• Advertise
Sunday, January 29, 2023
  • Login
No Result
View All Result
NEWSLETTER
The Fordham Ram
  • Home
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Editor’s Pick
    • Fashion
    • Film And Television
    • Food
    • Music
    • Review
    • Television
    • Theatre
    • Who’s That Kid
  • News
    • Academics
    • Admissions
    • Faculty & Administrative
    • Feature
    • Finance
    • Metro
    • Research
    • USG
  • Opinion
    • Columnists
    • Editorial
    • From The Desk
    • Letters To The Editor
    • Op-Ed
  • Sports
    • Baseball
    • Basketball
    • Beyond The Scoreboard
    • Football
    • Rowing
    • Senior Profile
    • Soccer
    • Softball
    • Squash
    • Swimming And Diving
    • Tennis
    • Track And Field
    • Volleyball
    • Water Polo
  • About Us
  • Home
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Editor’s Pick
    • Fashion
    • Film And Television
    • Food
    • Music
    • Review
    • Television
    • Theatre
    • Who’s That Kid
  • News
    • Academics
    • Admissions
    • Faculty & Administrative
    • Feature
    • Finance
    • Metro
    • Research
    • USG
  • Opinion
    • Columnists
    • Editorial
    • From The Desk
    • Letters To The Editor
    • Op-Ed
  • Sports
    • Baseball
    • Basketball
    • Beyond The Scoreboard
    • Football
    • Rowing
    • Senior Profile
    • Soccer
    • Softball
    • Squash
    • Swimming And Diving
    • Tennis
    • Track And Field
    • Volleyball
    • Water Polo
  • About Us
No Result
View All Result
The Fordham Ram
No Result
View All Result
Home Opinion Columnists

Unequal Opportunities for All

by The Fordham Ram
January 17, 2021
in Columnists, Opinion
0
Unequal Opportunities for All

The class was entirely composed of first-generation college-bound juniors of low income backgrounds who were selected for a free SAT program at which I was volunteering. Many of them were very active in extracurricular activities and excelled in their classes at school; however, they did not have the standardized test-taking skills to earn the higher scores necessary to get into top universities. If colleges based admission on what students have accomplished with the opportunities available to them, students everywhere would have far better educational prospects

Hundreds of American colleges and universities, including St. John’s Colleges, Smith College in Massachusetts and University of North Texas, are making SAT and ACT scores optional in the application process.

This means that when the valedictorian of a Bronx public high school applies to these schools, she or he is judged on her or his accomplishments within the scope of opportunity available. The purpose of SAT and ACT tests is to provide a universal standard with which to compare students, but colleges and universities fail to give students an equal chance when they base admission on a test more accessible to higher-income students.

One thing I have come to more fully understand in my time as an SAT tutor is the extent to which public education is failing American teenagers. If a sick patient goes to a doctor and is not healed, we assume it is because the doctor has not done his or her job. Education is the only institution in which we blame the one seeking help, not the professional giving it, for a lack of results. Students of low-income backgrounds, especially those in poorer areas without access to well-funded public educational institutions, underperform on standardized tests.

The system by which we judge students attempting to enter college holds them responsible for the failures of a government that does not give public education the funding or legislative attention it deserves. If we cannot get American students up to the standard set by these tests, then we need to change either our education system or our standard. Of course, it would be ideal if we could get every student in America to a certain level in math, English and writing. Until then, we can at the very least reward students for doing the most they can with the dying public education system.

 

Tags: Standardized Testsstudent
ShareTweetShare
Next Post
Cuomo Urges ‘Yes Means Yes’ Law

Cuomo Urges ‘Yes Means Yes’ Law

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recommended

The Kings Just Can’t Get it Right

The Kings Just Can’t Get it Right

2 years ago
Budget and Salary Deals Complicate

Budget and Salary Deals Complicate

2 years ago

Popular News

  • Top FREE Best Online Singing Courses and Classes

    Top FREE Best Online Singing Courses and Classes

    1 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Is Toro The Best Zero Turn Mower on the Market?

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • 21 of The Best Landscape Hedge Ideas: #15 is Our Favorite!

    3767 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • Rewind the 2010s: The 20 Most Influential People of the Decade

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0
  • “Red Hearse” is Anything But Dead

    0 shares
    Share 0 Tweet 0

Connect with us

  • Advertise

The Fordham Ram • © 2021 • Privacy Policy • FLEX WordPress Theme by SNO • Log in

No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Culture
    • Art
    • Books
    • Editor’s Pick
    • Fashion
    • Film And Television
    • Food
    • Music
    • Review
    • Television
    • Theatre
    • Who’s That Kid
  • News
    • Academics
    • Admissions
    • Faculty & Administrative
    • Feature
    • Finance
    • Metro
    • Research
    • USG
  • Opinion
    • Columnists
    • Editorial
    • From The Desk
    • Letters To The Editor
    • Op-Ed
  • Sports
    • Baseball
    • Basketball
    • Beyond The Scoreboard
    • Football
    • Rowing
    • Senior Profile
    • Soccer
    • Softball
    • Squash
    • Swimming And Diving
    • Tennis
    • Track And Field
    • Volleyball
    • Water Polo
  • About Us

The Fordham Ram • © 2021 • Privacy Policy • FLEX WordPress Theme by SNO • Log in

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In