M artin L uther K ing J r .
Page 18
January 15, 2020
2020 special edition
O PINION
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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