Introduction
When I was a rising Junior in high school in the summer of 2017 I was shipped off to SAT boot camp with the rest of my friends in the area. We were given copious amounts of homework in preparation for one of the biggest tests of our entire lives. Personally, I felt that the SAT boot camp motivated me and helped me maximize the score I can get. However, we did live in a wealthy area with all the resources I needed to succeed. However, that can not be said a majority of SAT test takers. In the 1970s there was a boom of SAT coaching which allowed people that can afford it to be better prepared for the test. With the SAT coaching movement, it has allowed more wealthy test takers to essentially buy a higher test score, disenfranchising the less affluent test takers and creating an education system that reenforces test taking.
Powers and Rock from the Journal of Educational Measurement studied the effects that SAT coaching had on students. The data indicates that coached students had seen a marginal increase in SAT scores of about 100 points. Also, it helped them prepare for the intangibles of test taking such as stress management and test pacing. In a test that has so much impact on a students future those intangibles and the marginal point change can make all the difference in the world. This advantage that is only offered to the upper class test takers seems to give them an advantage over their less wealthy counterparts.
Effects on disadvantaged students—> By not giving less wealthy students an even playing field the processes in the status quo are just furthering the struggle that these students face.
Education System—> With tests such as the SAT, many students are encouraged to drill testing strategies into their brain rather than focusing on more innovative aspects of learning such as creativity and critical thinking skills.
Conclusion—> With all this emphasis in Standardized Testing there needs to be a change in the way we value intelligence and how we measure it. As it stands there is one test that can change the lives of high schoolers forever and that test itself is not even fair. There needs to be something that better reflects the hard work and dedication students put into their educational lives that is not influenced by wealth, or coaching. Although not an easy task reassessing the SAT, one of the most important tests in students lives, can be the first step to making a more fair system.