[MK]

Why do minorities assume that the SAT and ACT college aptitude tests are set up for whites to score higher on? They are mainly science questions, and isn't science the same to everyone?

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Name : MK, Gender : M, Race : White/Caucasian, Age : 23, City : Cleveland, State : OH Country : United States, 

[SR28424]

The SAT is mainly a science test? Really? The one I took was divided into two secions. One was Verbal and the other was Math. My linguistics professor told us that the verbal part of standardized tests could be considered biased because it tests only on standard American English. Standard American English is not spoken in many minority households. I don't think the tests are "set up for whites to score higher on." I would guess that if whites score higher on the verbal part of those tests, it would be because whites generally have more educational opportunities than minorities (read: money to fund school districts and parents who were able to afford to finish secondary school and get a university degree). In addition, non-whites are more likely to grow up in a household where standard American English isn't used.

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Name : SR28424, Gender : F, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Agnostic, Age : 21, City : Austin, State : TX Country : United States, Occupation : Student, 

[Lucy-H22640]

The SAT tests are not mostly science. Half the test covers English, and the other half math. The math portion of the test is completely objective. The problem arises with the English portion of the test. The vast majority of writing samples used are from white male authors. A case could be made that it should not matter who wrote the material, that the point is to test reading comprehension. The real issue here is that white males are more likely to have already read works written by other white males. This gives them the advantage of familiarity with the reading material before taking the test. Women and people of color are more likely to seek out reading material written by other women or people of color. If the writing samples offered on the SAT test were from more diverse authors, the test would be more balanced and less biased.

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Name : Lucy-H22640, Gender : F, Race : Hispanic/Latino (may be any race), Age : 24, City : San Jose, State : CA Country : United States, Occupation : Engineer, Education level : 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

[Kim Smith-Stout]

I would like to comment on the (sub)cultural aspect of the PSATs. The test segment was 'analogies'. The question read something along the lines of 'Crimson is to Harvard as [some colour that I cannot remember]is to...?' The correct answer was 'Yale'.(I may not have the colour correct -- I still have no idea which colours go with which university.) In any case, I was absolutely shocked -- exactly how did that question test anything other than cultural knowledge? There were other examples that I noted as I took the SAT, the ACT, and the GRE -- but this is the example that stands out most clearly in my mind. I must point out that this example is a result of a test I took about 17 years ago, so it is possible that the framework of the testing has changed. However, if the framework has not changed, then I must agree that in some sections, the tests are definitely testing *cultural/subcultural* differences rather than basic abilities (and were clearly doing so at least 17 years ago).

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Name : Kim Smith-Stout, Gender : F, Race : human, Religion : Atheist, Age : 36, City : Tempe, State : AZ Country : United States, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, 

[Jen30976]

If you are referring to minorities who are Americans and aren't immigrants, the SATs are fair and just. However, if you are also referring to minorities as in foreign students, you couldn't be more wrong. The verbal consists of a lot of English, and not simple English but complex English at a very high level. For example, there's vocabulary such as "clairvoyant" and "anachronistic." Imagine how a foreign student feels when he/she writes that exam. They would certainly bomb that entire section, unless they are excellent guessers. And another thing, you say "they are mainly science questions." Consider that they are mainly science questions written in English.

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Name : Jen30976, Gender : F, City : San Francisco, State : CA Country : United States, 

[Sam]

The concerns regarding tests are not only with immigrants but with minorities in general. Granted, not everyone who is a minority will score lower on these tests - but they are more likely to for any number of reasons already mentioned (e.g., language at home, access to materials). I'm not familiar with the SAT and ACT norms (how they actually create the different critera for grades on these particular exams) but if the population they base these norms on do not sample across people from different ethnic groups (in a manner representative of the population), then the norms probably are not going to be representative for minorities (whose scores may be higher or lower).

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Name : Sam, Gender : F, Race : Asian, Age : 29, City : Nashville, State : TN Country : United States, Occupation : Education, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Middle class, 

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