Philosophy and the Alma Mater
Sep 19, 2010Scholars from Berkeley and from Stanford have played a big role on Philosophy Talk. Sure, John and Ken are from Stanford, but man...
An Egalitarian Case for the SAT
Sun Lee
03 April 2018
As college admission decisions are released across the country, there is much discussion on what the admission process should look like. The Standardized Aptitude Test (SAT) has long been an important factor colleges consider when evaluating applicants, but it has also been the subject of abundant criticism regarding its ability to assess students fairly, without reflecting socioeconomic inequalities into college admissions.
Critics point out that the privileged have access to the resources to prep for the SATs while the underprivileged do not. Hence, they say it is no surprise that the best indicator of someone's SAT score is their ZIP code.
In this article, Freddie Deboar makes a progressive case for the SATs. He claims that the SAT is one of the fairer components of admissions, and that if you care about equaity, you should support the SATs.
Read more here: https://www.jacobinmag.com/2018/03/sat-class-race-inequality-college-adm...
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Related Shows
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Sep 19, 2010Scholars from Berkeley and from Stanford have played a big role on Philosophy Talk. Sure, John and Ken are from Stanford, but man...
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Why do some people have a strange desire to do weird things for no (good) reason? There's something fascinating about kids who eat laundry soap as part of a “challenge,” or people who deliberately... Read more
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Mexican philosophy is full of fascinating ideas, from Mexica ("Aztec") and Mayan thought to Sor Juana’s feminism and Emilio Uranga’s existentialism... Read more
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Comments (2)
Blue Lake Condor
Tuesday, April 3, 2018 -- 10:17 PM
I COMPLETELY agree withI COMPLETELY agree with Freddie!! I'm not white, My parents were almost "low income". And I can say with all my heart that I wish SAT score were THE deciding factor in college admission. It's just that, unless your family is stable, supportive, and resourceful financially and socially EVERY YEAR FOR FOUR YEARS STRAIGHT, it is difficult for students to keep good grades and participate in extracurricular activities of all sorts EVERY SINGLE YEAR FOR FOUR YEAR STRAIGHT! And you have to be connected and be on good terms with people whose recommendations count for more than a year or two. But SAT let the late bloomer to shine, and anyone can go for SAT at any stage of their lives. I so want SAT to be THE way for college admission before my son gets to high school.
Harold G. Neuman
Wednesday, April 4, 2018 -- 12:19 PM
I can agree, in principle andI can agree, in principle and based only upon what I know about SAT, that the test(s) are not 'fair' from a socioeconomic standpoint. But, then again, fairness within that context could never be guaranteed (seems to me), because the purpose of testing is not about socioeconomic fairness. Their purpose, if we understand it correctly, is to be predictive(to the extent that this is even possible)of the likelihood of academic success. If we have no other accurate measures of a probability of academic success, then what are we to do about those people who enter secondary education and fail miserably in their first semester? We need a better test(?) Really? OK. Tell me (and several thousand college admissions personnel) how we come up with that sort of test. You can't have it both ways---or can you? I feel badly for those who want to get a college degree (or two; or more...) but who cannot get into school, or STAY there if they do. But, college is not for everyone. I was probably smart enough, as a young person, to have earned a bachelor's degree. But that did not happen---I still did alright with my lowly Associate's sheepskin. Not spectacular, mind you---but OK.