Why is the S.A.T. test culture biased?

Answer 1

If you really mean "why"--I think because it was originally based on IQ tests which were originally developed to more-or-less prove that white people are the smarter than black people and rich people are smarter than poor people.

If you mean "how", one simple answer is that the test is "normalized" which means that if Student A who scores really badly on the test as a whole gets Question 4 on the experimental section right and Student B who scores really well on the test gets Question 4 wrong, the question will be changed or discarded--so that overall the same "kind" of people will continue to do well on the test. (I'm oversimplifying obviously.)

In response to the poster above, I used to work for the Princeton Review and apparently they DO run free or very-low-cost courses for some kids who can't afford the regular classes, but they don't advertise them directly to the public for obvious reasons. (I taught for them in Canada; they don't do it there so I don't have many details. And I suppose it could have changed; this was 6 years ago. )

Answer 2

I agree with you on this one, to some extent anyway. The Princeton Review, for example, makes claims about how the SAT test itself is:

1. culturally biased in some of the vocab and reading comp questions that assume prior knowledge about, say, farming, sports, or region-specific vocabulary, things that gave students with certain backgrounds an advantage over others (and no, I don't think knowledge of baseball vocabulary=general aptitude for language)

and 2. economically biased since the cost of test registration and prep materials is limiting for many students who can't afford to take the test multiple times and buy the practice tests, CD-ROMs, vocab flash cards, classes, and so on.

of course, point 2 basically dismantled the PR's whole argument about being the good guy fighting for equality since at several hundred dollars, those economically disadvantaged kids are not going to benefit from their classes. Instead, it's a way for better-off average students to buy a shortcut to a better score. Now if they started an outreach program for high schools in lower-income areas...

But yeah, standardized testing has its flaws and inequalities, and ETS isn't going to want to institute any changes that hurt their profit.

Answer 3

The SAT test is not culturally biased. The points of knowledge examined in the test are points of knowledge indeed. For instances, the mathematical questions are true whether you are in Africa, Bangladesh, or New Jersey.

Vocabulary and analogies are fundamental indications of the ability to engage in precise thought and insightful reason.

Actually vocabulary is more a way to express those precise thoughts.

People want to act like knowledge is a western anglo european thing, but actually all knowledge is knowledge wherever you are at, whether you possess the knowledge or not.

Anyway, should it test German vocabulary or ebonics.

We don't speak German, and ebonics and all forms of slang depend upon broad imprecise applications of more emotional expressiveness rather than distinct thoughts.

Get real girl.

Answer 4

it is a very complex issue.

at its core is the issue that when you have a sample of test writers who don't ethnically represent the general population that takes the SAT's then you will have biases that are unintented.

here is what I found:

"Background Studies of Cultural and Statistical Bias in the SAT

Cognitive psychologists Freedle and Kostin (1987, 1988, 1990, 1997) use a measure called the standardized Differential Item Functioning (DIF) statistic to study ethnic bias in any standardized test. Briefly, DIF is a statistical procedure (Dorans & Kulick, 1983, 1986) that examines minority and White responses to each test item (both verbal and quantitative).4 The first step in conducting the DIF procedure is to look at performance on the first test item for all examinees who scored 200 on the verbal SAT. The respective proportions of White and African Americans who correctly answered that first item are computed, and then the difference in proportions is determined. This difference is then weighted by the number of African Americans scoring 200. Notice that both Black and White students are said to be of matched ability here because both groups received the same score of 200.

Next, for the same item, the same weighted computation is performed for all White and African American candidates who scored a 210. This continues for all score levels, through 800. These steps (from 200 to 800) together yield sixty-one weighted computations, all applying to the first item. One sums these sixty-one computations and determines their average value. This average is called the DIF score for the first item. All subsequent verbal items are then examined by the same procedure, and a DIF score is assigned to each of them. A positive DIF score for an item indicates that the African American population performs differentially better than their matched-ability White peers. A negative DIF score for an item indicates that the African American population performs differentially less well than their matched-ability White counterparts.5, 6

Freedle and Kostin (1988) show that there is evidence of an unintended but persistent cultural and statistical bias in the verbal section of the SAT that adversely affects African Americans.7 Specifically, using the DIF method, these studies show that Whites tend to score better on easy items and African Americans on hard items.8 It should be noted from the outset that virtually all these DIF item effects are typically small. For example, White students may get 84 percent correct on some easy items, while African Americans get a slightly lower number, say 82 percent, correct for that same item. Conversely, for some particular hard items, White students might get 30 percent correct whereas African Americans might get a slightly higher score, say 31 percent correct. What is unusual about these effects is their highly patterned nature; that is, many easy items show a small but persistent effect of African Americans' underperformance, while many hard items show their overperformance.

Later I will make it clear that these small single-item bias effects become magnified, partly because the traditional scoring of a paper-and-pencil SAT gives equal weight to every item. In other words, a correct easy item carries the same weight as a hard item. I examine this assumption of equal weight below in terms of its effects on ethnic bias. "

Answer 5

if its biased in your eyes...why dont u do something about it other than b*tch. send a letter to the board of educators asking if they can put more black people on the board.

i took the test and i dont think it was. i read plenty of math problems w/ the name Latoya in it. just because the questions arent written in ebonics doesnt mean its culture biased.

i dont see chinese people complaining.

Answer 6

I know they don't have analogies anymore, but take this example:
Q:
VASE::FLOWERS
A:
CUP::WATER

well, this would make sense to any American who likes to put flowers in a nice vase. But many countries don't even know what a vase is!!! That's why the SATs are considered culture biased.

Answer 7

its not. That's a myth, unless you are refering to Affirmative Action added scores. Then its politically motivated.

Answer 8

Because they printed it they way they see life

Answer 9

i didnt know it was if u have any more info will u tell me at im angels_do_live_amoung_us

Answer 10

Uh boy, here we go.