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If going by just "race", then American Indians and most Mexicans should do real well in school since they're pretty much "Asian" going by DNA.
Actually NA and Hispanics score way lower than Asians do on the SAT. They score lower than White's as well on the exam. But, they do beat African Americans however...so there is that.
SAT score averages are actually getting worse across the board, well...except for the Asians.
"SAT scores dropped significantly for the class of college-bound seniors this year. All three sections saw declines -- and the numbers were down for male and female students alike"
I find it hard to believe that genetics has anything to do with academics. I think it's all about the culture in the home during the formative years of the child. Start tomorrow taking children out of welfare queen homes or build a separate society for them but do something because what we have going now is not working.
Actually, I think a lot of people will argue that educational success is too complicated to reduce to any one factor. In my experience, success in college (which, I know, is not the same thing as test scores, but perhaps is a more meaningful measurement in terms of assessing future quality-of-life) is highly correlated with having close family members who have attained an undergraduate degree, hence all the attention paid to first-generation students regardless of class, race, or ethnicity.
I fully realize that the OP is talking about test scores and not overall educational achievement, but I think the more salient conversation to have is the one that goes beyond test scores. There are larger arguments to be made about what test scores mean, and in any case, it would be cool (for the sake of full disclosure) to have a link to the actual write-up of the study rather than merely a link to its abstract and an interpretation of its results by UNZ. In other words, I applaud the OP for raising several interesting points; I only hope that we can keep those points separate and that we try to find the best possible evidence to support what we say.
This was the best post on the thread.
Most of the OP's post on this topic are usually in regards to proving black inferiority in regards to intelligence based on specific tests, which do not measure intelligence or any other genetic disposition in regards to the black 'race.'
African immigrants are black as are Caribbeans (and many Puerto Ricans are black as well BTW) and they take the SAT and score well in comparison to whites, so there is no genetic predisposition in regards to "blackness" that causes a decrease in scoring in compared to whites on the SAT or any other standardized test.
American black people in this country have a long line of discrimination and poverty in their backgrounds. Even those of us (I am black) who are middle income or above had parents or grandparents who were extremely poverty stricken (I did) who lived through and absorbed American adherence to the ideology of black inferiority and white superiority that is displayed in the OP and many of the posts in the thread. Contrary to what people believe racial discrimination and black oppression did not end in 1865 at the end of the Civil War. Discrimination persisted in housing and economic opportunities for black people in this country until the 1970s and 1980s. I was born in 1979 so am the first generation of black people who did not grow up with housing discrimination in particular. Unfortunately, there are still biases that affect economics for blacks in regards to employment opportunities. These cultural norms, meaning American culture which believes blacks to be inferior, is what is the primary cause of "racial gaps." Genetics is not a primary nor even a minor factor in test scores.
But FWIW, I didn't take the SAT and turned out well in life (took the ACT). There have been other studies besides the one posted by the OP which shows that ACT and SAT scores for black youth do not correlate to success later on in life anyway. And the study posted in the OP indicated that it was income and not wealth that was used to correlate the gaps shown. Black people in my generation, even those of us who make a higher income, have much less generational wealth versus whites in particular. Oddly enough, in England, I remember reading on this very forum that blacks in England in poor neighborhood score higher than white poor English children and it probably also has to do with cultural norms concerning poor whites in England versus black immigrants. Brought that up to say, again, no genetic factors are proven in regards to the posted study. If anything it shows as do many other similar studies, how American cultural adherence to the ideology of black inferiority is still heavily in play in American society.
FWIW, I do feel that SAT and ACT are good measures of what a student is taught at school or via specific test prep classes. The study in the OP did mention that many of the reasons for gaps have to do with the fact that black children today attend subpar schools, regardless of income of the parents, in comparison to whites of equal economic conditions. That would have a direct relation to SAT scores. If kids are not prepared well in school, then of course they would not do well on these tests. However, I view a test as a snapshot in the life of a student, not something that proves anything about genetic disposition related to skin color.
Another FWIW, I took the GRE about 5 years ago. The first time, I scored less than the 40th percentile overall. In math, I scored in the 30th percentile, which is atrocious. Due to that and due to my desire to reach a particular score, I paid a pretty hefty sum to a test prep group (over $2k) to take a class that guaranteed a good score on the exam. After that class, I scored in the 94th percentile overall on the GRE and in the 90th percentile in math.
Test prep is important for these standardized test. There are methods that one needs to master to do well on them. I was told by my GRE instructor that SAT and GRE methods are pretty similar, since I never took SAT, I didn't know those methods. When I took ACT in high school I scored a 28, which was a pretty good score, I think the average back then was 18 and I had no test prep at all for that exam. It covered basically what I did in high school. If kids go to take these tests and have never had the material taught to them, they will do poorly. Simple as that.
Here's a graph of the above mentioned NAEP data showing the score gaps by everyones favorite division of people, Democrat and Republican.
Why are the gaps for black people higher in Liberal utopia's? Shouldn't all those lynchings and cop brutality in Conservative racist red state merica be keeping black people from even taking the test?
In California, I expect to see the gap between Hispanics and non-Hispanics partly because of testers who are not primary English speakers. I am really surprised though the gap is smaller than it is for African-Americans.
(I even wonder if the increase in the gap for Hispanics over time is from a greater proportion of Hispanics taking the SAT in the first place who are not native English speakers. I suspect in the 1990s that most non-native speakers were not taking the SAT.)
That actually feels like a missing piece... has the participation rate for underrepresented minorities increased in this time? Increasing the participation rates on tests like the SAT always drops test scores.
Actually NA and Hispanics score way lower than Asians do on the SAT. They score lower than White's as well on the exam. But, they do beat African Americans however...so there is that.
SAT score averages are actually getting worse across the board, well...except for the Asians.
"SAT scores dropped significantly for the class of college-bound seniors this year. All three sections saw declines -- and the numbers were down for male and female students alike"
And don't forget they recalibrated the SAT because the scores were so low years ago.
Just wait..they'll recalibrate the SAT again. Basically lower the bar yet again so we see high scores and our delusions of greatness will return once again !
Here's a graph of the above mentioned NAEP data showing the score gaps by everyones favorite division of people, Democrat and Republican.
Why are the gaps for black people higher in Liberal utopia's? Shouldn't all those lynchings and cop brutality in Conservative racist red state merica be keeping black people from even taking the test?
Interesting that New York spends 3 times per pupil more than Arizona but Arizona has higher scores for whites and higher scores for blacks than does New York.
Here's a graph of the above mentioned NAEP data showing the score gaps by everyones favorite division of people, Democrat and Republican.
Why are the gaps for black people higher in Liberal utopia's? Shouldn't all those lynchings and cop brutality in Conservative racist red state merica be keeping black people from even taking the test?
I find it hard to believe that genetics has anything to do with academics. I think it's all about the culture in the home during the formative years of the child. Start tomorrow taking children out of welfare queen homes or build a separate society for them but do something because what we have going now is not working.
The science and data disagree with your first statement that I boldfaced.
A lot of people deny the science for political reasons. It is kind of funny how Democrats correctly point out where Republicans deny science, without realizing that they themselves deny science at least as often as Republicans.
However, you are correct that culture also plays a key role, but the science says genetics also plays a significant role in ones IQ.
Pick any state and look at the state test score breakdowns.
Pick PISA for any year and look at the test score breakdown.
It's always the same:
Asian then White then big gap then Hispanic and then Black.
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