Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I was talking to a school administrator who told me his goal is to eliminate the gap in test scores between Whites/Asians and Blacks/Hispanics. He said it can be done. In his opinion, we are about ten years away from a day when students of all races will have basically the same test scores.
In other words, Blacks and Hispanics will have the same scores on the SAT and SOL tests as Whites and Asians. Was he just being a politically correct dreamer, or will this really happen as soon as ten years from now?
No I don't believe that as a demographic cluster, Hispanics (they can be black and white hispanics fyi), blacks and whites will have the same median test scores. The economic class distribution in this country will never be at such parity as to inflict the same economic influence on the emphasis of education among such groups to create the outcome you speak of. The best non-whites can do is adopt their own sense of academic priorities and compete. Heck I'll give you a better one, US census predicts that by 2040 there will be more non-white people than white people in America, and even then the economic distribution will be such that said academic test parity will not be a reality. Now, an SAT is not a gurantor of success and as diluted as a bachelor's degree is I recognize that the better your scores the better chance you have of getting into a particular college. But, I know plenty of white people with perfect SAT scores who dÃdn't hack college, so there's the end of that. White people as a percentage have more college dropouts than minorities, that's of course because there's more white people in college. What it does speak to is that even though as a median white folks have higher median scores, it doesn't prove ANYTHING in terms of ability to succeed.
So I wouldn't concern myself as much with the SAT score disparities as much as just get your foot in the door and make your mark. I'm Hispanic (white if that makes a difference), and my standarized test scores have always been mediocre, yet I managed to graduate from engineering schools,both at the undergrad and graduate level. Of course I worked the system and smoked the GPAs in high school and college and applied everywhere and then some to make sure I got in somewhere, and didn't have problems getting in most of the schools I wanted to attend. It can be done, just don't totally bomb the SAT and you'll be alright.
There was an article in L.A. times a few months ago about how asians in general have better test scores than hispanics. Look it up, and don't forget to look up the "comments" section, too, to see people's responses.
No I don't believe that as a demographic cluster, Hispanics (they can be black and white hispanics fyi), blacks and whites will have the same median test scores. The economic class distribution in this country will never be at such parity as to inflict the same economic influence on the emphasis of education among such groups to create the outcome you speak of. The best non-whites can do is adopt their own sense of academic priorities and compete. Heck I'll give you a better one, US census predicts that by 2040 there will be more non-white people than white people in America, and even then the economic distribution will be such that said academic test parity will not be a reality. Now, an SAT is not a gurantor of success and as diluted as a bachelor's degree is I recognize that the better your scores the better chance you have of getting into a particular college. But, I know plenty of white people with perfect SAT scores who dÃdn't hack college, so there's the end of that. White people as a percentage have more college dropouts than minorities, that's of course because there's more white people in college. What it does speak to is that even though as a median white folks have higher median scores, it doesn't prove ANYTHING in terms of ability to succeed.
So I wouldn't concern myself as much with the SAT score disparities as much as just get your foot in the door and make your mark. I'm Hispanic (white if that makes a difference), and my standarized test scores have always been mediocre, yet I managed to graduate from engineering schools,both at the undergrad and graduate level. Of course I worked the system and smoked the GPAs in high school and college and applied everywhere and then some to make sure I got in somewhere, and didn't have problems getting in most of the schools I wanted to attend. It can be done, just don't totally bomb the SAT and you'll be alright.
There is a big difference between saying the SAT is not a guarantor of success and then going on to say it doesn't prove ANYTHING in terms of ability to succeed.
Kids with high SAT's that bomb out in college are the ones that basically go wild once out of their parents sight and don't go to class, party etc.
Hard work trumps most everything....but you don't see a lot of nuerosurgeons that didnt have BOTH high test scores and hard work in their background.
P.S. In my experience, lower scorers likely have lower dropout rates because they tend to go into easier schools\majors or just don't go to college at all. Or, got into a college based upon thier grades which were highly correlated to being a hard worker instead of SAT's which are associated with IQ and education.
There was an article in L.A. times a few months ago about how asians in general have better test scores than hispanics. Look it up, and don't forget to look up the "comments" section, too, to see people's responses.
How do you access the comments section? I couldn't find one in the link you provided.
It seems that they removed it... but as far as my memory serves, the comments were varied, and it ranged from "it's a culture thing for asians to value education more" all the way to "it's genetic superiority."
I wonder if there is a difference in the black/white/hispanic scores in affluent communities?
Seems like they might be the same already in those kinds of places.
Anybody know?
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
