Use of programming aptitude test in CS program admission
This is a great idea. We should definitely help people determine in advance what fields they are likely to succeed in. It would be far better for them, the economy and the employers to admit only people who are likely to be good candidates for schooling and employment.

The work training program that I have been employed to teach -- training adults with physical disabilities for entry-level programming jobs -- has just be discontinued partly due to the recent US Workplace Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA) requirement that job training programs result in a recognized industry credential leading to employment or advancement in a job. (We could not find a credential that was reachable with around a year of training.) As far as I know, this job training program was unique in the US, and it used to be quite successful, when it was possible to get a programming job with a few months experience in COBOL. This is no longer true, and we were short on incoming candidates and not having much luck placing them either.

We have now decided to offer training leading to the Microsoft Office Specialist (MOS) certification instead, which is faster and much more likely to get people in to jobs, and we can serve far more people a year that way.

I am just a little curious though, as to why someone didn't see this coming long ago -- the calls for prequalification for education and for screening of employment candidates -- back when the US Supreme Court passed that decision in 19711, making it illegal for employers to use screening tests that "could be biased"? (The decision that led to employers simply requiring a college degree instead, which has been implicated as a cause of the mushrooming demand for and cost of college and university education.)

Many experts in the field of computing are calling for Apprenticeship programs. Any takers? We could again try using the method humanity has relied on for thousands of years to produce experts, masters and professionals.

1: http://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/griggs-v-duke-power/