A Harvard study has cracked open the numbers to reveal that the children of America's wealthiest are a whopping 13 times more likely to clinch a high score on SAT or ACT tests than their low-income counterparts, according to a report by Opportunity Insights. The research conducted by noted economists Raj Chetty, John Friedman, and David Deming reveals the capaciousness of a chasm carved by privilege and purse throughout the educational journey of America’s youth, funneling into the college admissions process as per the Harvard Gazette.
Deming, a professor at Harvard who is steeped in the nuances of both political economy and education, elucidated the findings: "Everybody knows that access to opportunity in America is unequal," and yet the sheer numerical testament to these disparities as presented in the study is enough to give pause, with only a quarter of children from the bottom 20 percent of income strata taking the SAT or ACT tests, and a meager 2.5 percent of that slice scoring upwards of 1300; for children ensconced in the topmost echelon of income, those figures burgeon to an 80 percent participation rate and a roughly 17 percent success rate of high scores Deming told the Harvard Gazette.
The "wealth test" moniker that's been slapped onto the SAT is a notion Deming finds somewhat askew; the test's predictive power of college success notwithstanding, it reflects a broader spectrum of wealth-related advantage or the lack thereof, yet to obliterate the test from the admissions arsenal could very well shroud the disparities further in obscurity. While pulling the rug out of under-low-income academically gifted students Deming expressed concern in his interview with the Harvard Gazette.
