Data Bases • Custom Term Papers • Free Term Papers • Free Research Papers • Free Essays • Free Book Reports • Plagiarism? Links • Top 100 Term Paper Sites • Top 25 Essay Sites • Top 50 Essay Sites • Search 97,000 Papers @ DirectEssays.com • Search 101,000 Papers @ ExampleEssays.com • Search 90,000 Papers @ MegaEssays.com Free Essays • Term Paper Sites • Chuck III's Free Essays • Free College Essays • TermPaperSites.com • My Term Papers • Get Free Essays • Essay World • Planet Papers	Search Lots of Essays Back to Subjects - Education 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 late 1930’s. In 1933, a gentleman by the name of James Bryant Conant became the president of Harvard University. At the time he became president, only the elite in the area were admitted into Harvard. This distinct social group was all male, all white, all Protestant, most Episcopalian. They basically were descendents of the Puritans who had come from Europe. These were decent people but they had formed a very closed group, almost a club, and controlled everything. James Conant was not particularly fond of this group and he wanted to unlock the hold they had not only on Harvard but on all of America. He had a vision, which actually originated with Thomas Jefferson, that there were people across America who were very intelligent, very talented, and very successful and you needed to find them, educate them and then let them run the country. His goal was a classless society. However, he needed a way to identify these people so he could bring them to Harvard to get that education. As a step in that direction, Conant instituted a new scholarship program for boys who were academically gifted and who did not come from the elite Eastern boarding schools where Harvard had always received its students. However, Conan needed a way to evaluate these students. He gave that task to his assistant dean, Henry Chauncey. Henry Chauncey was a very ambitious individual who loved mental testing. Chauncey met a man, named Carl Brigham who had been part of the army’s IQ testing team during World War I. Eventually, Carl Brigham adapted the army’s IQ test for use in college admissions and Chauncey reported back to Conant about the new SAT test. Conant wanted assurance, however, that this test was a test of pure intelligence and not of the quality of the education a student had received. It was important to him that boys of low or modest means and schooling not be penalized. Chauncey reassured Conant and the SAT was adopted to evaluate the applicants for the scholarship to Harvard. Later it was accepted as the entrance exam into Harvard for all students and eventually all Ivy League schools. The goal of the SAT test was to help predict how well a student would do in their first semester at college. 2) Since a National curriculum does not 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. However, based on the articles I have read, I am of the opinion that standard tests, in this case, the SAT, should be used, but as only one of many guidelines for admission into college. First, colleges do need to have a way of determining which students will do well at their facility and not squander their time. The SAT test was specifically designed with that in mind. However, even though tests can be useful, they are not perfect predictors. There are many factors that go into making a successful student: determination, ability to overcome adversity, desire, motivation and talents in specific areas, are just some of the qualities, and these traits cannot be measured by a test. Therefore, consideration must also be given to a student’s high school GPA, types of courses they took (were they advanced placement courses?), after school activities, jobs they may have held, voluntary work, etc. and then these characteristics may come to light. Second, studies have been done that show that high school grades and SAT scores combined are good predictors of how well a student will do in their first semester at college. The College Board says that, across many colleges, SAT scores improve the correlation between admissions predictions and GPA realities by 10%. 10% can mean a lot to large colleges, like Berkley, that receives in excess of 40,000 applications per year. In addition, low scores on tests are rarely the only reason that a student would not be eligible for a particular school. In fact, a report by the California Postsecondary Education Commission (CPEC) states that only 2.5% of California public high school graduates were disallowed solely on the basis of inadequate test scores. Beginning in 1995, Lafayette College conducted a five-year experiment, making the SAT test optional. They discovered that the test, combined with other measures better correlated with their students’ performance than did other measures alone. Additionally, admissions personnel often found themselves lost among unranked classes and inflated grades. Thirdly, if you do away with the SAT altogether, then college officials will have to focus more on assessing the high schools. If you don’t have the SAT to consider, you have to evaluate what is left, which is a student’s GPA, and any college-prep courses they may have taken, along with other after school activities, among other things. The fear is that those factors can amplify the inequalities among high schools even more than the SAT. Duke University Admissions Director explains that, “The students in school districts with more resources will be more equipped,.” thereby amplifying inequalities. For instance, let’s look at Advanced Placement courses. These courses, offered by top-level high schools, can help teens earn credits for college but many high schools can’t afford the advanced books and qualified teachers that are needed for these classes. In addition, financially strapped schools may not have a lot of after school activities. Finally, the argument exists that since minorities tend to score lower on the SAT than whites, that alone is a very good reason to eliminate using the SAT. However, the College Board has done studies on this, and the results have shown that high school grades and SAT scores are important predictors in all ethnic groups, and that including the SAT did lead to better prediction than using high school grades alone. I think that the majority of people agree that using the SAT test as the sole predictor of college success is flawed for many reasons. Nevertheless, until our inequitable education system is corrected or someone comes up with another way of assessing students, we will need to continue to use it in conjunction with the other tools that are at our disposal. Bibliography: Bibliography Adams, Noah, Analysis: SAT Scores Prove Again That There’s a Massive Gap Between the Scores of Minorities and Whites, All Things Considered (NPR), 08/28/2001, Retrieved August 31, 2001 on the world wide web, http://ehostvgw2.epnet.com/ehost.asp?key=204.179.122.140_8000_457699166&site=ehost&return=y&retry=1&user=s3916018&password=p0212816 Cloud, John, et al., Should SATS Matter? Time, 03/12/2001, Vol. 157, Issue 10, Retrieved August 31, 2001 on the world wide web, http://ehostvgw2.epnet.com/ehost.asp?key=204.179.122.140_8000_457699166&site=ehost&return=y&retry=1&user=s3916018&password=p0212816 Frontline (1999) Secrets of the SAT: interviews: William G. Bowen. Retrieved August 31, 2001 on the world wide web: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sats/interviews/bowen.html Frontline (1999) Secrets of the SAT: interviews: Nicholas Lemann. Retrieved August 31, 2001 on the world wide web: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sats/interviews/lemann.html Frontline (1999) Secrets of the SAT: Where Did the Test Come From? A Brief History of the SAT, Retrieved August 31, 2001 on the world wide web: http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/pages/frontline/shows/sats/where/history.html Lemann, Nicholas, Behind the SAT, Newsweek, September 6, 1999, p. 52-57 Zwick, Rebecca, Eliminating Standardized Tests in College Admissions, Phi Delta Kappan, Dec99, Vol. 81, Issue 4, Retrieved August 31, 2001 on the world wide web, http://ehostvgw2.epnet.com/ehost.asp?key=204.179.122.140_8000_457699166&site=ehost&return=y&retry=1&user=s3916018&password=p0212816 Word Count: 1103
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