Minority Students Threaten to Sue if University of California Doesn’t Drop SAT
“SAT and ACT scores mirror and reinforce social and educational inequality”
Lots of schools are already dropping entrance exam requirements. Don’t be surprised if the University of California does the same over this.
The College Fix reports:
Minority students demand University of California ditch the SAT … or they’ll sue
Last Tuesday, a trio of students, several student advocacy groups, and the Compton Unified School District indicated they would sue the University of California if it does not drop its admission requirement of SAT and ACT test scores.
The basis for the suit: The tests “illegally discriminate against applicants who can’t afford test prep classes and pose other unfair obstacles …”
According to the San Francisco Chronicle, one of the three students involved in the potential lawsuit, Kawika Smith, said that “he grew up in poverty, often homeless and with family violence that left him with emotional stress.” He says he couldn’t afford the cost of private test tutoring, and as a result was denied admission to UC Berkeley despite being “bright” with “enviable achievements.”
He ended up choosing an out-of-state college that did not require the SAT or ACT.
The lawyers representing the plaintiffs said UC “has chosen to ignore ample evidence that … disparate SAT and ACT scores mirror and reinforce social and educational inequality, [and] in doing so is knowingly excluding high-performing, less advantaged students from the benefits” of an education in the state college system.
From the story:
The lawyers’ demand letter comes as increasing numbers of universities across the country have ended their use of the controversial admissions tests on similar grounds. More than 1,000 universities, roughly 40% of the nation’s campuses, have dropped the requirement or made the tests optional in recent years, according to the National Center for Fair & Open Testing, an anti-testing group that tracks those numbers. …
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Comments
At this point what difference does it make? They leave school just as ignorant as when they started.
The basis for the suit: The tests “illegally discriminate against applicants who can’t afford test prep classes and pose other unfair obstacles …”
1. I’m pretty sure this phantom “discrimination” is not illegal.
2. Aren’t we being told by the progressive factions over and over again that this is not a competition to eliminate one over the other?
If they uncover poor educational preparation for college work, they’re doing their job. Go to a Community College and prove you’re worthy. GPA, these days, is not a reliable indicator of academic accomplishment. And assertions that you’re special don’t count.
“We’re stupid and ignorant; we can’t keep up with Whites and Asians! These evil tests reveal that! So, we want them stopped!”
That does sum up the reality of the situation quite well.
The school rebuts: OK, we’ll drop the tests and use your high school GPA for admissions ranking. Are you in the top 1%?
if you trust the rankings of the schools. Remember Ballou High School?
So, “high-performing” students need “private test tutoring” to get into Berkeley?
Looks like “high-performing” doesn’t mean what it did forty or fifty years ago. Newspeak must have worked its magic when I wasn’t looking.
Believe me when I say that Orwell is turning over in his grave…
The SAT and ACT discriminates against those who cannot afford to pay an educational consultant $500,000 to fake scores and athletic achievements.
This, unlike the current story, is a beef I really have with SAT and ACT. As far as I know (and I know more than nothing on this question) they have done NOTHING to prevent the same thing happening now, as happened in Varsity Blues to get fake test scores.
Knowingly, eh? Without a test, how do we know they’re high-performing?
There are 8 sample SAT’s posted by College Board, and there is free online prep thru Khan Academy. Did they try them, and then take their wrong answers to their teachers to learn to do them right?
You don’t need expensive test prep. You need free test prep which is available.
And for $25 or $30 you can buy a test guide book that is nearly as good as private tutoring. The key is to apply yourself and be prepared.
Actually learning the material while in school also helps; not just memorizing it to regurgitate the next day, but actually learning it.
The tests “illegally discriminate against applicants who can’t afford test prep classes and pose other unfair obstacles …”
I did well on the SAT and the GRE without any test prep.
I put “poor whites score higher than rich blacks on SAT” into a search engine. Here is one result: Wiki:Achievement gaps in the United States. Income and Class. Data from 1995:
Whites w family income under $10,000 averaged 409-V and 460-M. Black w family income over $70,000 averaged 407-V abd 442-M.
Doesn’t exactly help their case, does it?
My typo didn’t help my case, either.
They are not interested in facts. They want more freebies and giveaways for which they did not work or apply any effort.
I love that.
I had a rough childhood so let me into Berkeley or else!
Future headline: “UC system to drop all requirements for obtaining degrees. ‘Hey, just give us the money and you can pick the degree you want!'”
Looks like some people are suing for affirmation of “The Bell Curve”. The irony is obvious.
My son walked into the SAT testing last spring and knocked out a 1410. Not one minute of test prep. Not a humble brag, just that all this BS about over-prepping kids for the test is just that, BS.
Hitting the books and actually learning the material covered on the tests would get them accused of “acting white” by their layabout peers. 😐
The lazy don’t like having their excuses discredited by the industrious.
When I went thru junior and high school the vast majority of black students weren’t concerned with learning or grades.