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Should poor kids get an automatic perfect score on their SATs?

They can't do well on their own so it's only fair.
QuixoticSoul · 41-45, M
No, of course not - because that would simply equalize performance across the board, rather than add a handicap for people who face tougher barriers than others and have less resources.

And stacking makes some sense, if you consider what the whole point of the exercise is. Beyond a certain bare minimum, grades and test scores are how schools attempt to select the intelligent and driven. But, for example, if two people have the same grades and test scores, and one comes from a wealthy and educated family who dedicate time, effort, and money for education, supplemental SAT classes etc - and the other works 30 hours a week on minimum wage helping to support his family - it's pretty easy to see who is [i]actually[/i] more intelligent and driven.

Anyway, with any policy like that, there is bound to be pain points, and flaws in execution - but the principle is pretty sensible.
SW-User
So long as points are deducted for the kids whose parents stay married I’m on board. @QuixoticSoul
QuixoticSoul · 41-45, M
@SW-User You can get as complex as you want with it, but I don't know if the data is there. Tons of people I knew growing up had parents who split up, including me. In my experience, for middle-class+ educated folks, there was no correlation at all between divorce and performance, opportunities, or parental investment. But kids from poor families often had none at all to begin with.
SW-User
@QuixoticSoul In my experience poor kids aren't capable of much, so this new scheme will work to level the playing field. I know this one poor kid who got good SAT scores, though. He worked hard, but I still would have given him extra points because the property values in his neighborhood were lower than where I lived.
Graylight · 51-55, F
To my knowledge, nobody is advocating or enabling minority or poverty-stricken kids to get perfect scores on their SATs.
SW-User
@Graylight At some point, as a reasonable person, you will find absurd arguments you disagree with, (I assume you don't agree that knowledge is part of the patriarchy) but your assumption about intelligent tests is off.

Here is a real question from a real IQ test:

Which number should come next in the pattern?
37, 34, 31, 28

Please tell me how this favors white people with median incomes of $45,200 to $135,600?
Graylight · 51-55, F
For an overview of the problems inherent in IQ testing :
[i]https://theconversation.com/the-iq-test-wars-why-screening-for-intelligence-is-still-so-controversial-81428[/i]

Math is easy to argue. But another actual question - explain the meaning of 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush'- may not mean the same thing to people of different cultures, nor does the answer make sense in the same way.
SW-User
@Graylight Math is easy to argue, but it's a significant portion of the IQ test!

(The College Board has removed language that would have a cultural bias, by the way, so back to IQ). You are conceding that IQ tests [i]themselves[/i] are not biased. Rather, you are saying individual questions may not measure intelligence accurately. I agree.

I doubt your example, 'a bird in the hand is worth two in the bush,' is known by many under 30. However, a series of questions about verbal acuity I would say is fair. How to measure that requires overlapping questions to measure aptitude.
Jackaloftheazuresand · 26-30, M
poor kids can't afford the SAT
SW-User
@Jackaloftheazuresand Exactly...if we give them perfect scored they won't have to pay for the SAT.
april50 · F
I think your irony is being missed.

Probably the worst thing we can fool kids abut during their education is that real life is fair. Out there in the jungle, fairness comes very bottom of the list.

The only value of any SAT is if it measures actual knowledge and ability to express it. Start adding social deprivation factors, and you instantly debauch it. These factors may be taken into account at selection and choice times (although the debauchery is present there too) but not at the most fundamental level of testing knowledge, expression and intelligence.
SW-User
@april50 If it's that bad then it should be thrown out. If you want college to be just about social engineering then just say it.
HannahSky · F
I'm sure it helps their self esteem to get bonus points for not knowing what they should know.
What even is this post
SW-User
@RedtheEmerald Of course!
Idk why but it fucking kills me that you said yes then didn't cite anything 😂

You've got me dead over here. My hat goes off to you.
SW-User
@RedtheEmerald I thought you wanted to provide one...lol...
DDonde · 31-35, M
CollegeBoard is a private organization 🤷‍♂️
They can do what they want.
SW-User
@DDonde I don't recall saying they couldn't...hmmmm, although I think there could be a legal case against the schools that discriminate illegally.

 
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