Athletes have lower test scores

Waylon, how? How is math different in one district than the next? How do vocabulary words take on new meanings? I went to an inner-city school. I don't think anyone at my school was at a disadvantage of any kind, unless they had parents who didn't give a crap. But that would be true at a rich suburban school, too.

 

I just think they come from a world that the test-makers cannot fathom, a perspective that they can't possibly understand.

Maybe we can give the suburban kids a test on how to use the city bus or train system to get from one side of the city to another? City kids know how to navigate the world in a way that suburban kids couldn't hope to. But "street smarts" aren't part of the equation, even though to me it's indicative of kids who could excel in a traditional environment if only given the opportunity.

 

Agreed. But how exactly will street smarts help anyone in college? The SAT is a college aptitude test. Colleges are dumbed down enough already, and grade inflation runs rampant just like it does in high schools. Should we dumb down the tests so everyone can get in?

The SAT, ATC et al are allegedly based on the type of curriculum students will run into at the next level. Those who do well better their chances of getting in better schools. Those who don't do as well can still go to Jucos and community colleges and use those as launching pads to higher education at four-year schools.

 

Let me add that much of what you say is also true. When parents don't give a shit, it doesn't. I guess that's the real bias. Education is designed for kids with a real support system. That's why I really hope that Obama's early-learning initiatives really make the difference he believes they can.

 

No, but I think there are plenty of kids that have the intelligence to excel, but not the background. It may take a little longer for them to get up to speed, but America is only hurting itself by keeping those kids out of the system.

This is the unspoken reason that many schools are trying to do away with SAT and ACT scores, or at least lessen their role in the admissions process. It's also why certain law schools - Berkeley in particular - emphasize GPA over the LSAT.

 

But comparing GPA over LSAT, you're talking college GPA. Comparing high school GPAs is dangerous. A 3.5 at one school might be a 2.5 somewhere else. Comparing GPA from different colleges is a bit safer.

 

Eh ... I don't think so. Maybe a little bit. But not completely.

 

Still, I doubt Berkely is letting kids in as undergrads based solely on GPA. At least I'd be surprised.

 

No, they aren't going to let some person in with a 140. But it helps them around the Supreme Court decision that doesn't allow schools to formulaicly give minorities a boost (University of Michigan Law School vs. Grantz, I think).

 

Georgia's the local school for the AJC. That reference was a way to make a local tie-in for the story.

 

None of this, of course, answers how the tests are biased. Public school curriculum may be biased against inner city kids, but they know what's on the tests. If that material isn't being taught, or taught properly, it's not the tests that have the problem.

 

The world needs ditch diggers, too.