Is the SAT a Wealth Test or a Culture Test?

Nov 10, 2023

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Last week I came across a New York Times article that showed success on the SAT tracked very well with family income. Children from wealthy families were far more likely to score 1300 or higher than children from poor families. (Because the New York Times has a pay wall, I provided some pertinent data points from the source study and a link to the source study below.)

Parent Income Percentile	10-20	30-40	50-60	70-80	90-95	0.1
Percentage of SAT-Takers Who Had a Score 1300 or Higher	0.5	1.0	2.4	5.3	13.8	33.1

Distribution of SAT Scores by Parent Income (See Page 87)

Also last week, I came across Lil RT on YouTube. Here’s the six-year-old rapping about “hoes sucking dick.”

Now some observations: I don’t think Lil RT lives in a high-income household, and I don’t think Lil RT is going to grow up and score 1300 or higher on the SAT. I also don’t think that any children from the 0.1 income households are rapping about “hoes sucking dick.” Something tells me their parents don’t tolerate such boorish, low-class behavior. Something also tells me their parents don’t tolerate imprudence. They make damn sure their children reach adulthood with a solid grounding in math and English.

My point here isn’t to pick on Lil RT. He’s screwed. And he’s not being screwed by the SAT or income inequality. He’s being screwed by a family and community that have adopted a subprime culture. Nope, my point here is that the SAT is more of a culture test than a wealth test. The SAT is nothing but a glorified algebra and reading comprehension test. All one needs to do well on it is learn algebra and get comfortable reading big-boy words, sentences, and rhetoric. And that doesn’t require any money. Libraries and the Khan Academy are free.

Comments

4 responses to “Is the SAT a Wealth Test or a Culture Test?”

Jim
November 24, 2023
Yea, I hate it for Lil RT, maybe someone can shake some sense into him. But, my guess is he’s getting some sort of remuneration for his folly and until that ends he will have a bevy of people urging him on to do more. It’s a sad thing we’ve regressed so much as a society to even find this schtick amusing. Go study dividend stocks Lil RT, I promise it will lead to a more sustainable path!
Reply
1. Mr. Groovy
  November 26, 2023
  Nailed it, Jim. So few of our problems other-based. Whether you’re talking about the black, white, or brown underclass, the biggest problem isn’t “the system,” it’s self-sabotage. Hope you had a great Thanksgiving. Peace.
  Reply
steve poling
November 10, 2023
Next you’ll be telling me that not all cultures are morally equivalent.
It’s not that high-income begets success in life, but that a morally superior culture begets better engagement with reality, particularly, where it addresses short-term vs. long-term considerations. I know a person quite close to me who died in squalor and poverty. When I cleaned out the house where he was living I found in the attic books that I had used to improve my life. It wasn’t that he couldn’t improve his station in life, but that he didn’t engage the resources at hand. Indeed, libraries and the Khan Academy are free, but one needs the knowledge of how to exploit them and the culture that values self-improvement.
This contradicts the multi-cultural presupposition that all cultures are morally equivalent.
Reply
1. Mr. Groovy
  November 10, 2023
  Amen, brother. There’s a reason why my Jewish classmates did better on the SAT than I and my gentile buddies. And it had nothing to do with having more resources and better teachers. Generally speaking, my Jewish classmates went home after school and did their homework. My gentile buddies and I went home after school and played sports or watched TV. My Jewish classmates were playing the long game. The ROI on learning the intricacies of calculus and Shakespeare are far higher than the ROI on learning the intricacies of football and Dark Shadows.
  Reply

Is the SAT a Wealth Test or a Culture Test?

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4 responses to “Is the SAT a Wealth Test or a Culture Test?”

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