New SAT Has Same Old Race Problem
The revamped test still doesn’t fix its age-old achievement gap, experts say.
FREDERICK FLORIN/AFP/Getty
Students across the United States took a new and improved SAT on Saturday, but experts say the new test won’t solve the SAT’s longstanding problem with race.
“We expect that no change will take place in the capacity of the test to close gaps on the racial or income side of the ledge,” said Bob Schaeffer, public education director of the advocacy group FairTest.
Schaeffer and others say the root of the problem is the expensive prep courses and materials students use to cram for the test, which are out of reach for many families of color. That problem is only likely to get worse, they say, as parents scramble to prepare their kids for a whole new test.
On last year’s SAT, less than 23 percent of Hispanics and under 17 percent of African Americans who took the test met the College Board’s standard of college readiness.
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