This Matthew Yglesias piece is about how the SAT is an unfortunate scapegoat in a worthy cause. I think it hits on an important point when we discuss structural racism in America. The argument goes that the SAT is racist because Black and Brown students do worse. It strikes that the actual relationship is that the SAT exposes the outputs of structural racism in the US. If that is true, and I think they evidence suggests that it does, then blaming the test itself is exactly the wrong lesson to take if you are trying to end the impact of racism in education.
The advantages that college educated parents can confer on their children - when it comes to something like the SAT - are legion. Making the jump to be the first person in your family to attend college is a mammoth undertaking. We should be looking at improving those odds. Blaming the test is exactly backwards, but it allows us to say to the world, "Look, we are addressing the racism in the system!" when really, you're simply finding a new way to avoid the actual work.
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