No, the SAT is not a good measure....

The College Board likes to believe that it measures “what they need to succeed in college.”

LOL. No it doesn’t. Yes, as an SAT tutor, I am adamant that the SAT is not a good measure of anything.

• Can the SAT measure how successful you’ll be in college? No

• Can it gauge your networking, leadership, or project management skills? No

• Does it measure your ability to develop a video game, build a website, or design a mobile app? No

• Does it do a good job of rating your artistic or creative skills? No

It does none of that. It measures you on one thing and one thing only - how well you do on the exam.

As an educator, a parent, and someone who cares about the success of young people, I really do hope the SAT’s days are numbered. I hope we stop judging our kids on one exam score. As adults, we are not defined by how well we do on one project. Why do we define our kids by a number based on one exam. As a parent, it’s silly and infuriating.

The tide may be turning. In our lifetime, there has, perhaps, never been a year as challenging as 2020 worldwide. However, one positive that may come out of it is that people may begin to challenge the notion that the SAT and ACT are necessary. More and more colleges are not requiring these tests for their incoming class. In fact, the University of California has suspended SAT and ACT requirements through 2024!

And the University of California is not alone. See the list of colleges that have suspended SAT / ACT requirements for the next year / next few years.

Is this the start of a tidal wave? I certainly hope so.

Yes, of course, I will miss the interaction with my students but it is the right thing to do. We need to stop measuring our kids based on one exam score.