Re:Dropping the Sat Requirement Is a Luxury Belief
by rayiner on Sunday March 05, 2023 @02:02PM
(#35032752)
> Give ten kids from the same class a self study online course and give another ten a private tutor, and they won't see the same score distribution. Where's the signal there?
That's probably not true. Studies show limited benefit from test prep--most of that comes just from familiarizing yourself with the exam format. Moreover, private tutoring is a couple of thousand dollars one time, not tens of thousands of dollars a year like it's portrayed. Indeed, it's a way for the kids of parents who can scrape together $1,500 for one summer to compete with the kids of parents who can pay $30,000 a year for private school.
> Some families can't.
My uncle tutors math in a subsidized apartment complex and the local families manage to pay. You're talking about a very small percentage of the population where the kids would be qualified for college, but can't afford any form of test prep. It's very weird for that tiny slice of the population to carry so much weight in this debate.
> Other families aren't aware, or aren't interested.
Sounds like the solution to that is to raise awareness?
That's probably not true. Studies show limited benefit from test prep--most of that comes just from familiarizing yourself with the exam format. Moreover, private tutoring is a couple of thousand dollars one time, not tens of thousands of dollars a year like it's portrayed. Indeed, it's a way for the kids of parents who can scrape together $1,500 for one summer to compete with the kids of parents who can pay $30,000 a year for private school.
> Some families can't.
My uncle tutors math in a subsidized apartment complex and the local families manage to pay. You're talking about a very small percentage of the population where the kids would be qualified for college, but can't afford any form of test prep. It's very weird for that tiny slice of the population to carry so much weight in this debate.
> Other families aren't aware, or aren't interested.
Sounds like the solution to that is to raise awareness?