Not too long ago, our Executive Director Dr. Scott Seaman wrote his "I Am More Than a Test Score" blog. Along those same lines, AWSL Director James Layman has a couple of quotes in this piece from Knowable Magazine. 

When poor, Black or brown students score lower, it’s not exactly the tests’ fault, says Eric Grodsky, a sociologist at the University of Wisconsin–Madison who analyzed the links between standardized testing and socioeconomic status in the Annual Review of Sociology. That’s because scores reflect disparities in students’ lives before testing. Wealthy students, for example, might have benefited from parents who had more time to read to them as toddlers, all the way through to being able to afford to take both tests, multiple times, to obtain the best score.

Other kids might not even be aware they’re supposed to take a test or that it’s something they can prepare for, says James Layman, director of the Association of Washington Student Leaders, headquartered in Randle, Washington. Students from poorer schools tell him they often don’t hear about test prep or other opportunities, or they lack the time to take advantage of them because they’re busy with jobs or caring for younger siblings. To try to level the field, in 2016 the College Board teamed up with the nonprofit Khan Academy to offer free online SAT prep materials, but even that requires an Internet connection at home and the time and space to take advantage of the program.

Read the full article.