<p>How is the ACT biased? Race, class and gender biases give White, affluent, and male test-takers an unfair edge.</p>
<p>ACT scores are directly related to family income: the richer students' parents are, the higher are average scores. But score gaps between groups on the ACT cannot be explained away solely by differences in educational opportunity linked to social class. According to ACT research, when all factors are equal, such as course work, grades and family income, Whites still outscore all other groups. If the ACT were not biased, Asian Americans, who take more academic courses than any other group, would likely score even higher. Moreover, boys score slightly higher than girls across all races, despite boys' lower grades in high school and college when matched for identical courses.</p>
<p>ACT has performed few studies of score differences in its test, making it difficult to pinpoint the sources of the score gaps. Here are a few likely candidates:</p>
<p>Biased format: Research shows that a fast-paced, multiple-choice format favors males over females. Guessing, a risk males are more likely to take, is rewarded. Since multiple-choice items do not allow for shades of meaning they work against the most typical female thinking style.</p>
<p>Biased language: Idiomatic terms such as "ball and chain" (to indicate a married partner) and "straight from the horse's mouth" may not be familiar to many test-takers, particularly those whose first language isn't English, causing them to choose wrong answers.</p>
<p>2002 COLLEGE BOUND SENIORS TEST SCORES: ACT
Total Test-takers: 1.1 million test-takers of whom 56.0% are female
ALL TEST-TAKERS 20.8 Gender<br>
All Males 20.9<br>
All Females 20.7 </p>
<p>Ethnicity<br>
African-American/Black 16.8<br>
American Indian/Alaskan Native 18.6<br>
Caucasian American/White 21.7<br>
Mexican American/Chicano 18.2<br>
Asian American/Pacific Islander 21.6<br>
Puerto Rican/Hispanic 18.8<br>
Other 19.2<br>
Multiracial 20.9 </p>
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Biased format: Research shows that a fast-paced, multiple-choice format favors males over females
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<p>you have to be kidding me.</p>
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Biased language: Idiomatic terms such as "ball and chain" (to indicate a married partner) and "straight from the horse's mouth" may not be familiar to many test-takers, particularly those whose first language isn't English, causing them to choose wrong answers.</p>
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<p>isnt the test supposed to test the test-takers comfort levels with english as the primary language?</p>
<p>I do not know if the test is "biased" or not, but the differences in scores are not that great. Though females supposedly are worse at standardized tests, I managed to score a 33 on my ACT. I try to look at standardized tests as a challenging game or a puzzle, and that takes the pressure off. I think part of the problem may be that girls and minorities feel that they're at a disadvantage, and expect to do poorly. They set low expectations for themselves, and low scores become a self-fulfilling prophecy. It may take a little more work, but I think anyone who works hard and has some self-confidence can succeed with standardized tests.</p>
<p>I really hope that you're kidding. Realistically.. and this is just a flat out statistic... men just do better than women on standardized tests. Now, this isn't for everyone obviously, but overall men just do. There could be a number of reasons for this, but the terminology and guessing bonus is not it. This fact that men do better holds true on the SAT also, set up in a very different way. I'm a white male, so I suppose I'm biased. To be completely honest though.... what you are saying is not based in fact, that website is likely about as accurate as the website I saw the other day about Bush being an alien.</p>
<p>You draw one conclusion that the ACT may be biased against girls:</p>
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Moreover, boys score slightly higher than girls across all races, despite boys' lower grades in high school and college when matched for identical courses.
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<p>However, you could also draw the opposite conclusion. That the grading in HS and college is biased against boys learning styles which tend to be more interactive with less emphasis on reading and writing.</p>
<p>For more on this see the college confidential topic:</p>
<p>as to the incomes, correlation doesnt mean causation. i.e. more ppl from wealthy families may be able to afford better test prep, private school, and may have more free time since they dont have to worry about jobs. doesnt make the test biased.</p>
<p>Good point Eagle79. I think girls have better organizational skills which helps them get better grades.</p>
<p>I also think that people should not be wasting their times complaining about SAT/ACT. I mean it all balances out, girls get better grades, guys get better scores. And its just a generalization, and by studying for SAT you can nullify the generalization for yourself.</p>
<p>Just be happy that in the U.S. system, SAT is not 100% in admissions.
For example in Indian, IIT has an entrance exam. They say that the top 2% of people who take it will get in and they don't care how. And this top 2% is out of the people who think they can get in, much lower than the total possible students eligible to take it. Opportunities in India are limited if one does not have a rich family, so for these people the IIT exam(IIT education is fully paid for by government) will affect their career, future, abiltiy to get a good job, and chances of being able to get a job in U.S.</p>
<p>I think the reason whites score better overall then Asian's, is because they understand english better, of which, they score better in both reading and langauge. Typically Asians score higher overall in Science and Math. Which is 50/50. So I don't really think there is any bias among whites and asians.</p>
<p>"There are three kinds of lies - lies, damned lies and statistics." ~ Benjamin Disraeli</p>
<p>Actually, I love statistics, but you have to be very careful in analyzing and using them. Deriving a truly scientific and valid conclusion from them requires rigorous analysis, especially with an issue as sensitive as this. Much academic literature has been written about this very subject, from all possible sides of the argument no less, and still it's very controversial.</p>
<p>I'm an Asian female and have parents with low income, but I still got a 34 after just doing the sample problems on CB.com. I think one possible reason that Asians have a lower average score than whites could be that not many Asian people take the ACT. I personally don't know anyone other than me who took it.</p>
<p>I hope the original poster is kidding. Look at those stats, there is almost no difference. Women do get better grades, and I bet they get higher essay scores, although I don't know. Get over it. Are we supposed to have one test for white males, another for hispanic males, asian males, asian females, hispanic females, and white females? And then we could tailor to everyone. And then why not go on and give the English section in everybody's native language? People could take English Reading, but in Spanish. Oh wait, I think you are getting into the addition of a foreign language section to the ACT. But you get my point. Stop complaining and go stufy if you are worried. 70% of my AP classes is women while 85% of my school ASB is also women. Each gender excel at different things, get over it.</p>
<p>It's actually been shown that high school GRADES themselves show a correlation with income (although not as strong as that displayed by SAT or ACT scores). There could be a number of factors that result in the higher grades and test scores, and it would be reckless to draw any broad conclusions from the data without a thorough analysis. For example, people who earn a higher income may have achieved that status with a higher level of intelligence; hence, the grades and test scores reflect this intelligence. Or, it may be that families with a higher income instill a stronger work ethic in their children -- their children do better in school and on exams as a result. It's hard to tease out the one or two factors (assuming there are only one or two) that link income with scores (or race wth scores).</p>