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SAT controversy

In its current form the test consists of two sections: Math and Verbal. Each of these sections is then sub-divided into three other categories to better isolate and pinpoint strengths and weaknesses. Although the initial versions were aimed at marking general intelligence, later versions have deviated. Today's SAT simply determines acquired knowledge and largely ignores raw intelligence.
             Although many people are beginning to recognize the problems associated with standardized tests such as the SAT-there are still those who will argue in its favor. Some feel that the SAT gives disadvantaged students the opportunity to prove themselves. The SAT is a test designed to determine how well a student will do in the first semester of college. For students whose schools do not provide a way to visibly display individual abilities-the SAT seems to step right in and offer that opportunity. The SAT is supposed to be a test of logic and reasoning and should not refer back to school curriculum. It is designed to test a student's current ability to reason and make logical choices. While many people may argue this, Tom Ewing, spokesman of the Education Testing Service, says that both test developers and teachers rigorously review each test question (Perera). "We study these question to death we're very confident in our process. We write [questions] very carefully and involve teachers and if they don't work we toss them,"" (Perera). .
             Contrary to what some people believe, the SAT is, for the most part, an inadequate method to determine college success. It only reveals the strengths and weaknesses of one's current logic and literature skills. It does not test their ability to obtain these skills. Nowhere within the test can someone's perseverance or devotion be evaluated. The score of the SAT cannot inform a college whether or not a student is a late-bloomer and furthermore that the student would be able to regain what they lost in their sophomore and junior year.


Essays Related to SAT controversy

1. The SAT Controversy

The SAT Controversy 1) According to the video and the article, who and how was the SAT developed and for what purpose? The SAT, or as it was called in the beginning, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, had its debut in the ... exist, do you believe standard tests should be used for admission to college? Give 3 reasons and support them. Controversy abounds around admissions testing. Countless articles argue for keeping the SAT and just as many seem to argue for abolishing it. The discussions on both sides have valid and important points. ... school graduates were disallowed solely on the basis of ...

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2. SAT Bias

... proven to be inadequate at measuring a student's academic ability in college. Over the past few years there has been a growing controversy about the SAT I exam in America. The SAT I test is very broad and does not look at what students have learned specifically in the subjects they were taught from grades ... true academic ability. Some people get nervous before big tests. Some people are just bad at that type of test. Another possible concern regarding the SAT I exam is that it is unfair toward lower income families. There are many programs offered to help students to learn how to take ...

  • Word Count: 944
  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

3. SAT'S

... natural nor inevitable, and it does not apportion opportunity equally or fairly" (www.the-big-test.com). When the test was originally introduced, the letters SAT stood for Scholastic Aptitude Test. This is no longer the case. The College Board (the organization that sponsors the SATs) got rid of the acronym ... but kept the letters, allowing them to stand on their own, free of the controversy surrounding the meaning of the word aptitude. (www.howstuffworks.com) The test assesses the math and verbal reasoning abilities that a student has acquired over ... from a low-income household, then...

  • Word Count: 1650
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4. Standardized Testing and its Social Faults

... ambivalence. However, the majority of those students do not realize that the setup and outcome of every standardized test is a large topic of controversy in today's society. Though it is still a largely used educational method, standardized testing is debated upon continuously. The foremost topic in debates ... score lower on standardized tests such as the SATs and ACTs. This leads to a disadvantage in being accepted to schools with a minimum SAT requirement and can also lead to a disadvantage in receiving scholarships based on test scores. Statistics are the largest factor in this argume...

  • Word Count: 1787
  • Approx Pages: 7
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

5. The Effect of Listening to Music While We Study

... why music in ineffective on studying by explaining their evidences based on their studies and researches. Next, I will introduce the second side of this controversy which is that music is effective for studying. In the article "This is the kind of music you should listen to at work" ... test scores, cuts learning time, reduces errors and etc. After that, the author describes about the research of how students did better on SAT test with Mozart music environment. He also talks about how these results can be explained by telling that peoples' pulse rate and blood pressure can ... of lo...

  • Word Count: 2134
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

6. Genetics And Intelligence

... The big question is whether or not intelligence is hereditary and therefore fixed, or due to the environment and changeable. In 1994, the controversy over this issue came up again with the publication of "The Bell Curve: Intelligence and Class Structure in American Life" written by Richard ... IQ will depend upon the parents, education, and other external factors. Genes represent influences and potentials, not blueprints for behavior. However, within this controversy, advocates for the environment must explain why IQ stays the same throughout a person's life, as well as why high IQ or low...

  • Word Count: 2287
  • Approx Pages: 9
  • Has Bibliography

7. Madonna Like a Prayer Video Analysis

... (many of which have gone multi-platinum) and to take several world tours with sold-out concerts, and has caused quite a bit of controversy in what she has done in the public eye. Examples include posing nude for Penthouse magazine (and announcing afterwards that she was not ashamed for ... This essay shall focus on the video which accompanies the title track from her 1989 album, "Like A Prayer," which certainly had its share of controversy. Probably the most startling image in the music video was that of several burning crosses on a lawn or a hill. These crosses were in the ... . Seeing ...

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  • Approx Pages: 4
  • Grade Level: High School

8. Pierre Trudeau vs. Jean Chretien

... as Prime Minister, some which were eerily similar to the ones Trudeau faced during his term in office. The two Prime Minister's have both made some policies that have created controversy and dissension. For example, on February 27, 1995, Chrétien and his Finance Minster, Paul Martin, deliver a stunning budget which included huge spending cuts, including a massive decrease in transfer ... Montréal, where most of Québec's non-francophone's live. As expected, about ninety percent of English-speaking and immigrant Québeckers voted NO. After the vote, controversy broke out almost immedia...

  • Word Count: 4400
  • Approx Pages: 18
  • Grade Level: High School

9. Phonics And Whole Language

... convinced that the only right method of teaching young children to read is by having them memorize complete words, and subsequently through contextual cues, their meanings (Steele, 1998). The current controversy surrounding this issue certainly is not a new one. What causes it to be such a hot topic today is the introduction of state and nationwide testing and the possible introduction of ... claim this practice produces not only poor readers, but poor spellers as well and point to the steady decline in Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) scores. For example, in 1963 the average score on the...

  • Word Count: 3094
  • Approx Pages: 12
  • Has Bibliography
  • Grade Level: Undergraduate

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