3 ms·

I think standardized tests are better than no tests, but how do you weight the test scores to avoid the situation where you have one person who devotes their li

I think standardized tests are better than no tests, but how do you weight the test scores to avoid the situation where you have one person who devotes their life to only studying for the SAT and does well, versus a person who can barely study for the SAT because they're, I don't know, working a job or helping raise their siblings, and only does marginally worse than the person who devoted their life to it?

vladgur 3y ago
You’re describing an edge case which will arguably prevent the imaginary second person from succeeding in college even if they get accepted. Instead we should leave criteria merit based and invest in social programs that give the high school student in question ability to be a student instead of a parent and caregiver
- IncreasePosts 3y ago
  It's probably not an edge case, considering that East Asians are the most likely to attend SAT prep classes, and also the group that does the best on the SAT[0]. Yes, I guess we should completely reinvent American society to make it better, but in the meanwhile, tweaking college admissions standards seems like an okay stop gap measure. We should also work to systemically eliminate homelessness and hunger, but that doesn't mean we should be shutting down shelters and soup kitchens in the meanwhile. [0] https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/19/study-finds-east-asian-americans-gain-most-sat-courses https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/19/study-finds-e...
  - vladgur 3y ago
    the edge case i meant was the second person: "person who can barely study for the SAT because they're, I don't know, working a job or helping raise their siblings, and only does marginally worse than the person who devoted their life to it" The circumstances of this imaginary person would prevent that from succeeding in college if they are accepted and we should be able to attack the circumstances that prevent highschool students from being the best student they can with social programs, instead of moving away from merit-based college acceptance criteria.
    - IncreasePosts 3y ago
      That person isn't an edge case or imaginary, and is probably the norm or at least not rare in many districts.
      - vladgur 3y ago
        Same point stands. Their circumstances are not conducive to any kind of learning whether before or during college and should be addressed instead of getting rid of merit-based college admissions
ghaff 3y ago
Assuming "marginally worse" with a good score, that probably doesn't affect their admissions chances a lot unless they're right on the cusp. In fact, all the other stuff they don't have time to do probably affects their chances more--which is actually an argument for the SAT.
Ekaros 3y ago
So how does this later person prove that they did that? And how can you ensure it was not all faked?
polski-g 3y ago
Because "studying for the SAT" is a mythological left-wing trope: https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/you-arent-actually-mad-at-the-sats https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/you-arent-actually-mad-...

vladgur 3y ago

You’re describing an edge case which will arguably prevent the imaginary second person from succeeding in college even if they get accepted. Instead we should leave criteria merit based and invest in social programs that give the high school student in question ability to be a student instead of a parent and caregiver

IncreasePosts 3y ago
It's probably not an edge case, considering that East Asians are the most likely to attend SAT prep classes, and also the group that does the best on the SAT[0]. Yes, I guess we should completely reinvent American society to make it better, but in the meanwhile, tweaking college admissions standards seems like an okay stop gap measure. We should also work to systemically eliminate homelessness and hunger, but that doesn't mean we should be shutting down shelters and soup kitchens in the meanwhile. [0] https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/19/study-finds-east-asian-americans-gain-most-sat-courses https://www.insidehighered.com/news/2012/01/19/study-finds-e...
- vladgur 3y ago
  the edge case i meant was the second person: "person who can barely study for the SAT because they're, I don't know, working a job or helping raise their siblings, and only does marginally worse than the person who devoted their life to it" The circumstances of this imaginary person would prevent that from succeeding in college if they are accepted and we should be able to attack the circumstances that prevent highschool students from being the best student they can with social programs, instead of moving away from merit-based college acceptance criteria.
  - IncreasePosts 3y ago
    That person isn't an edge case or imaginary, and is probably the norm or at least not rare in many districts.
    - vladgur 3y ago
      Same point stands. Their circumstances are not conducive to any kind of learning whether before or during college and should be addressed instead of getting rid of merit-based college admissions

ghaff 3y ago

Assuming "marginally worse" with a good score, that probably doesn't affect their admissions chances a lot unless they're right on the cusp. In fact, all the other stuff they don't have time to do probably affects their chances more--which is actually an argument for the SAT.

Ekaros 3y ago

So how does this later person prove that they did that? And how can you ensure it was not all faked?

polski-g 3y ago

Because "studying for the SAT" is a mythological left-wing trope: https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/you-arent-actually-mad-at-the-sats https://freddiedeboer.substack.com/p/you-arent-actually-mad-...