Context is everything. Cultural references that are familiar to young people today will probably stump the next generation of young people. Similarly, references that are relevant to my way of life might be completely alien to yours.
That's just one reason why the SAT doesn't really make any sense any more as a measure of a student's ability or aptitude.
For The Record
Los Angeles Times Friday January 23, 2004 Home Edition California Part B Page 13 Editorial Pages Desk 0 inches; 28 words Type of Material: Correction
College name -- In a Jan. 18 commentary on colleges that do not require applicants to submit SAT scores, the name of Bowdoin College was misspelled as Bowden.
Here, for example, is an actual SAT question:
"Aware of the baleful weather predicted by forecasters, we decided the ---- would be the best place for our company picnic.
(A) roof
(B) cafeteria
(C) beach
(D) park
(E) lake
Now, if I had grown up on the East Coast, my immediate choice would be "cafeteria," as my assumption would be that "baleful weather" would indicate rain or maybe even snow. But in fact, I lived for many years on the western side of the Pacific Coast Highway, so "baleful weather" could indicate high waves -- meaning that my company picnic would be best, and more pleasantly, relocated to a lake.
On the other hand, if I had lived in Iowa (and I did for five years), baleful weather might indicate flooding. Obviously my company picnic would be best held on the roof. What to do? What to choose?
Context: the framework within which we make sense of the world.
Another reason the SAT is an inadequate measure of student aptitude is that its questions have little to do with our day-to-day lives or with what we need to know. Here's a question from the original 1920s version of the SAT -- but it could just as easily be on the test today:
"Pick out the antonyms from among these four words: Obdurate spurious ductile recondite."
Hurry up and answer! Now even though the question warms the cockles of my English professor heart, I have to admit that during the 12 years I was in college and graduate school, no one ever asked me to pick out any antonyms. Nor have they since.
Arguments about the SAT tend to break down into two major camps: proponents, who believe that the SAT can accurately measure an 18-year-old's aptitude to succeed in college, and opponents, who say that the SAT blocks access to higher education because it is a flawed instrument that does nothing more than expose racial, gender and socioeconomic inequities.
After considerable discussion and review, last year the liberal arts college of which I am president, Pitzer College, made the SAT optional for all students applying for admission.
