Is the SAT a wealth test?, I HAVE A LEXUS = I HAVE A HIGH SAT SCORE! Options

[NoSex]

ABSTRACT

"one can make a good guess about a child's standardized test scores simply by
looking at how many degrees her parents have and at what kind of car they drive."

read the abstract; discuss:

[JonHMChan]

The school system is just as flawed as back-alley boob job. There are a myriad of reasons, behind the scenes, that those to be considered in that target socio-economic demographic can feel, but may not have the facts, or the voice, to bring to the forefront. A 17-year-old Hispanic male from a household that makes less than $30k/year may be a straight A student throughout his high school career. Despite intimidating test scores, and every intangible needed to succeed at an upper-echelon university, he will be subjected to relying on an alternative means for college admittance that is, more than likely, geared toward his ethnicity. Of course, this is just an example, however, it's an all-too-common occurrence.

Based on the abstract, Rebecca Zwick has presented a possible argument to exploit this very problem and bring, another issue in our flawed education system, to the forefront. It will take a serious overhaul in how the school system is run in America. Would it be better to structure a high school curriculum to that of a smaller university with a more interactive approach to teaching. Perhaps that will be able to bring schools in financially underprivileged areas up to par with, say, wealthier schools and school systems.

I completely agree with you. Even though I may have been part of the higher end in the educational scale, I am still extremely disturbed by the quality of our education in America on all scales - particularly by what and how students are learning. The way I feel about the SATs is that if it is a test meant to "iron out the kinks" in how different grading scales are between schools, ideally, we wouldn't need the test. The fact that one school has such a drastically different grading scale as another school that caters to a different socioeconomic status is a problem in and of itself. There's no reason someone in the Bronx should get a different education that from someone who lives in Orange County. There is far too much at stake here when it comes to education - our country is already extremely anti-intellectual - and it is probably one of the most important issues on the table today.