Posted on 11/09/2011 10:45:29 AM PST by reaganaut1
When Wake Forest University announced three years ago that it would make the SAT optional for its undergraduate applicants, among those cheering was Joseph Soares, a sociology professor at the university. Mr. Soares has channeled his enthusiasm for Wake Forest’s decision — as well as for similar policies at several hundred other colleges — into a new book, “SAT Wars,” that argues for looking beyond standardized test scores in college admissions. (The book was published last month by Teachers College Press.)
“The SAT and ACT are fundamentally discriminatory,” Mr. Soares said in a phone interview last week.
Through his own essays in the book, as well as those of contributors that he edited, Mr. Soares seeks to build a case against the SAT. He characterizes it as a test that tends to favor white, male, upper income students with the means to prepare for it.
Chang Young Chung, a statistical programmer, and Thomas J. Espenshade, a sociology professor, both at Princeton University, co-authored one chapter in which they cite a study that examined national SAT data from the late 1990s. That study broke applicants into three socio-economic classes. They found that 29 percent of students from the highest social class scored above 1400 on the SAT, compared to 24 percent of middle class students and 14 percent of lower class students. Turning that pyramid on its head, the study found that those students from lower social classes were more likely to have earned a top high school G.P.A.
In seeking academically engaged students, Mr. Soares said in an interview with The Choice, colleges should pay more attention to high school grades and give less credence to standardized test scores.
(Excerpt) Read more at thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com ...
(1) Race differences in IQ (East Asians 105, Whites 100, Hispanics 90, Blacks 85) explain SAT gaps.
(2) Smarter people tend to earn more money and have smarter children than less intelligent people, so rich kids have higher average scores than poor ones.
(3) Men have a slight edge in math over women and a deficit in reading, reflected in SAT scores.
I now await the bus to the re-education camp.
I took the SATs in 1964 and still waiting for my white guy bump.
A high school teacher told me that if he praised the achievement of a black student, that student would get the cr*p beat out of him. Then, that student would turn into a non-achiever like all the rest. A very smart and accomplished black engineer from a poor background explained to me; “Accomplishment is seen as suckin’ up to da-man.”
Grade inflation in poor schools, I would guess.
Its simple - the worst schools also have the most prevalent grade-inflation. In our NE City here - a portion of the high school students are considered basically illiterate. How then did they get to High School?
The whole point of the SAT is to provide a STANDARD test for all students.
Why in the world would a college need tests scores and grades to determine admissions. Just ask race, sex, sexual orientation, religion. That should do it.
“In seeking academically engaged students, Mr. Soares said in an interview with The Choice, colleges should pay more attention to high school grades and give less credence to standardized test scores.”
My son just finished up his college applications. We’ve been to any number of presentations by highly-selective colleges. Interestingly, every single one of them said they already count GPA more than standardized test scores.
But what they’re looking for is high GPA, challenging course load within the context of an individual school, AND high test scores.
However, when asked, all said they’d be more likely to admit a student with an outstanding GPA (assuming the student took as challenging a course load as his/her high school offered) and somewhat less stellar test scores than someone with outstanding test scores and only a pretty good GPA.
The left is totally in love with the LIE that all people are equal. They MISapply the concept that all people are worthy of being considered human. Instead, they insist that all people be equal in the amount of money they have.
The left are thinly disguised enviers, full of jealously and greed. They destroy in their futile efforts to make equal that which CAN NOT be made equal.
Their false god is a lie.
Oh wait, this is already happening.
Your bus is outside waiting for you.
I have some issues with this study. The bit about lower-income kids having higher grades can also be due to grade inflation.
Further - what is the correlation to the lower-income groups success in College versus their grades, and versus their SAT scores? I think THAT is a mandatory part of the analysis that seems left out in this short article.
After all - the SAT bills itself as a predictor of success in college.
Finally - what percentage of the lower income kids have the foundation to go to college? Or are we going to continue to insist that the college re-educate the incoming freshman to all of the capabilities that they should have gotten from their K-12 education?
I imagine Wake Forrest is going to have a rude surprise.
These people are all insane! Water seems to favor white men too apparently. Dancing on the other hand, HATES US!!
Wake Forest.....what can you expect? Their fight song is an ode to drinking.
A dean of a business school once told me that the SAT is designed to determine how a student will perform their first semester in college. Considering my SAT score and first semester grades in college, I’d say it’s an accurate measure.
“Prior to joining the Wake Forest faculty, Soares taught as a lecturer at Harvard and was an assistant and associate professor of Sociology at Yale. In 2008, he was a member of the national education policy group for Barack Obama’s presidential campaign.” From his WFU page.
And do you think for one moment Soares sought out his “research” with any other “conclusion” in mind? Of course not. He’s just another pointy-headed pseudo-intellectual who’s racial pandering gets his name in the spotlight and soothes his white guilt. Deep inside, I bet he’s as bigoted as anyone.
“Women and Minorities Hardest Hit”
Gov. Deval Patrick wants children to be able to read by the 3rd grade. When I was in 1st grade we read Dick, Jane and Sally. But they were White. So they stopped it.
Why not let universities freely and individually decide whether they want to look at the SAT. For that matter, why shouldn’t each university make up its own entrance exam? If it’s a state university, the State government will have a say-so.
Be sure and read DeMint’s article on the Christmas Tree tax. It’s posted here on FR.
When we were a melting pot the SAT worked. When we became tossed salad, it didn’t.
Disclaimer: Opinions posted on Free Republic are those of the individual posters and do not necessarily represent the opinion of Free Republic or its management. All materials posted herein are protected by copyright law and the exemption for fair use of copyrighted works.