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 | When it was first administered to a group of students, in 1926, (read aboutthis first test and try some of its questions) the SAT was calledthe Scholastic Aptitude Test, the word "aptitude" meaning that the testmeasured an innate ability, rather than knowledge acquired through schooling.Today, the test administered by the College Board is still called SAT, but thename is just an acronym, with the letters no longer standing for anything. Thisfact illustrates the uncertainty that has surrounded what exactly the SATmeasures (we are referring only to the SAT I: Reasoning Test, not to the SAT IISubject Tests). The design of the SAT was based on the IQ test (see historicaltimeline) The French psychologist Alfred Binet created the first test ofintelligence in 1905. It was to be used to identify slow learners so thatteachers could give them special attention. This test would later be known asthe IQ test--IQ standing for "intelligence quotient," or the ratio of mental tophysical age. Because the SAT was devised as a tool to identify talented students fromunderprivileged backgrounds, it was thought of as a test that would measure aninnate ability referred to as "aptitude," rather than abilities that thesestudents might have developed through school. "When these tests were originally developed," said Harvard social policyprofessor Christopher Jencks, "people really believed that if they didthe job right they would be able to measure this sort of underlying, biologicalpotential. And they often called it aptitude, sometimes they called it genes,sometimes intelligence." According to the College Board, the SAT now does not measure any innateability. Wayne Camara, Director of the Office of research at the College Boardtold FRONTLINE that the SAT measures "developed reasoning," which he describedas the skills that students develop not only in school but also outside ofschool. He pointed out, for example, that students who read a lot, both in andout of school, are more likely to do well on the SAT and in college. TheCollege Board says that the best way to prepare for the SAT is to read a lotand to take rigorous academic courses. The SAT has been found to correlate with first-year college grades. Butpsychologist Claude Steele pointed out that the test has been found tomeasure only about 18 percent of the things that it takes to do well in school,and thus is not a very good predictor of how a student will do in college. "TheSAT is not going to get you very far with predicting who's going to do well incollege," he told FRONTLINE. Read the views of authorities on intelligence and testing for more onthe SAT's relation to the IQ test, its ability to predict success in school,and the debate over whether the test measures "aptitude" or "achievement." the screening process |test score gap |getting in to berkeley |bibliography |links |tapes & transcripts |press |links | | |||
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