The Ethics of Studying For a Standardized Test
I have said many times that there is something seemingly immoral about studying for a standardized test, such as the SAT. I have been, on many such an occasion, called insane or idiotic. I mean herein to prove that my position is quite satisfactory and that it is indeed wrong to study for the SAT.
The SAT, unlike the LSAT or the medical equivalent, is more akin to an IQ test. People would certainly feel that it is wrong to study for an IQ test, since the test is designed to examine what information you have accumulated until the moment when you take it. This ammount of information is then compared to the ammount which the average person of your age would know. The IQ score is thusly determined. If, however, a person uses tactics to study for the test, the scores will be drastically skewed. This will create inflation, which will cause the truly intelligent but honorable person to appear below average.
The SAT then, is meant to examine the quality of a person's highschool education. If a highschool teaches the test, that is explains to the students strategies by which teh test can be exploited for weaknesses, or if they teach only material that is likely to appear on the test, they do the students a severe disservice. A student is only as good as the information which he would posess on his own without any bizarre interference from his school.
People who study specifically for the SAT are taking advantage of the system. They are attempting to inflate the value of their education by memorizing information which is likely to be asked of them. This action will decrease the value of a true average score, causing intense grade inflation to the point that average is actually considered below average. While studying for the SAT may be socially acceptable, I propose that anyone who considers taking such action, stop and think about the honest students who did not study, not because they were lazy, but because they felt it would be wrong to do so. A studier then is taking advantage of those students who did not study as a goodfaith jesture to discover who among them was truly the best student.
The SAT, unlike the LSAT or the medical equivalent, is more akin to an IQ test. People would certainly feel that it is wrong to study for an IQ test, since the test is designed to examine what information you have accumulated until the moment when you take it. This ammount of information is then compared to the ammount which the average person of your age would know. The IQ score is thusly determined. If, however, a person uses tactics to study for the test, the scores will be drastically skewed. This will create inflation, which will cause the truly intelligent but honorable person to appear below average.
The SAT then, is meant to examine the quality of a person's highschool education. If a highschool teaches the test, that is explains to the students strategies by which teh test can be exploited for weaknesses, or if they teach only material that is likely to appear on the test, they do the students a severe disservice. A student is only as good as the information which he would posess on his own without any bizarre interference from his school.
People who study specifically for the SAT are taking advantage of the system. They are attempting to inflate the value of their education by memorizing information which is likely to be asked of them. This action will decrease the value of a true average score, causing intense grade inflation to the point that average is actually considered below average. While studying for the SAT may be socially acceptable, I propose that anyone who considers taking such action, stop and think about the honest students who did not study, not because they were lazy, but because they felt it would be wrong to do so. A studier then is taking advantage of those students who did not study as a goodfaith jesture to discover who among them was truly the best student.