican students do not improve their test performance relative to that of NH White students during the college years.…”

ENGLISH PROFICIENCY AND DIFFERENCES AMONG RACIAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS IN MEAN SAT® AND GRE® SCORES: A LONGITUDINAL ANALYSIS

“…Two recent papers (Angoff & Johnson, 1988;Pennock-Roman, 1992b) are among the few that have examined changes in student performance from the senior year of high school past the last year of college for large samples of minority and majority students. Both studies, which have partially overlapping samples, found a very high degree of relationship (correlations in the mid .80s) between corresponding verbal and quantitative tests on the Scholastic Assessment Test (SAT)l and the Graduate Record Examination (GRE) General Test for individuals tested 4 to 9 years apart.…”