Beyond the Big Test: Noncognitive Assessment in Higher Education (Book Review‪)‬

Beyond the Big Test: Noncognitive Assessment in Higher Education By William E. Sedlacek San Francisco: Jossey-Bass, 2004 In Beyond the Big Test: Noncognitive Assessment in Higher Education, William E. Sedlacek discusses an alternative form of student assessment which can be used successfully with college students from nontraditional and traditional groups. Sedlacek posits that the big tests (e.g., Scholastic Aptitude Test or SAT) were originally designed for white males, so they do not properly assess the abilities of students from diverse cultural groups or females from any racial or ethnic group. The author believes that better assessments are needed due to the increasing diversity of higher education. Students come to campuses today with a wider range of abilities, interests, and backgrounds than ever before, including cultural differences, racial/ethnic differences, and differences in sexual orientation.