Leveling the Playing Field Justice, Politics, and College Admissions

by Fullinwider, Robert K.; Lichtenberg, Judith

• ISBN13: 9780742514102
• ISBN10: 0742514102
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2004-04-02
• Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers

Summary

Leveling the Playing Field examines the admissions policies of contemporary American colleges and universities in light of the assumption that enhancing the educational opportunities of lower-income and minority students would make American society more just. The book evaluates controversies about such issues as the nature of merit, the missions of universities, affirmative action, the role of standardized tests, legacy preference, early decision, financial aid, the test-prep industry, and athletics.

Author Biography

Robert K. Fullinwider is senior research scholar at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park Judith Lichtenberg is associate professor of philosophy and senior research scholar at the Institute for Philosophy and Public Policy, University of Maryland, College Park

Table of Contents

Acknowledgments	xi
1 Introduction: April Is the Cruellest Month	1	(16)
Another Side of the Story	2	(2)
The Flux of Supply and Demand	4	(2)
Selectivity	6	(1)
The Perspective of the Colleges	7	(2)
Higher Education and the Enhancement of Opportunity	9	(3)
Justice for Whom?	12	(1)
Outline of the Book	13	(4)
2 Demystifying Merit	17	(22)
Detecting Merit	18	(3)
How the Rewards of Merit Ramify	21	(1)
Merit and Other Selection Criteria	22	(3)
The Limits of Merit	25	(4)
Merit and Desert	29	(3)
Sports: A Case Study	32	(7)
3 The Multiple Missions of Modern Universities	39	(22)
Let a Thousand Colleges Bloom!	40	(2)
The Social Roles of the Modern University	42	(2)
Historical Roots	44	(4)
The Facets of Liberal Education	48	(4)
Constituencies and the Whole	52	(2)
Missions and Admissions	54	(2)
Justice and Differentiation	56	(5)
4 Open Admissions and the Community Colleges	61	(14)
Open Admissions at CUNY	61	(3)
Dilemmas of Remediation	64	(5)
From Policy Voted to Policy Enacted	69	(3)
Remediation, Second Chances, and Community Colleges	72	(3)
5 How the Academically Rich Get Richer	75	(22)
Irrelevant Advantages	76	(1)
Money	77	(5)
The Legacy of Legacy	82	(4)
Early Decision	86	(3)
An Uneven Outbreak of Disabilities	89	(2)
College Counseling and Conspicuous Educational
Consumption	91	(2)
The Rich, the Poor, and the Rest	93	(4)
6 The Test: Understanding the SAT	97	(18)
The Regatta Question	99	(3)
Is the SAT Fair?	102	(4)
Is the SAT Valid and Reliable?	106	(3)
How Useful Is the SAT?	109	(2)
Cultural Bias and Unfairness Revisited	111	(2)
A Porsche Held Together with Duct Tape	113	(2)
7 Admissions Tests: Uses, Abuses, Alternatives	115	(22)
The SAT and Real-Life Admissions Choices	115	(5)
The Real Costs: Race Revisited	120	(5)
A Radically Different Approach?	125	(5)
Test Prep	130	(5)
Some Conclusions	135	(2)
8 The SAT on Trial	137	(10)
A First Attack: The SAT and the Regents Scholarships	137	(2)
A Second Attack: The SAT and the NCAA	139	(3)
A Performance-Based Solution	142	(2)
Legal Threat to the SAT?	144	(3)
9 Affirmative Action and the Legacy of Bakke	147	(18)
The Legal Foundation	148	(2)
Bakke: Fractured Law, Opaque Guidance	150	(5)
The Other Side	155	(3)
Missed Opportunities	158	(1)
Coda: The Vagaries of Title VI	159	(6)
10 Justifying Affirmative Action	165	(24)
Blind Universities	166	(3)
A Compelling Interest: The Answer Supplied	169	(6)
The Link between Ends and Means	175	(4)
Moral Principles	179	(3)
"Treat Persons as Individuals"	182	(1)
"Do Not Discriminate"	183	(2)
A Last Word on Affirmative Action	185	(4)
11 Sowing the Seeds of Higher Education	189	(16)
Class Preferences and "X Percent Solutions"	189	(4)
Pre-College Interventions	193	(4)
GEAR UP and College Now	197	(2)
The Persistence of the Black-White Achievement Gap	199	(6)
12 Summing Up, Looking Ahead	205	(12)
Theory and Practice	205	(2)
Affirmative Action and the Missions of American Universities	207	(2)
The Use of Standardized Tests in Admissions	209	(2)
Closing the Gaps	211	(2)
Reforms at Selective Colleges	213	(4)
Notes	217	(42)
Index	259	(8)
About the Authors	267