The Reality Of The Myth Of Education

Essay, Research Paper

The myth at education has evolved as America has. The myth has reflected a changing society and has met different needs at different times. Before the independence of the country, education was view skeptically. Those who sought the colonies did so for relief from religious oppression and once established in the new world, they used education to reinforce moral and religious lessons. As the country grew so did the role of education.

The first major shift in the role of education came after the Revolutionary War. Soon after our government formed, the leaders of the country, such as Thomas Jefferson, realized the necessity of education for the people of the new state. Government by the people made education of the people vital. The goal of schooling became the creation of uniformly loyal, patriotic Americans (Colombo 55). During those early years education began to carry with it the hope and promise that a penniless boy could become and educated, influential man.

As the gears of the country developed during the Industrial Revolution another change in education occurred. During this period, education tracks were developed. These tracks offered different types of education to different groups of people. Students were placed in tracks based on socio-economic characteristics and natural abilities. Hope still existed for the penniless boy, but now society was beginning to put barriers up against his self-improvement via education (Colombo 56).

Today, Americans continue to believe the myth that education is a path to self-improvement, and that it is a path available to and wide enough for any who choose to take it. This idyllic picture is not one based entirely in reality. Since the Industrial Revolution, barriers in addition to tracks have been put into place. Exceptions do occur and penniless boy do still achieve great things due to education, but the myth is far from reality.

One of the larger modern barriers that stand in the way of the availability of education is the use of standardized tests to determine eligibility for admission to institutions of higher education. These tests, known as the SAT, GRE, ACT, and many others, are required by all but a handful of colleges and universities for admission. Depending on the selectivity of the institution (a characteristic that demonstrates the lack of accessibility for all) the required test score for admission can vary.

Standardized testing moves us further away from the myth of education for all for several reasons. The tests lack validity regarding the prediction of collegiate performance, test scores tend to be highly correlated with socioeconomic levels, and the tests tend to be biased in regard to gender and cultural heritage. These shortcomings are well documented and often discussed in higher education circles, however the public seems to continue to be obsessed with test scores as the golden key to a prosperous future. The test is widely believed to be the key to admission to a selective college, which in turn is widely believed to be the key to a life of prestige and prosperity. People can t help thinking of the score as a permanent measure of their innate worth (Lemann n.pag).

The development of the SAT grew out of one man s vision for a classless society. In 1933, upon becoming president of Harvard, James Conant, decided to start a scholarship program for gifted boys who did not come from the Eastern elite ( A Brief History of the SAT ). Conant found the rise in socialism and even communism at the time very alarming and believed that opportunity and social mobility were the best ways to forestall a national turn to the left. The development of the scholarship program played into his grander plan. By populating Harvard with men chosen for their academic promise, regardless of their background, then eventually the institutions, which employed Harvard graduates, would begin to support the same selection process and be run by Conant s scholars (Lemann n.pag).

In order to select his scholars, Conant charged two of his assistants with the task of finding a test to evaluate students. According to one of the assistants, Henry Chaucey, Conant would repeatedly ask, now are you sure this isn t an achievement test. Are you sure this is a pure aptitude test, pure intelligence. That s what I want to measure, because that is the way I think we can offer poor boys the best chance and take away the advantage of the rich boys (Frontline n.pag). Eventually, the Scholastic Aptitude Test, SAT, ( aptitude meaning innate ability) was settled on and by 1948, the SAT was on its way to becoming the basic college admissions device for millions ( A Brief History of the SAT ).

Today, the test is still called the SAT, but the letters no longer stand for anything. This fact illustrates the uncertainty that surrounds what exactly the test measures. The SAT has been shown to predict only partially how a student will perform during the first year of college. Of the things it takes to do well in school, the SAT is able to predict only 15-18% making it an unreliable gage of a students performance ( What Does the SAT Really Measure. ). When researchers look at the correlation between SAT scores and broader measures of college success or to a student s performance beyond the freshman year, the case for the SAT becomes even weaker. Correlation all but disappears when r