FROM THE GENERAL TO THE SPECIFIC

Notice how this student moves from the general (education, economic opportunity, and equality) to the specific (the SAT test) in this introduction.

   Americans have long believed in the role of education in economic advancement. Yet, we also believe that the opportunity for such advancement should be equal. And so we have fused our faith in education as vehicle for self advancement with a commitment to the democratizing function of college in creating a society of equal opportunity. Accordingly, we believe that access to college -- unlike access to most commodities (say cars or houses) -- should reflect more than simply one's ability to pay. Rather, Americans view college admissions primarily as a function of a student's academic ability. Indeed, such an understanding informs the "need blind admissions" policy for which the Ivy League is justly famous. But an increasingly critical part of the college acceptance process, the SAT test, is a poor indicator of a student's academic promise. So inaccurate is the SAT, in fact, that the continued reliance on the test calls into question our commitment to higher education as a means to create a just society.

    Equal opportunity in higher education requires an admissions process which assesses academic merit accurately and consistently. The SAT, however, does neither. While all tests of scholastic ability are imprecise, the SAT is particularly flawed for at least two reaons. First, countless studies have failed to find a reliable relationship between SAT scores and performance in college. While a student's scores may be an indicator of how well the student is prepared for standardized tests, the SAT provides little insight into how well the student will do in college -- the intended function of the test. Second, the same student taking the SAT on different days will receive significantly different scores. The range in scores can be as wide as seventy points -- sufficient in this age of hightened compition to mean the difference between acceptance to a first and second tier school. In short, as an instrument in the admissions process, the SAT doesn't test for the right things, and whatever it is that it tests, it does so inconsistently.