Recasting Non Cognitive Factors in College Readiness as What They Truly Are: Non Academic Factors.
Against the backdrop of traditional measures of college readiness (i.e. high school GPA, standardized test scores, and high school rank) the consideration of "non cognitive" factors marked a significant departure when they were first discussed as integral aspects of college success. Used to refer to any characteristic, ability or disposition that was theorized to affect college success or retention, the term "non cognitive" became a kind of a catchall for any variables beyond those "cognitive" or "intellectual" variables listed above. However, the term "non cognitive" is now and has always been a misnomer, used to refer to a vast array of constructs, many of which reflect cognitive process.