by Vida G

Created on: August 01, 2008   Last Updated: October 31, 2010

While parent involvement and encouragement in a child's education has many benefits, a parent from a low-performing district would be less likely to ensure that his/her child does well on the SAT's. This is why we have teachers and schools in the first place, to teach our children. Unfortunately, blaming the teachers probably isn't the best answer either.

The Books:

One must stop to consider why the students are performing in the first place. After reading Put to the Test by Gerald Bracey and The Truth About Testing by James Popham, it becomes evident that schools which score low on SAT's are not necessarily behind the general population.

Factors to Consider:

The numbers:

SAT's results are expressed within a percentile rank. If you scored in the 75th percentile, it does not mean that you got 75% correct, it means that 75% percent of the students who took the test got at least as many correct as you did. So, if there were 500 questions and you answered 400 correctly, but 75% of the people who took the test got 400 correct as well, then you scored in the 75% percentile, even though you answered 80% of the questions correctly.

The Questions Change:

Did you know that if students from Oakland, California aren't expected to do well on certain questions/portions of the test, and then all of a sudden they do well, that those questions are taken out in the next year? Even if the teachers and after school programs invest all their time into teaching calculus, and the students do well that year, the questions for the next year will be taken out. Why? To gaurd against cheating, and suppposedly to keep the percentile curve "fair." It's damned if you do, and damned if you don't. Recommendation: Don't depend too much on test scores.

The Parents:

The parents may not have an education higher than high school; resulting in awkward situtions and a poor candidate for teaching.

The parents who live in these areas probably work two jobs just to keep up with the bills and they are more likely to speak English as a second language. Also studies show that parents who can afford more things like the Discovery Channel, a computer with internet, a telescope, a microscope set, a book of 101 fun science experiments, etc. are more likely to buy these thing for their children which in turn prepares them for school.

Funding:

Schools who do very well are the likely candidates in grant money. This is seen as a reward for their efforts. Schools who do poorly, don't get the funding they need.

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