SAT test results will soon include socioeconomic scoring as well

In high schools across the country, the SAT tests are a rite of passage not dissimilar to prom or graduation, with the results of said tests often determining how that last rite plays out.

The scoring of the SAT’s has always been ostensibly strange, especially in relation to the status quo standardized testing that has permeated our public schooling system.

Many students spend months, maybe years, preparing for the uniqueness and importance of the SAT’s, only to spend one Saturday afternoon sweating it out in some gymnasium or auditorium with their entire future on the line.

Now, this time-honored tradition will be augmented by a new bit of scoring that students have exactly zero chance of studying for.

The College Board, which oversees the SAT exam used by most U.S. colleges during the admissions process, plans to introduce an “adversity score” which takes into consideration the social and economic background of every student.

The move is likely to reignite the debate over race and class in college admissions.

The new adversity score is being calculated using 15 factors, including the crime rate and poverty level from the student’s high school and neighborhood, The Wall Street Journal first reported.

Students won’t be privy to their scores but colleges and universities will see them when reviewing applications.

To think that the schooling scores won’t be revealed may be a bit optimistic, especially as the public school system’s teacher move from unit to unit.

There are concerns, of course, that this sort of class segregation could be used to further categorize a nation where “all are created equal”.