Scott,

    I teach (30 plus years) Educational Opportunity Program students at UAlbany, one of the four university centers in the New York system. Students qualify by being poor and  below normal admission standards, more often than not from lower SAT scores.  We have been trying to invent that wheel. Despite the fact that the test scores would predict weaker results, our students have been outperforming regular admissions students for some time--we are now graduating more than 80%. An impressive number go on to graduate studies and professional careers.

    In the class I taught this morning, five students out of sixteen began learning English before emigrating to the U.S. from Ghana, Bangladesh, or China. Two were born in the U. S. to immigrant parents. Most of our students are recruited from the boroughs of New York City. A report released today, I believe, points out that U.S. schools are now less integrated than they were when the Brown Vs. Board of Education decision was made. They come to college having had little chance to associate with the kind of people who compose these tests. These tests scores are competitive, but may measure a very narrow kind of intuition. If facility with more than one language were being tested, other students might come out on top. Things like "professional writing skills" can be euphemisms for "sounding like us." It seems to me that asking students to write coherent text is a much better way of getting to "professional writing skills" without assuming ahead of time that we should all learn to sound alike. I think that would also fit best practices in comp. Writing ability is best measured by actual writing, with a range of assignments over time being much better than a single, high-stakes assessment to a generic prompt. 

    I have been a long-time advocate for explicit attention to language in English classes at all levels, but that's not a mainstream position in the field. We bring our weaker students through an Introduction to Language course (100 level linguistics class, three credit, meeting five days a week) before a five day a week (stretch model) section of first year writing. I would like to think our curriculum is a major factor in their success.

    I understand that it's easier to hire or accept people who are like us, but I believe it comes at a cost. I'm not saying standards should be abandoned or lowered--just that gate keeping instruments should adapt to the diverse backgrounds of those they are measuring. 

    With all respect. I once was part of a group that tried to do a "scope and sequence" project under the ATEG umbrella, but it was met with resistance from NCTE. Language is still being treated as a behaviour and measured accordingly.