<p>The SAT is discriminatory. Why? Because honestly more white students have the money to go and get SAT preps, and they have more family members who have gone to college (I am saying SOME, not ALL). In the same way some black people have the opposite, and some have the same stuff as white kids.
That is one way it is. Otherwise it’s not. I for one have the same chances to do well on the test, as a white student. I have the same materials, money and books for it. Some do not (black and white). That is why the SAT is considered discriminatory.</p>
<p>@2015, there is a difference. Most people tend to do better on the ACT. I have no clue why. </p>
<p>@Marine. The IQ tests is.
A study I read about (i’ll try to find the url) said that on the test they would ask for a straight line, but some kids in different countries who live in round homes would not know what that was, as well as an American child. The same thing goes with foods, colors, shapes, and the meanings to words.</p>
<p>The SAT is more of a reasoning test, while the ACT is content-based. Therefore, it would be a bit easier to study content for the ACT as opposed to learning (and perhaps memorizing) the strategies to take the SAT.</p>
<p>@BlackRose, thanks for providing the info from that study. I’ll try to look for the link, too. :)</p>
<p>Just a little anecdote to go along with BlackRose…</p>
<p>My mother taught kindergarten for 40 years. She told me about some tests her kids had to take in the 60’s or so. Matching items. On the left, there’d be a picture of a duck. On the right, the child would have to select what “goes” with the duck. The selections could be a house, a tree and a lake. Kids who had no exposure to ducks would not know to select the lake. This didn’t mean they were not intelligent. It meant they were not exposed to ducks.</p>
<p>However, the results of test put the children in a remedial groups. This is not a racist outcome, but, at least in her case, it was socio-economic and probably cultured based. The child is now labeled because of the reults of the test.</p>
<p>I think some assumptions are that are made are not one size fits all. And that is a problem iwth standardized tests.</p>
<p>But on the other hand, we all know about lots of things to which we’ve never been directly exposed. I know about koalas though I’ve never been to Australia. I know about pandas though I’ve never been to Tibet. And I’ve never seen either in person; only on video and in pictures. This doesn’t make me intelligent - just informed.</p>
<p>Being informed is a step towards learning and fine tuning one’s intelligence.</p>
<p>Let’s take it a step further and say you’ve been exposed to media that has pictures of koalas and pandas, oh say, books. These children didn’t have that exposure at home. A book with koalas or pandas were not a priority. Besides, the children could match the pot with the stove.</p>
<p>The same thing happened with matching teacups and saucers. Fine china wasn’t important in the households. I still think some assumptions are that are made are not one size fits all.</p>