Dealing With Bias In The SAT

Throughout the years there have been many questions regarding the reliability of the SAT. Should an aptitude test be such a large factor in college acceptance. I firmly believe The SAT should not be a factor in college admissions because it has proven to be biased , unreliable, and overall unjust.

Standardized tests may be used for a wide variety of educational purposes. For example, they may be used to determine a young child’s readiness for kindergarten, identify students who need special-education services or specialized academic support, place students in different academic programs or course levels, or award diplomas and other educational certificates.

Every year, the daunting prospect of undergoing standardized testing brings anxiety to thousands of high school students, and for good reason: a student’s performance on standardized college admission exams - most importantly, the ACT and SAT - is a major determinant in deciding where they will go to college. For decades, such standardized tests have been universally accepted as part of the admissions process: proponents argue, as Syverson (2007) explains, that such tests are the only way of standardizing college admissions when students from different schools have such widely varying profiles. However, in the past several decades a growing anti-testing movement has begun to poke holes

At some point in your academic career I am sure you have heard the statement that minority groups score less on standardized tests than other groups. This statement, however, makes a broad generalization that they do worse strictly because of the color of their skin. There is no evidence to prove that minority groups do worse on standardized testing just because they are a minority. When minorities do worse, there are many factors that go into it.

The diversity that may be found all around the world and in our very community has always fascinated me. I am aware that it is a widely held belief that being a minority is considered a disadvantage in various aspects and I would disagree with this. Diversity and culture is a two-way street- as a community, whether that be society as a whole or simply a freshman class, we have the potential to be able to learn from each other. I believe that my status as an underrepresented minority has shaped me into the person I am today. Despite moving to the United States at a young age and being a first-generation college student , I am grateful for the privilege to be able to further my education at the University of Utah.

Schools have always had issues of racism, prejudice, and students that lack the necessary education to assist them in a healthy future. If a new concept of school policy was introduced that could end all of that, would you consider it? In Dennis Prager’s speech regarding his unique, yet exceptional principles, would provide nothing but positive growth within his students. People should agree with Prager’s principles because they would encourage unification, teach young men and women skills valuable in life, and would allow students to focus solely on an education that bring nothing but an admirable future.

Standardized tests are bringing down the education system in America. America’s ranking for education in the world down by about 15 notches. Big tests like these don’t leave a lot of room for learning about other subjects that are just as important as the ones on the test. Standardized tests are not able to measure all the aspects of what is being taught at school across the nation. In theory these tests are a perfect way to boost the education system but in reality it causes a lot of problems and hasn’t helped all that

Anyon article discussed students of different social class background is exposed to different types of educational knowledge. Anyon used four distinctive schools; working class, middle class, affluent and executive, located in New Jersey. The education the students received reflected the social class level. In the working class school, the principle had did not know the history of the school building. The teachers did not motive or believe in their student’s success. The school knowledge was based on facts and simple skills. Students was just given information without explanation or failed to make their own choices. The common theme was active and passive behaviors amongst students. The middle class school, the ethnic background and school

Another thing that places students of color at a disadvantage in college admissions is the persisting cultural bias in high-stakes testing. “High-stakes” tests are those that are tied to major consequences, such as admission to college, or even high school graduation. Fair education reform advocates have long been citing an extensive record of standardized testing concerns, many of which relate to racial bias and discrimination. As researcher and author Harold Berlak explains in the journal Rethinking Education:

The educational system in America contains numerous racial disparities that affects the very core of the children who is suppose to benefit from education. This disparity comes in many forms in primary schools, a teacher’s attitude being one of them (Epps, 1995). A teacher’s attitude in a classroom consisting of a racially diverse children is a large contributing factor to the academic success of their students, more specifically, the minority African American students. It is a given that all schools should employ qualified teacher who are passionate about their students and the quality of education they provide to these students. Unfortunately, that is not the case for many urban schools that house a large proportion of African American students

Freeman Hrabowski talks about how to improve the shortcomings of university attendees, especially those who are minorities and majored in science and engineering. According to him, we must first set high expectations which will drive students. It is all about having a thorough understanding, and not just enough to barely make it through. He states that secondly, a community has to be built among students by working in groups in order to support, understand and trust one another, as well as helping each other succeed. Hrabowski then explains how it takes researchers to produce researchers meaning, we have to expose the upcoming generations to the many exciting fields available to keep the fields and their enthusiasm alive. Lastly, there needs to be a connection between faculty and their students. Hrabowski emphasizes the importance of professors knowing their students to understand their progress and standings within the class. It is essential for faculty to put in the extra effort needed to help their students succeed. Hrabowski concludes his

Closing the racial achievement gap has been a major goal of education policy makers for at least the past decade. There has been some progress, but it has been slow and uneven. It isn’t surprising that it’s hard to narrow or close the gap if all groups are improving.

In this essay, Affirmative Action is looked upon as a positive attribute to minorities as a whole. In addition, it is a stepping stone that was put into place for minorities to be able to thrive. With Affirmative Action, there are more fair opportunities for an individual other than a Caucasian male or female. Thomas Jefferson said, “We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are treated equally…” this was embedded in the American way of life, but are all men created equally? Minorities in America are already at a disadvantage from birth. With Affirmative action, minorities can prove they are just as qualified as their white counterparts. Also, minorities are able to bring something different to the table coming from a non traditional

other students at the same institutions”. This statement thus reads that the minorities admitted to these schools are not equipped with the means to succeed in the school because Affirmative Action had made it easier for them to get admitted. Although the admission standards are different for marginalized applicants under the use of Affirmative Action, they fail to understand that minority applicants can’t be held at the same standard as majority applicants that have had numerous advantages both educational and economically for years. In my personal situation, I come from a Hispanic working class family. My parents who migrated from Mexico haven’t even attained a middle school education; the resources to help me succeed in school have always been minimal since the beginning, seeing as I couldn’t depend on my parents to help guide me through the process. Yet through hard work I was able to persist through my education; I graduated High school with 3.5 GPA, I passed some advance placement courses, stayed on honor roll since middle school, and I even managed to play in my school’s advance music ensemble for four years but that wouldn’t be much when paired against a majority race applicant if we are both held at the same standard.

As a student in high school did you ever feel like the standardized test are helping you or making you get in to a better college? Have you ever thought about how many hours students and teachers spend preparing for the standardized test? Many hours and studying are being put into those test but are they really effective and are the test doing the students good in life? Standardized tests are really just to effective, teachers and students spend too much time on them and it’s not doing the students any good, and even it’s not doing the teachers any good. Standardized tests in schools today in Ohio should be stopped because they are causing for teachers to be evaluated by the test results of how the students do on the tests, they are having the students more stressed about school and do they benefit you in colleges and university and do they really look at how well students do on them test.