The College Board, also the sponsors for the SAT are very concerned about high school seniors and the lack of education that they are receiving. That they are not ready for college courses because the lack of care from the school system. In the last 5 years the average was 1498 out of 2400 this showed that six out of ten graduates where not ready for college. With this information that was given on NPR that this is a social problem we have to fix.
A Conflict theorist would say that theirs a struggle with the students and the school system. The school system is depriving these minority to have a proper education by them not giving them harder classes with teachers that want to teach and honor classes to give them a chance to decide their educational path. Also how the students do not have a say in their education how just a pick by their counselor decides if they get a good teacher or not.
I think that this unfair and unjust that these high school students do not have a say in their education. I commented on this topic because i to have had teachers that would not care if you pass or fail even let alone have passion for their so called career to teach at their fullest. I think the solution is obvious that we need to bring this to congress if we are the future why can not educate us the proper way what makes us different from your kids. That we need more money and funding in the school system this would stop a lot of problems like in community college campus's with the overcrowding and more high school students would get in to CSU and UC'S.
The latest college SAT scores in the last five years have had a highest score of 1498 out of 2400. Six out of ten college bound seniors who took the test recently weren’t ready for college level work! There is a major widening of gap in scores along racial and ethnic lines. Asians are the top minority doing well in SAT scores while blacks remain to be below average in scores. David Coleman, the president of the College Board, said that the College Board is going to go beyond and transform the daily work that students are doing. About 15% of Blacks and 23% of Latinos met or exceeded the benchmark. The College Board is going to make course work tougher and that students have access for more demanding honors and advanced placement courses, giving minorities better education to succeed in bigger numbers. A functionalist would look at this problem and say that the schools are providing fewer programs and aren’t caring enough for a student’s well being thus the SAT scores are lower than they should be. Even though the College Board has stated that they want to make more programs to advance students into higher scores, where is all the money coming from to support all of this? In order for this to function, everyone must work together to achieve all these standards. Plus, many teachers really don’t care about the students and most high school students need a person to inspire them to do better in school. I chose this topic because I have taken the SATs and did poorly on them due to the lack of education provided from my school. There were honor classes for students to achieve beyond average but there wasn’t really any special programs provided to help students in need and to prepare them for college. A solution I would propose is that the school board should focus less on scores on standardized testing, but more of giving a student the knowledge he or she needs to be successful in life. Schools have cut down so many programs that are necessary such as therapists and focus more on budgeting a new campus. Students, especially minorities, need all the help they can get.
In the college board article, SAT scores tend to be a problem because more low income student are taking the test creating a larger ethnicity and race gap to the scores. The SAT is suppose to predict the level of success a student will have in college and in the future but it is recently being debated on whether or not it is doing so. This conflict has created a huge social problem because the SAT scores are what universities and colleges look at to determine if you are qualified for their school but the exam has not been able to predict that anymore due to the fact that the students scoring higher are the students with the most resources. This conflict reflects a System Blame because the government is the one in charge of providing the schools with the appropriate education for each student. If low income students aren’t getting taught the same level of education as the wealthy are taught then, the SAT scores become irrelevant and the universities and colleges can no longer rely on this type of evaluation. A conflict theorist would say that the SAT scores have created a gap between ethnicities and races because low income interest are not being served. The people in charge of making the criterias and standards for the SAT scores are wealthy americans and they know they are creating this gap because they feel that without the gap there would be no boundaries the lower class individuals would have to cross to become successful. A conflict theorist would say that power is only suited for certain types of people and education is one way the wealthy hold their power among the rest of society. I agree with the college board with the SAT scores being invalid to the universities and colleges because low income students rent given the opportunities to succeed. I decided to comment on this topic because I am a college student that would eventually have to take this exam and fit in the ethnicity which scores are the lowest. I feel the college board is making a huge step by letting the universities and colleges know about what is going on and the solution I would propose would be in the same lines the college board is doing by, giving the low income student more resources and strengthening their education in order to make this test more reliable as it once was.
There is Widening gap in the the sat scores from affluent students and minority ethnic groups.Blacks and Latinos are receiving the lowest scores on these standardized tests. Some say that standardized testing is not a good measurement for college readiness but rather a measure of income. An argument is going on as to whether these test are good indicators of college readiness and College Board is genuinely trying to increase scored to help minority groups be better prepared fro college or rather it is a scheme to keep standardized testing relevant to secure financial assets to the companies involved. This is a persisting problem that has an abundance of proposed solutions that aren't working. Conflict theory can be applied to understand this social problem.
A conflict theorist would say that public schools serve a perpetuate to educational disparities instead of serving as a means for education and upward mobility. This is caused by lack of funding, low expectations, and problems outside of school that affluent students do not have to deal with.
I think that standardized testing is indeed a reflection of income and that not only is this due to being ill prepared for a test but as well as schools on general. Schools with large numbers of Black and Latino students are suffering in the overall quality of education. One explanation is the attitude towards these ethnic groups in the past that have led them to be part of the lower income demographic. One solution would be to stop federal budget cuts to public schools. With a larger budget to the school system more resources become available in the staff(teachers, counselors, and security and in materials (books and desks computers etc.)and in aesthetics of the campus to provide a positive learning environment.
For the past five years, average SAT scores have been at all time lows. According to officials at the College Board, sponsor’s of the SAT, these scores are indicative of student’s unpreparedness for college. President of the College Board, David Coleman is concerned that these scores not only show student deficits in reading, writing and math skills, they also suggest a “widening gap” between the different races and ethnicities with Asians showing the highest overall SAT scores followed by whites, Latinos, and blacks last.
While College Board plans to make a push for more readily available advanced courses as they say these courses will help to prepare students better for college, others suggest that there is simply just a correlation between overall success and family income. Furthermore, some critics suggest that the College Board’s promotion of more advanced courses is simply a marketing ploy to keep SAT relevant.
While one could argue the cause and solutions to this issue, the underlying social problem here is that there may indeed be an education deficit among our youth. This deficit could affect the student as he or she will continue to struggle in academic settings but it may also have the potential to affect society as well. If the SAT is indeed a success indicator, a low score puts students at a disadvantage early on in college and if they continue to be without a strong academic foundation, they may never be able to acquire the proper tools or knowledge to fill important positions in society such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers.
As a nation and culture that values education so much, a lack of it in our students offends much of society. Aside from the reported five-year low average score as reported by College Board, inadequate education and unpreparedness for college is a problem that has persisted for years. As the article suggests, there are a number of solutions that are being formulated for this problem.
I feel that this situation can be best evaluated from a symbolic interactionist perspective. Similar to what one critic suggested, the SAT is not the only indicator of college success and sometimes, not much of an indicator at all. A symbolic interactionist would draw attention to individual students and there academic backgrounds specifically rather than holistically. This observation may reveal that many students do not succeed in the test format or should not be assessed by a testing that is so standard to begin with. Furthermore, a symbolic interactionist would say that the potential for college success varies from student to student regardless of a low or high SAT score because that student may have other attributes or experiences that may develop or occur later in life that may cause success or failure. For example, some students who do poorly on tests or in high school may later experience a desire or motivation to succeed and do just that. A symbolic interactionist would give value to these types of specific details.
I agree with critics that the SAT is a poor indicator of college success. I also believe that it should not hold so much weight in the college acceptance process. Students should not be assessed on a test that is so standard across the board because it undermines other individual academic and intellectual capabilities. I disagree with College Board’s suggestion to make advanced courses more readily available when the issue at hand is student’s unpreparedness for more rigorous work. Instead, students should have more resources on campus that provide more academic encouragement and overall support. These types of resources are the kind that students become involved in and start to develop motivation and a change in attitude towards schooling.
In response to Micaela response, I agree with her stance on the topic, because I also feel that the SAT does not adequately measure our mental capabilities. In reading her response, what really stood out to me was how she had a strong understanding of the social problem, and I could see this when she mentions an education deficit among our youth. Surely not being able to understand basic concepts not only affects a person in an academic setting, but in a society as well. I chose to comment on her response because it was a well thought out and written response that I completely agree with, all in contrast to various other responses. I think the topic of education is one of the most important; however, the concern over low SAT scores should not be so significant. Therefore, I can not provide you with an answer as to why low SAT scores are a problem when I believe it does not pose a problem in the first place. This is because, I maintained above a 3.0 throughout high school, did exceptionally well on the ACT, and do exceptionally well now in college, yet I still did poorly on the SAT. Essentially, you can see how a low SAT score was a poor indicator of academic success.
A conflict theorist would conclude that the low SAT scores are a result of people in a higher class using the test to keep people of a lower class at the bottom of the stratification of society; typically minorities. This test has a lot of weight when it comes to determining college admissions. People with more money, who can afford a better education and the SAT prep classes, tend to do better on the test than the ones who cannot. Since now more minorities are taking the test, it could be producing lower average test scores, as mentioned in the article. So people of a higher class are using the SAT to keep people of a lower class from entering into prestigious colleges, of which graduating from would get them ahead.
I agree with her proposed solution and feel that it is possible to get our youth more prepared for more rigorous course work. Clearly another solution would be to stop cutting into our educations budget, and instead fund our education more that way our schools could provide after school SAT prep classes for free.
I agree with Annabelle's blog post because she stated that school's provide very few programs that are willing to help students prepare adequately for the SAT's and college. One thing that stood out to me from what she wrote was that there is no sense in making more advanced placement courses if there are few teachers that are willing to take the time to inspire students. This stood out to me because, I do not see the point in making more advanced placement classes if there are still many minority students struggling with non AP courses. I chose to comment on her entry because I also do not comprehend the college board decision into wanting to make more advanced placement courses, thinking it will increase a minority students chances into getting in a top university. Low SAT scores are an effect of a weak educational system in the U.S., not because of lack of advanced placement classes. This is a social problem because if schools and colleges keep focusing on SAT's scores rather than focus on how they can improve minority students learning and study skill, then there will be a consistency of low scores in the future and nothing will change. A conflict theorist would say that there is a consistency of low SAT scores because the low income, minority student does not have the same opportunity that upper middle class students have in having a better school curriculum ever since they entered preschool. Conflict theory sees the unequal opportunity that lower income students have endured in education. Therefore, making more advanced placement courses in high schools will not improve the chances of more minority students getting into top universities. I disagree with the proposed solution because if the public school's educational curriculum does not change, then minority students chances of getting into top colleges will not change, even with more challenging courses. Another solution to this social problem is to change the public school's curriculum into accommodating every student's learning capabilities starting from the moment they enter preschool. -Laura M.
In response to Julian T I would have to disagree with Julien’s assessment that giving harder classes would give students a greater chance in getting into college. Harder classes don’t mean academic excellence because every student is different in academic ability. If you test every student it would be different because one can be good in science, the other good in math, or even good in English. So, don’t evaluate students collectively but individually in order to give a proper assessment because everyone is different. What stood out to me about his argument is his solution because the political elite doesn’t appear to take seriously how an improved education system needs to be taken into consideration. His words where “educate us (students) the right way” means that students need to challenged, hard – working, prepared, and educated in order to thrive into rigorous college courses. Plus, his words “more money and funding in the school system this would stop a lot of problems like in community college campus's with the overcrowding.” With more money, this means this can reduce overcrowding and redirect their efforts towards a hard working school. I chose on this peer’s topic because I felt he understood that teacher’s don’t always challenge their students. Sometimes, it feels like you’re wasting your time and could do something much more with your education. My thoughts on this topic are that the education system is not a perfect one because there are the ones that are prepared for college and those that are not. Those that are prepared go to 4-year universities and have a higher degree and those that are not can sometimes be lost on what to do next in their life. That’s why preparing high school students for the next stage in college is essential. This is a social problem because College Boards believe that the SAT’s scores as the determining factor for college. It shouldn’t because low SAT’s don’t account for people who do well in college yet have low SAT scores. So, SAT’s shouldn’t always be favored for preparedness in college. An interactionist would look at each individuals separate capability. They would look at the ethnicity, gender, and sex of the group as determining factors for the SAT’s. Also, interactionists would look at the perceptions and belief system of the ones administering the SAT as a determining factor who comes into their school. They label the people who passed SAT proficient enough to take rigorous required college courses. I believed that their proposed solution is a realistic and feasible one. My proposed solution is to revise the practice of administering SAT scores as indicators in readiness for college. Instead redirect the focus on student’s own involvement with resources available. In other words, the students should be responsible for their own future and take their own steps into college. -Alfred Rodriguez
I would have to agree, with Alti, that Universities are waking up to the fact that "standard" tests do not determine a person's knowledge and intelligence: Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, intelligence is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. Therefore, these SAT tests should not determine is a student should be accepted into a college from high school. Now, the education board is seeing a difference in scores due to ethnic background. This is an effect from the limited resources that most minorities have. They had also mentioned that the high school classes that students are taking do not prepare them for college at all. With this problem, we can look at an interactionist’s theory. Instead of focusing so much on the have vs. the have-nots, I would rather look at the motivation that these kids do not have to go on to a higher education. In many of my peers experience in high school, they did not feel motivated enough to move on to a high education. The teachers never stressed how important it was to move on. Most of us wanted to get a job and move out of our house. The teachers that chose not to motivate their students are probably not motivated themselves. I would also have to slightly agree with Alti's solution because "Thirty percent of college and university students drop out after their first year. Half never graduate." The question is why? Is it truly because of economic reasons or do they just feel unmotivated to stay in school? If they are unmotivated, it is only because the past teachers and guardians in their lives did not stress the importance for college. In that case, then we should be looking at the structure of home conditions and high school class room environments... not raising standards and created more work for our students of America.
I completely agree with Julian's response because statistically speaking , no one is really ever ready for college. On that note , what he stated about 6 out of 10 grads aren't ready for college is completely true. Their perspectives on college seem great at one moment but at the next moment it's just a reality check that notifys them that they have to put on their big person pants and get their situations and acts together to be able to live on their own and do their own thing. I chose to comment on this entry because I come from a neighborhood where not only are they not ready , but they end up being parents instead or doing an easy 6 month program and that's all. They can't commit to a whole college career because it's too much on their plate after having school for soooo long. This has become a social problem because the less high school grads go to college, the lesser of a chance for improvement among our younger generation.
A functionalist would say that wether they finish college or not, it won't matter as long as they served the function on getting in. The rest just becomes extra and them being willing to pull all the way through.
I believe that not only society should intervene with this situation, but also the school board as well as volunteer that help improve teens self esteem. I believe it's a little of realistic yet feasible but it all depends on the person. If they aren't willing to change and be better then there is nothing you can actually do to help. With my solution, more teens will be more educated on being ready for college and then there will be hope for our newer generation and it will be possible for a better environment with higher educated population.
I chose Alti’s comment to respond because I liked her thoughtful and, at the same time, passionate recall to this article, and because I am a college student for the last four years. Of course, persistent low SAT scores for the last five years disclose the problems in education, which is one of the main social institutions. Also, this problem is social because of its obvious interconnectivity with other social problems, such as poverty and social inequality in a whole. A functionalist would say that differences in educational achievements among students is natural and useful because these differences would provide a labor market with workers of different skills. To function properly, according to a functionalist, society needs blue-collar workers that are usually low educated. The students who could not compete with better educated ones would fill these niches. It could become dysfunctional if low scores would be for all of the poor or minorities because it could lead social unrest of riots. Although I am sharing Alti’s opinion regarding to this problem in general, I disagree with some of her ideas. First of all, I do not think that “the SAT scores become irrelevant ant the universities and colleges can no longer rely on this type of evaluation.” Maybe the SAT, like every other examination, is not an ideal means to evaluate students’ knowledge, but we anyway need some criteria to assess their educational success and assume their perspectives. Along with expensive private schools, we have community ones, which I believe is affordable for everybody. It is fact, and it is fair. We can have schools of different costs as well as practice different methods of teaching, but we cannot use different criteria for evaluation of knowledge. Likewise, we cannot create different exams, different diplomas, or different professional licenses on the basis of the income or social class because documents like these show what the person knows or can do. Here, social background has nothing to do. Shortly, if “a conflict theorist would say that the SAT scores have created a gap between ethnicities and races […],” I would strongly disagree with him because these scores just uncover, not create, the one side of the complex social problem, which is poverty. From that frame of reference, I would seek the solutions in modernization of schools in poor neighborhood and attraction of high-quality teachers to work in them. Certainly, the small budget of these poor local communities cannot afford following expenses. So, I address my claim to counties or states administrations. To give kids the same opportunities in education and success we should firstly break the “cycle of poverty”.
12 comments:
The College Board, also the sponsors for the SAT are very concerned about high school seniors and the lack of education that they are receiving. That they are not ready for college courses because the lack of care from the school system. In the last 5 years the average was 1498 out of 2400 this showed that six out of ten graduates where not ready for college. With this information that was given on NPR that this is a social problem we have to fix.
A Conflict theorist would say that theirs a struggle with the students and the school system. The school system is depriving these minority to have a proper education by them not giving them harder classes with teachers that want to teach and honor classes to give them a chance to decide their educational path. Also how the students do not have a say in their education how just a pick by their counselor decides if they get a good teacher or not.
I think that this unfair and unjust that these high school students do not have a say in their education. I commented on this topic because i to have had teachers that would not care if you pass or fail even let alone have passion for their so called career to teach at their fullest. I think the solution is obvious that we need to bring this to congress if we are the future why can not educate us the proper way what makes us different from your kids. That we need more money and funding in the school system this would stop a lot of problems like in community college campus's with the overcrowding and more high school students would get in to CSU and UC'S.
BY Julian T.
The latest college SAT scores in the last five years have had a highest score of 1498 out of 2400. Six out of ten college bound seniors who took the test recently weren’t ready for college level work! There is a major widening of gap in scores along racial and ethnic lines. Asians are the top minority doing well in SAT scores while blacks remain to be below average in scores. David Coleman, the president of the College Board, said that the College Board is going to go beyond and transform the daily work that students are doing. About 15% of Blacks and 23% of Latinos met or exceeded the benchmark. The College Board is going to make course work tougher and that students have access for more demanding honors and advanced placement courses, giving minorities better education to succeed in bigger numbers. A functionalist would look at this problem and say that the schools are providing fewer programs and aren’t caring enough for a student’s well being thus the SAT scores are lower than they should be. Even though the College Board has stated that they want to make more programs to advance students into higher scores, where is all the money coming from to support all of this? In order for this to function, everyone must work together to achieve all these standards. Plus, many teachers really don’t care about the students and most high school students need a person to inspire them to do better in school. I chose this topic because I have taken the SATs and did poorly on them due to the lack of education provided from my school. There were honor classes for students to achieve beyond average but there wasn’t really any special programs provided to help students in need and to prepare them for college. A solution I would propose is that the school board should focus less on scores on standardized testing, but more of giving a student the knowledge he or she needs to be successful in life. Schools have cut down so many programs that are necessary such as therapists and focus more on budgeting a new campus. Students, especially minorities, need all the help they can get.
In the college board article, SAT scores tend to be a problem because more low income student are taking the test creating a larger ethnicity and race gap to the scores. The SAT is suppose to predict the level of success a student will have in college and in the future but it is recently being debated on whether or not it is doing so. This conflict has created a huge social problem because the SAT scores are what universities and colleges look at to determine if you are qualified for their school but the exam has not been able to predict that anymore due to the fact that the students scoring higher are the students with the most resources. This conflict reflects a System Blame because the government is the one in charge of providing the schools with the appropriate education for each student. If low income students aren’t getting taught the same level of education as the wealthy are taught then, the SAT scores become irrelevant and the universities and colleges can no longer rely on this type of evaluation.
A conflict theorist would say that the SAT scores have created a gap between ethnicities and races because low income interest are not being served. The people in charge of making the criterias and standards for the SAT scores are wealthy americans and they know they are creating this gap because they feel that without the gap there would be no boundaries the lower class individuals would have to cross to become successful. A conflict theorist would say that power is only suited for certain types of people and education is one way the wealthy hold their power among the rest of society.
I agree with the college board with the SAT scores being invalid to the universities and colleges because low income students rent given the opportunities to succeed. I decided to comment on this topic because I am a college student that would eventually have to take this exam and fit in the ethnicity which scores are the lowest. I feel the college board is making a huge step by letting the universities and colleges know about what is going on and the solution I would propose would be in the same lines the college board is doing by, giving the low income student more resources and strengthening their education in order to make this test more reliable as it once was.
There is Widening gap in the the sat scores from affluent students and minority ethnic groups.Blacks and Latinos are receiving the lowest scores on these standardized tests. Some say that standardized testing is not a good measurement for college readiness but rather a measure of income. An argument is going on as to whether these test are good indicators of college readiness and College Board is genuinely trying to increase scored to help minority groups be better prepared fro college or rather it is a scheme to keep standardized testing relevant to secure financial assets to the companies involved. This is a persisting problem that has an abundance of proposed solutions that aren't working. Conflict theory can be applied to understand this social problem.
A conflict theorist would say that public schools serve a perpetuate to educational disparities instead of serving as a means for education and upward mobility. This is caused by lack of funding, low expectations, and problems outside of school that affluent students do not have to deal with.
I think that standardized testing is indeed a reflection of income and that not only is this due to being ill prepared for a test but as well as schools on general. Schools with large numbers of Black and Latino students are suffering in the overall quality of education. One explanation is the attitude towards these ethnic groups in the past that have led them to be part of the lower income demographic. One solution would be to stop federal budget cuts to public schools. With a larger budget to the school system more resources become available in the staff(teachers, counselors, and security and in materials (books and desks computers etc.)and in aesthetics of the campus to provide a positive learning environment.
For the past five years, average SAT scores have been at all time lows. According to officials at the College Board, sponsor’s of the SAT, these scores are indicative of student’s unpreparedness for college. President of the College Board, David Coleman is concerned that these scores not only show student deficits in reading, writing and math skills, they also suggest a “widening gap” between the different races and ethnicities with Asians showing the highest overall SAT scores followed by whites, Latinos, and blacks last.
While College Board plans to make a push for more readily available advanced courses as they say these courses will help to prepare students better for college, others suggest that there is simply just a correlation between overall success and family income. Furthermore, some critics suggest that the College Board’s promotion of more advanced courses is simply a marketing ploy to keep SAT relevant.
While one could argue the cause and solutions to this issue, the underlying social problem here is that there may indeed be an education deficit among our youth. This deficit could affect the student as he or she will continue to struggle in academic settings but it may also have the potential to affect society as well. If the SAT is indeed a success indicator, a low score puts students at a disadvantage early on in college and if they continue to be without a strong academic foundation, they may never be able to acquire the proper tools or knowledge to fill important positions in society such as doctors, lawyers, and teachers.
As a nation and culture that values education so much, a lack of it in our students offends much of society. Aside from the reported five-year low average score as reported by College Board, inadequate education and unpreparedness for college is a problem that has persisted for years. As the article suggests, there are a number of solutions that are being formulated for this problem.
I feel that this situation can be best evaluated from a symbolic interactionist perspective. Similar to what one critic suggested, the SAT is not the only indicator of college success and sometimes, not much of an indicator at all. A symbolic interactionist would draw attention to individual students and there academic backgrounds specifically rather than holistically. This observation may reveal that many students do not succeed in the test format or should not be assessed by a testing that is so standard to begin with. Furthermore, a symbolic interactionist would say that the potential for college success varies from student to student regardless of a low or high SAT score because that student may have other attributes or experiences that may develop or occur later in life that may cause success or failure. For example, some students who do poorly on tests or in high school may later experience a desire or motivation to succeed and do just that. A symbolic interactionist would give value to these types of specific details.
I agree with critics that the SAT is a poor indicator of college success. I also believe that it should not hold so much weight in the college acceptance process. Students should not be assessed on a test that is so standard across the board because it undermines other individual academic and intellectual capabilities. I disagree with College Board’s suggestion to make advanced courses more readily available when the issue at hand is student’s unpreparedness for more rigorous work. Instead, students should have more resources on campus that provide more academic encouragement and overall support. These types of resources are the kind that students become involved in and start to develop motivation and a change in attitude towards schooling.
In response to Micaela response, I agree with her stance on the topic, because I also feel that the SAT does not adequately measure our mental capabilities. In reading her response, what really stood out to me was how she had a strong understanding of the social problem, and I could see this when she mentions an education deficit among our youth. Surely not being able to understand basic concepts not only affects a person in an academic setting, but in a society as well. I chose to comment on her response because it was a well thought out and written response that I completely agree with, all in contrast to various other responses. I think the topic of education is one of the most important; however, the concern over low SAT scores should not be so significant. Therefore, I can not provide you with an answer as to why low SAT scores are a problem when I believe it does not pose a problem in the first place. This is because, I maintained above a 3.0 throughout high school, did exceptionally well on the ACT, and do exceptionally well now in college, yet I still did poorly on the SAT. Essentially, you can see how a low SAT score was a poor indicator of academic success.
A conflict theorist would conclude that the low SAT scores are a result of people in a higher class using the test to keep people of a lower class at the bottom of the stratification of society; typically minorities. This test has a lot of weight when it comes to determining college admissions. People with more money, who can afford a better education and the SAT prep classes, tend to do better on the test than the ones who cannot. Since now more minorities are taking the test, it could be producing lower average test scores, as mentioned in the article. So people of a higher class are using the SAT to keep people of a lower class from entering into prestigious colleges, of which graduating from would get them ahead.
I agree with her proposed solution and feel that it is possible to get our youth more prepared for more rigorous course work. Clearly another solution would be to stop cutting into our educations budget, and instead fund our education more that way our schools could provide after school SAT prep classes for free.
I agree with Annabelle's blog post because she stated that school's provide very few programs that are willing to help students prepare adequately for the SAT's and college. One thing that stood out to me from what she wrote was that there is no sense in making more advanced placement courses if there are few teachers that are willing to take the time to inspire students. This stood out to me because, I do not see the point in making more advanced placement classes if there are still many minority students struggling with non AP courses. I chose to comment on her entry because I also do not comprehend the college board decision into wanting to make more advanced placement courses, thinking it will increase a minority students chances into getting in a top university. Low SAT scores are an effect of a weak educational system in the U.S., not because of lack of advanced placement classes. This is a social problem because if schools and colleges keep focusing on SAT's scores rather than focus on how they can improve minority students learning and study skill, then there will be a consistency of low scores in the future and nothing will change. A conflict theorist would say that there is a consistency of low SAT scores because the low income, minority student does not have the same opportunity that upper middle class students have in having a better school curriculum ever since they entered preschool. Conflict theory sees the unequal opportunity that lower income students have endured in education. Therefore, making more advanced placement courses in high schools will not improve the chances of more minority students getting into top universities. I disagree with the proposed solution because if the public school's educational curriculum does not change, then minority students chances of getting into top colleges will not change, even with more challenging courses. Another solution to this social problem is to change the public school's curriculum into accommodating every student's learning capabilities starting from the moment they enter preschool.
-Laura M.
In response to Julian T
I would have to disagree with Julien’s assessment that giving harder classes would give students a greater chance in getting into college. Harder classes don’t mean academic excellence because every student is different in academic ability. If you test every student it would be different because one can be good in science, the other good in math, or even good in English. So, don’t evaluate students collectively but individually in order to give a proper assessment because everyone is different. What stood out to me about his argument is his solution because the political elite doesn’t appear to take seriously how an improved education system needs to be taken into consideration. His words where “educate us (students) the right way” means that students need to challenged, hard – working, prepared, and educated in order to thrive into rigorous college courses. Plus, his words “more money and funding in the school system this would stop a lot of problems like in community college campus's with the overcrowding.” With more money, this means this can reduce overcrowding and redirect their efforts towards a hard working school. I chose on this peer’s topic because I felt he understood that teacher’s don’t always challenge their students. Sometimes, it feels like you’re wasting your time and could do something much more with your education. My thoughts on this topic are that the education system is not a perfect one because there are the ones that are prepared for college and those that are not. Those that are prepared go to 4-year universities and have a higher degree and those that are not can sometimes be lost on what to do next in their life. That’s why preparing high school students for the next stage in college is essential. This is a social problem because College Boards believe that the SAT’s scores as the determining factor for college. It shouldn’t because low SAT’s don’t account for people who do well in college yet have low SAT scores. So, SAT’s shouldn’t always be favored for preparedness in college.
An interactionist would look at each individuals separate capability. They would look at the ethnicity, gender, and sex of the group as determining factors for the SAT’s. Also, interactionists would look at the perceptions and belief system of the ones administering the SAT as a determining factor who comes into their school. They label the people who passed SAT proficient enough to take rigorous required college courses.
I believed that their proposed solution is a realistic and feasible one. My proposed solution is to revise the practice of administering SAT scores as indicators in readiness for college. Instead redirect the focus on student’s own involvement with resources available. In other words, the students should be responsible for their own future and take their own steps into college.
-Alfred Rodriguez
I would have to agree, with Alti, that Universities are waking up to the fact that "standard" tests do not determine a person's knowledge and intelligence: Knowledge is knowing a tomato is a fruit, intelligence is knowing not to put it in a fruit salad. Therefore, these SAT tests should not determine is a student should be accepted into a college from high school. Now, the education board is seeing a difference in scores due to ethnic background. This is an effect from the limited resources that most minorities have. They had also mentioned that the high school classes that students are taking do not prepare them for college at all. With this problem, we can look at an interactionist’s theory. Instead of focusing so much on the have vs. the have-nots, I would rather look at the motivation that these kids do not have to go on to a higher education. In many of my peers experience in high school, they did not feel motivated enough to move on to a high education. The teachers never stressed how important it was to move on. Most of us wanted to get a job and move out of our house. The teachers that chose not to motivate their students are probably not motivated themselves. I would also have to slightly agree with Alti's solution because "Thirty percent of college and university students drop out after their first year. Half never graduate." The question is why? Is it truly because of economic reasons or do they just feel unmotivated to stay in school? If they are unmotivated, it is only because the past teachers and guardians in their lives did not stress the importance for college. In that case, then we should be looking at the structure of home conditions and high school class room environments... not raising standards and created more work for our students of America.
This is my source for the quote:
http://www.usnews.com/education/articles/2009/08/19/dropouts-loom-large-for-schools
I completely agree with Julian's response because statistically speaking , no one is really ever ready for college. On that note , what he stated about 6 out of 10 grads aren't ready for college is completely true. Their perspectives on college seem great at one moment but at the next moment it's just a reality check that notifys them that they have to put on their big person pants and get their situations and acts together to be able to live on their own and do their own thing. I chose to comment on this entry because I come from a neighborhood where not only are they not ready , but they end up being parents instead or doing an easy 6 month program and that's all. They can't commit to a whole college career because it's too much on their plate after having school for soooo long. This has become a social problem because the less high school grads go to college, the lesser of a chance for improvement among our younger generation.
A functionalist would say that wether they finish college or not, it won't matter as long as they served the function on getting in. The rest just becomes extra and them being willing to pull all the way through.
I believe that not only society should intervene with this situation, but also the school board as well as volunteer that help improve teens self esteem. I believe it's a little of realistic yet feasible but it all depends on the person. If they aren't willing to change and be better then there is nothing you can actually do to help. With my solution, more teens will be more educated on being ready for college and then there will be hope for our newer generation and it will be possible for a better environment with higher educated population.
Sharon L.
I chose Alti’s comment to respond because I liked her thoughtful and, at the same time, passionate recall to this article, and because I am a college student for the last four years. Of course, persistent low SAT scores for the last five years disclose the problems in education, which is one of the main social institutions. Also, this problem is social because of its obvious interconnectivity with other social problems, such as poverty and social inequality in a whole.
A functionalist would say that differences in educational achievements among students is natural and useful because these differences would provide a labor market with workers of different skills. To function properly, according to a functionalist, society needs blue-collar workers that are usually low educated. The students who could not compete with better educated ones would fill these niches. It could become dysfunctional if low scores would be for all of the poor or minorities because it could lead social unrest of riots.
Although I am sharing Alti’s opinion regarding to this problem in general, I disagree with some of her ideas. First of all, I do not think that “the SAT scores become irrelevant ant the universities and colleges can no longer rely on this type of evaluation.” Maybe the SAT, like every other examination, is not an ideal means to evaluate students’ knowledge, but we anyway need some criteria to assess their educational success and assume their perspectives. Along with expensive private schools, we have community ones, which I believe is affordable for everybody. It is fact, and it is fair. We can have schools of different costs as well as practice different methods of teaching, but we cannot use different criteria for evaluation of knowledge. Likewise, we cannot create different exams, different diplomas, or different professional licenses on the basis of the income or social class because documents like these show what the person knows or can do. Here, social background has nothing to do. Shortly, if “a conflict theorist would say that the SAT scores have created a gap between ethnicities and races […],” I would strongly disagree with him because these scores just uncover, not create, the one side of the complex social problem, which is poverty. From that frame of reference, I would seek the solutions in modernization of schools in poor neighborhood and attraction of high-quality teachers to work in them. Certainly, the small budget of these poor local communities cannot afford following expenses. So, I address my claim to counties or states administrations. To give kids the same opportunities in education and success we should firstly break the “cycle of poverty”.
Post a Comment