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The Scholastic Aptitude Test, or SAT is a very well-known test, especially for high school students across America. This test consists of 138 questions, all multiple choice except for several math graphs, divided into two sections-math and verbal, both scored on a scale of 200 to 800 (Piacenza). The SATs are currently a determining factor for college admissions.
This paper will only address the SATs, not the PSATs or the ACT”s. The SAT was born in the 1920s-the product of a growing desire by American educators, led by Harvard president James Bryant Conant, to open up their universities to the best students across the country (Piacenza). After searching for something that could satisfy their quest for intelligence, the American educators came to a test created by Princeton psychologist Carl Brigham. Brigham had created this test because he concluded in his 1922 book, A Study of American Intelligence that, ‘American intelligence is declining, and will proceed with an accelerating rate as the racial admixture becomes more and more extensive.’ The test was created because according to the author there needed to be a “division since racial admixture becomes more and more extensive.”
The author made the test to be able and pick out the smart, white males and be able to put them in recognized institutions. The author’s motives were to be able and select intelligent American individuals apart from the diversity. The author believed that the decline of American intelligence was due to the acceleration of the rate of racial admixture. This leads us to believe that the author created the SAT test to segregate “American intelligence” from racial admixture. In other words, the author wanted to be able and pick apart the intelligent white Americans before racial admixture made it harder. A test of such biased intentions should not be a factor for college admissions.
The SAT is biased against low-income and non-white test-takers, in addition to gender bias. There are other educational factors that surpass the importance of the SATs. Overall the SATs should not be in any way a reliable factor for a student’s admission into college. The SAT is biased against lower-income and non-white test takers. This is evident when examining actual SAT questions. The following question is an actual SAT question released by Educational Testing Service (ETS).
In the SAT students are asked to select the answer that best expresses the same relationship as that best expresses the same relationship as that between the two capitalized words: RACQUET: TENNIS:: (A) springboard: diver (B) horse: polo (C) glove: boxing (D) club: golf (E) gun: hunting The answer to this question is (D). This question is answered correctly by 53 percent of white students but just 22 percent of black students answer the question correctly (Weiss 12). Clearly, this question does not measure a student’s scholastic aptitude. It is a matter of knowing what these middle and upper-class American activities are. The reality is that not all students are of middle and upper-class status. Though correlation does not lead to causation since the 53 percent of white students that answered the question correctly usually are from a high-income family. Therefore exposed to golf, clubs, horses, and polo does not necessarily mean that they would automatically know the answer to the question. The 78 percent of black students who answered the question incorrectly are from low-income families. They are usually not exposed to golf, clubs, horses, or polo.
Another example of how there is a direct relationship between family income and SAT performance is the statistics from 1988 college board findings (Owen 198): Family Income Average SAT Score More than $70,000 992 $60,000-$70,000 961 $50,000-$60,000 946 $40,000-$50,000 928 $30,000-$40,000 902 $20,000-$30,000 876 $10,000-$20,000 833 Under $10,000 781 This clearly shows that, on average, the wealthier a student’s family is the higher that student’s SAT scores. The SATs are monopolizing who gets into college and who doesn’t by the biased assumptions made in their questions and answers.
Correlation is not equal to causation because a reason why the SAT scores are higher for high-income families is that high-income families are usually composed of parents who attended college. Making it easier for these high-income parents to be able and assist their children with more high-education-level questions. It is also likely that the parents, who attended college, will emphasize the need for a good education for their children. These families will likely hire tutoring and other resources to help their children succeed in their education. Low-income families usually are composed of parents who did not attend college. Making it harder for them to help their children with questions regarding college and the SAT test. Making it harder for their children to know about the SATs and help to prepare for the SATs is limited. The SATs are not only biased to income and race; they are also biased to gender. On the SAT, girls score significantly lower, on average, than boys. For example, in 1988 girls as a group scored 56 points lower than boys (Weiss 15). According to these SAT scores, does this mean girls are not as intelligent as boys? Of course not! Studies show that girls earn higher grades in both high school and college (Weiss 14). Some might argue that girls are the worst test takers.
The fact is that the SATs include questions that make it easier for males to answer than for females. The following question is typical of the SAT question (Weiss 15): A high school basketball team has won 40 percent of its first 15 games. Beginning with the sixteenth game, how many games in a row does the team now have to win in order to have a 55 percent winning record? The question is aimed to measure differences in math ability, but 27 percent more boys than girls answered correctly (Weiss 15). The question is about a topic that boys are more likely to understand, making it harder for girls to answer. These types of questions do not credit the SATs for being equal to gender. Clearly, these are not accurate predictions of a student’s college performance. SATs should not be given a deciding factor of whether a person is admitted or denied to a college. There are other factors that are much more accurate measures of a student’s hard work over their high school years. A high-grade point average (GPA) is a much better indication of a student’s hard work in high school.
The proof that a student strived for good grades throughout their high school career is of much more value, than that of a single test. The ETS itself admits that high school grades are far better predictors of college grades than the SAT (Weiss 19). Another important factor that colleges should pay more attention to for college admissions is the type of classes a student takes in high school. If a student takes classes like AP physics, honors English and calculus are classes available in high school that have a college-level curriculum? These classes challenge high school students and are similar to classes a first-year college student takes. These classes are a better indication of a student’s performance in college since the curriculum is quite similar. The recommendations that teachers write out for students are solid statements of a student’s capabilities. A teacher has gone through college and knows how challenging college is. By writing a recommendation for a student, they are stating that they believe the student has what it takes to do well in college.
Their opinion is of great value since they know the student and know what they are capable of. Though it is important to point out that not all colleges require recommendation letters because of their large application intake. If all of these factors are supplied and stand high they show that over the course of four years, in high school, the student has demonstrated to be intelligent and hard-working. There is no need for a single test to be the factor in a student’s college acceptance. Some might argue that the SAT is just one factor among many and does not by itself determine whether any individual will be rejected or admitted (Owen viii). The statement is devious because the SAT permeates every part of the current college application process. The SAT affects college admissions officers’ interpretation of every other element in each applicant’s file (Owen viii). From affecting the student’s own perception of their abilities to making the college categorize the student under a stereotype. The ETS has defended the SATs for many years. Even though the SATs have been through so much scrutiny, the ETS stands behind it firmly.
Why is this? Well, it may be due to the fact that roughly 1.3 million high-school seniors per year take the test, and more than half take it at least twice, yielding an annual revenue stream of more than $ 200 million (Gose). Estimates on the amount of money students spend on SAT prep materials each year reach well over $100 million (http://fairtest.org/facts/satfact.htm). Such a great outcome of revenue must be worth all of the effort the ETS makes in order to have the SATs be a factor for college admissions. The SATs are not an accurate way to predict first-year college grades. It is an unfair test bias on the basis of race, income, and gender. There is no test that can accurately predict every individual’s college grades. There would have to be made a custom test for every individual, which would be the only way to accurately predict every individual first year in college. These of course cannot be done; the best thing would be to eliminate a test that carries such power and predicts inaccurately. The only reason the SATs are still around is because of the financial needs of the ETS. Colleges continue to use the SATs because the ETS has fought to make it seem that the SATs are vital to defining a student’s academic ability. Colleges need to revise the SATs and understand the background of the SATs as well as their biased format. The main focus of students in high school should be their grades and taking challenging courses. After all, college is not so much a matter of knowledge as it is a matter of studying and dedication.
Many universities are pushing toward eliminating the SAT from their admission requirements in order to bring more diversity into their college. The University of California at Berkley has started to look closely at removing the SATs from its admission curriculum. Students lose much more when having to take the SATs than by not having to. The University of California at Berkeley is one of the universities that are considering taking the SAT’s out of their admittance requirements. UC is one of ETS’s biggest sources of income, since it is the nation’s largest and most prestigious public university system, it has required the SATs for all students who apply. Bringing much attention to what decision they come to. UC President Richard Atkinson was the person who most recently brought up the subject of revoking the SATs from Berkeley’s admissions requirements. One of the main reasons why Atkinson has made the proposal to remove the SAT is because “The SAT would more properly be called the Scholastic Aptitude Test” because it is biased “in favor of those best prepared to serve the status quo. (Schoch).” Atkinson has made a formal proposal to University-wide Academic Senate to abolish SAT I, but it is still to be approved. If it is approved the earliest possible year for eliminating the SAT I test at UC is the fall of 2003 (Schoch). If the UC decides not to require the SATs for incoming students they would make the University of California the first public university to do so (Schoch). Atkinson has stated that “My hope is that the whole nation, not only the University of California, will begin to rethink this matter, and the nature of college entrance tests will change for the nation as a whole”(Schoch). Atkinson refers to the possibility of having all of the nation’s universities revoke the SATs from their admissions requirements. Universities should follow the example of UC and push toward eliminating the SATs from all admissions requirements. This country is made up of many different nations coming together and creating equal opportunity for the pursuit of happiness. Yet the SATs are limiting the success of many of this nation’s bright students by allowing the composite of such a biased test.
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