Should poor kids get an automatic perfect score on their SATs?
They can't do well on their own so it's only fair.
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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.
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.