SAT Fever

It is that time of year again when juniors scramble to take the spring SATs. Let’s start with the fact that the SAT is back in the news with this NY Times Article by David Leonhardt. The premise is simple. People hate the SATs, particularly progressive educators, and parents, because they think the test causes stress in young people and exacerbates racial and economic disparities in education. But according to the researchers at NYT,  the test is actually good. 

Tell that to the average 16-year-old trying to figure out how to add one more hour of studying into their already jampacked day. But I digress. 

The crew at the NY Times did some lovely data analysis to show that the numbers do not support the disparity piece so often touted by progressive educators. The data now shows that eliminating the test has harmed young people who are in disadvantaged situations who would have done well on the test but were not required to take it because there are schools that will accept these students' applications without it. According to the article, opening up test optional college choice, too many students opt not to apply to elite colleges that require the SAT. And these students may be giving up a chance at an elite spot in college and a great life after that. This is good to know and consider when making choices for your child. If your child will do well on the test with a little effort, the SAT might be an attractive choice for them.  A good score could get your child noticed.

But I take umbrage with some aspects of the article. For instance, it shows that the SAT is a better predictor of success at top colleges than grades. But for me, no one in the article defines success in a way that I find helpful. Their measures of success are working at an elite firm, attending a prestigious graduate program, or having a high college GPA. These are great and important statistical measures when looking at data,  but they need to include more when defining a successful person.

 For me, success doesn’t simply include your financial footprint. So I can’t simply look at the NYT data and say, “Oh yes, making the SAT mandatory again makes sense.” As someone who works with young people in college and some young adults out of college, success often looks like learning how to get off the hamster wheel of meritocracy and learn to become oneself. Money and prestige are great, and some people live to attain these goals. But too much of our whole educational system seems tilted in this direction (I could go on about that for hours, but I won’t).

So, if you are the parent of an anxious child or a child with learning differences who cannot put one more thing on their plate, don’t fret about that SAT.  There are now many test-optional schools, and your student doesn’t need to take the SAT if it doesn’t make sense for them. Opting to go test-optional won’t cut off prestige for them later, either. They will take another path and get there another way. There isn’t one way to the top.

Also, the NYT article indirectly argues that the SAT should be mandatory for all because it is good for some. Really? Can’t we do better than that? Yes, some students will lose out if they don’t take the SAT when they could have blown it out of the water and gotten entry into an elite school, and some elite schools miss out on this talent. But these two facts do not mean the SAT must return to being required.

 We know now that policymakers, advocates for the success of the American economy, educators, and educational institutions need to do a better job of educating students and their parents. Make it clear to students that they should sit for the free PSAT offered in school no matter what. Then, schools and parents should sit down to take a look and see if the SAT is the right choice. It might be perfect, or it may be a bad fit.

 Even better, the Collegeboard, with its 1 billion dollars in assets, could work to automate an experience for parents and students online that would take personal and school data as well as the predictive score of the SAT and help determine whether a student is a good candidate for taking the test or going test-optional. If we are really about optimizing potential, the Collegeboard should put its money where its mouth is and optimize every student’s potential through robust options.

It doesn’t hurt young people to know that they have choices and that the SAT is just one tool in a large toolbox for attending college. If we care about underprivileged kids getting hurt by the lack of the SAT in their lives, then fix it. Make a policy that pushes into schools and helps young people with limitless potential make better decisions. 

I am always skeptical of large mandatory ventures like advocating for the SAT requirement. Instead, I prefer to see motivated adults making a difference in young people’s lives and helping them become autonomous thinking citizens. That is our best option.

Photo by Nguyen Dang Hoang Nhu on Unsplash