Others, however, contend the SAT is at least as curriculum-based--and laud the Achievement tests because hard-working students can bring up their scores through intensive work. "The question of personal responsibility" is still open argues L. Fred Jewett '57, dean of admissions and financial aid. And Christopher Jencks, a testing expert and Northwestern University professor, in a recent article on the SAT Achievement question, contends that "a good college admissions system should encourage diligence rather than sloth."

Jencks' article, coauthored with James Crouse in the spring issue of Public Interest magazine, strongly recommends shifting emphasis to Achievement tests, because they encourage individual study. He also advocates "relabelling" the SAT to encourage students to consider studying for the three-hour exam. While structuring curricula toward Achievement preparation would probably strengthen most high school courses, the authors contend, "emphasizing tests like the SATs in college admissions undermines efforts to improve secondary education."

Though Jencks says the article presents no radically new information and has drawn no striking public response, he predicts a possible new shift towards Achievement tests among educators, citing Harvard's new emphasis as one "straw in the wind. "Less selective schools which use scores to identify strong possible applicants rather than choose among them, seem to Jencks particularly likely to upgrade the Achievements.

Upgrading Achievement tests also would allow colleges and ETS to sidestep the controversy over whether the SAT measures aptitude. For such "quasipolitical" reasons. Jencks suggests, universities might find it equally useful to shy away from the continually vulnerable SAT. A side benefit would be the laying to rest of the controversy over SAT coaching services. "There's nothing so alarming about coaching if you're using an Achievement test," Jencks notes. "People have been cramming for exams for generations."

'A good college admissions system should encourage diligence rather than sloth.... Emphasizing tests like the SATs in college admissions undermines efforts to improve secondary education.' Christopher Jencks

'You could throw all the verbal SAT and Achievement questions in a basket and you probably wouldn't be able to separate them again.'   Dean K. Whitla

Disregarding standardized tests because they suggest that poorer students have less education smacks of 'killing the bearer of bad news.'   Robert E. Klitgaard '68

'I'd be surprised if any study found now either that the tests were absolutely reliable or that they were no good at all.   L. Fred Jewett '57