Image provided by: University of Oregon Libraries; Eugene, OR
About Portland observer. (Portland, Or.) 1970-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 15, 2020)
M artin L uther K ing J r . Page 18 January 15, 2020 2020 special edition O PINION Opinion articles do not necessarily represent the views of the Portland Observer. We welcome reader essays, photos and story ideas. Submit to news@portlandobserver.com. College Admission Tests Biased and Unhelpful SAT and ACT can’t predict student success J ill r iChardson A lawsuit is tak- ing on the Univer- sity of California system’s use of the SAT and ACT stan- dardized tests in admissions. The suit claims the tests are “deeply biased and pro- vide no meaningful information about a student’s ability to suc- ceed.” As a sociologist who’s looked at the research, I agree the tests are biased. For instance, studies show that students whose parents have more education and/or higher in- comes do better on the tests. Test scores are also racially biased, with whites and Asians scoring better than blacks and Latinos in ways that are “unlikely” to be “explained away by class differ- ences across race,” according to Brookings researchers. by Why does wealth impact your SAT score? There are several reasons. Public schools are funded by property taxes, so students from wealthier families in poorer neighborhoods can use their financial wealth to go to bet- ter-funded schools. They can afford to take test prep class- es, and they can afford to take the test multiple times to im- prove their scores. Additional- ly, students from wealthy fami- lies are more likely to get access to disability accommodations (like extra time) on the exam if they qualify for them. But there’s a second part to the lawsuit’s claim: These test scores don’t even predict a stu- dent’s ability to succeed in col- lege. This appears to be correct as well. What does predict college success? High school GPA. This makes sense: The skills students use to get good grades in high school are more or less the same ones they use to get good grades in college. The skills used to take a standardized test general- ly aren’t. In America, we like to think we live in a meritocracy, where people get ahead through brains, grit, and hard work. We don’t. Instead, students from low-in- come families are already at a disadvantage in the school sys- in which a teacher showed up and taught. At the time the reporter vis- ited, the school had been fail- ing for so long that it had lost its accreditation, and yet it was still teaching students — or fail- ing to. How could even the best apply to college. That said, if standardized tests are biased against low-income students and students of color — and if they don’t even predict success in college — then what are they even for? Under these circumstances, Public schools are funded by property taxes, so students from wealthier families in poorer neighborhoods can use their financial wealth to go to better-funded schools. They can afford to take test prep classes, and they can afford to take the test multiple times to improve their scores. tem, for a long list of reasons. Even the most talented and hard-working child born into a poor family is going to struggle to compete with wealthier peers. In an episode of This Ameri- can Life, a reporter followed an honor student around his high school in Ferguson, Missouri. In an entire day he had only three academic classes, and only one students in that school compete with peers who had full days of classes with teachers teaching in their schools? While the school system can- not single-handedly correct for all social ills and inequalities, it should do what it can to level the playing field for all students. And efforts to increase equity need to start long before students the only function they can pos- sibly serve is as a roadblock to social mobility for students who were not born into privilege — and as an extra unearned advan- tage for those who were. OtherWords columnist Jill Richardson is pursuing a PhD in sociology at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Distributed by OtherWords.org. Part 23 Chiropractic And Knees: Knees need to know how Chiropractic helps too. Q: My right knee hurts terribly all of the time. It has been swollen several times to the point of needing to be drained. Can Chiropractic help? A: Your case sounds familiar. It reminds me of one case in particular. A man once came to my office for consultation. He wanted to show me his knee but his slacks were so tight from swelling in his knee that he could not pull his pant leg up to show me. I talked to him about his knee and showed him graphs of the nervous system and how it affects the knee. He decided to become a Chiropractic patient and has had no problem with his knee since. Within days the swelling was out of his knee. Like so many patients, he had an added bonus. His back was stronger and healthier than it had been in years. His Funerals ~ Memorial Services ~ Cremation ~ Preplanning Dr. Billy R. Flowers headaches disappeared. In short, he got that healthy happy feeling of Chiropractic. If you have knee pain or if you have any question concerning your health at all, call us today, Isn’t it time you stepped up to Chiropractic? To find out how Chiropractic might be able to help you or for answers to any questions you might have about your health, please feel free to call us at the phone number shown below. Flowers’ Chiropractic Office 2027 Lloyd Center Mall, Portland Oregon 97232 Phone: (503) 287-5504 “Dedicated to providing excellent service and superior care of your loved one” Funeral Home staff available 24 hours 503-249-1788 Terry Family Funeral Home 2337 N Williams Ave, Portland, Or 97227 www.terryfamilyfuneralhome.com