By Maya Jimenez REVEALED

THE OFFICIAL

SAT ANALYSIS GUIDE

Review the origins and

foundations for the nation-
wide standardised test.
Includes:

1+ Practice
Test
and questions
to check for
understanding

1926 - 2019 Edition

 Introduction

Congratulations on choosing to learn the about the  origins of

the SAT! By reading this guide, you will learn more about the
foundations of the standardized test that every American
student must take.  Inside you will find one practice test with
passages on topics such as the current event involving the
Varsity Blues Scandal.

What is the SAT?

The SAT is a standardized tests widely used by colleges in their
admissions process. It's modern purpose in accordance to today
is to measure a student's readiness  for college. It lasts 3 hours
or 3 hours and 50 minutes with an essay. It includes 2 sections,
Math and Evidence based Reading and Writing. The essay is
optional. It is scored on a 200 to 800 point scale

How to Use This Guide

To use this guide carefully reads instructions. After every
reading passage there are questions to test your understanding.
Some questions may include graphs or vocabulary. Overall,
make sure to think critically about the information given and
form your own opinions on them while keeping an open mind.
 DIRECTIONS
Each passage below is followed by a number of questions. After
reading each passage, choose the best answer to each question based
on what is stated or implied in the passage.
The History of the SAT
by Maya Jimenez
The SAT originally began as an
experiment conducted by 40 psychologist in
1926 during World War one. They were led
and directed by Robert Yerkes, a Harvard
and Yale educated psychologist in the fields
of comparative psychology.
Yerkes managed to persuade the U.S Army
to administer two multiple choice I.Q tests
created by his team in order to measure
draftees. The first test was a written test
titled Army Alpha intended for literate
draftees and the second was a pictorial test
titled Army Beta intended for illiterate
draftees. The goal for the tests was to
determine who was best fit based on the
highest score.
Overall 1.75 million men were tested.
However due to the duration of WWI and
the fact that the test did not accurately or
fairly determine the best draftees, it failed.
One of the psychologists on the team, Carl
Brigham, firmly believed in furthering the
Alpha test and continued to revise it.
A psychologist who taught at Princeton
University, Brigham experimented the test
on the universities students and made it
increasingly more difficult.Finally, he
experimentally administered it in 1926 to
thousands of college applicants and
presented it as the SAT or the Scholastic
Aptitude Test. Harvard dean Henry
Chauncey discovered the test and believed in
its power to create a diverse, an elite group
of the most intellectual people in the country
in order to improve it.
He presented the SAT to Harvard president
James Bryant Conant who, in turn,
advocated for it to be used to test pure
intelligence, deliver scholarships, and to be
used for their college admissions process.
But Chauncey was not finished with the SAT.
He pushed for Universities all over the
United States, though mostly prestigious, to
adopt the SAT into their admissions process.
He then left Harvard in order to found the
Education Testing Service which would
predominantly use the SAT.
 1 2
Which of the following was the origin What is the best definition of
of the SAT? eugenics based on the text above?

A) An IQ test for draftees in WWI A) Controlled breeding to gain a

desired outcome
B) Eugenics
B) Research in order to determine
C) To establish an elite group of intelligence
intellects
C) Studies conducted to prove a
D) All of the above group inferior

D) Experimentation based on testing

3 4
Who was most likely to have been Based on the text, were the Alpha
accepted into colleges, such as and Beta tests
Harvard in the time period
presented?

A) Wealthy people A) Fair

B) Caucasian people B) Confusing

C) Men C) Racist

D) All of the above D) All of the above

 DIRECTIONS
The passage below is followed by a number of questions. After reading
it, choose the best answer to each question based on what is stated or
implied in the passage.
Scandalous Cheating on the SAT:
The Varsity Blues Scandal
 by Maya Jimenez
In the spring of 2019, a scandalous
event took the education world by
surprise. Fifty people in six states,
including celebrities and leaders in
business, were accused of engaging in the
largest college admissions prosecution
dubbed The Varsity Blues Scandal. The
New York Times article, “Here’s How the
F.B.I. Says Parents Cheated to Get Their
Kids Into Elite Colleges”, explains what
these parents had to do in order to secure
a spot for their children in elite,
prestigious universities.
First, the article states how parents paid
for their children to fake a learning
disability and therefore have more
advantages on the SAT or ACT. Secondly,
parents paid for people to take the SAT or
ACT for them, guide their children to
choose the right answers, or to review
and correct their answers after the test
was taken.
Next, the article explains how the
children had no knowledge of the
cheating and therefore posed no threat.
Then, handwriting samples were used
to make sure that there was no
questioning of the cheating.
Next, authoritative figures in elite
universities were paid handsomely to
secure a spot for the children as an
athletic recruit.
Within this, athletic accomplishments
were faked and photos were
photoshopped to ensure that the child
looked like an excellent athlete.
Additionally, payments and bribes were
disguised as donations to the ptest rep
organization, The Key, under William
Singer.
 1 2
What was the key factor that What were two methods of cheating
enabled the parents to cheat? used according to the article?

A) Status A) Paid people to guide children on

test
B) Parental Determination
B) Threatening
C) Wealth
C) Had children fake a learning
D) Connections disability

D) None of the above

3 4
Who helped the parents cheat? Based on the text, the main
idea of the text is that
A) Various proctors
A) The SAT is deeply flawed
B) College Board
B) Wealth can benefit you on the
C) William Singer SAT

D) None of the above C) Parents will do anything for their

children

D) None of the above

 DIRECTIONS

The following is an example of a student opinion piece based on her

experience with the SAT. After reading each passage, choose the best
answer to each questions based on what is stated or implied in the
passage.

Student Example
 by Maya Jimenez

The SAT system is complicated for me Furthermore, I attend a school that

because it is supposed to work for all
American students and thinking about it
generally, I believe it should. Through my
critical research I have been able to
formulate a solid understanding of the
history of the test, how it works based on
the work I have done to prepare
personally, and both sides in regards to
whether it should be abolished or not. The
SAT works for me because of two
essential factors: access and personal
skills. In regards to access, I will start
with wealth.
I am able to afford test preparation for
the SAT such as books, online programs,
or classes. My family prioritizes
education and they are able to provide for
such resources. I also have access to
quality internet and time to study. I can
use Khan Academy or other free online
services to prepare. I also have private
spaces and allotted time to study that will
not affect my other responsibilities.
provides preparation for SAT such as an
X-block and practice tests.
In regards to personal skill, there are
certain qualities and areas that I am
proficient in which benefit to my
success on the SAT.
I am able to study and dedicate time to
improve. I am used to tests and I also
enjoy reading and writing sections and
can perform well because I read and
write often. There are reading and
writing passages I am able to recognize
and are familiar with which supports
my understanding of the test. I enjoy
taking tests, although I don’t enjoy ones
that determine whether I can get into
college or not.
 1 2
The narrator implies that- Why might this system not work for
others based on her conclusion?

A) The SAT is beneficial to her A) They might have economic

instability
B) The SAT works for her due to her
personal skills, wealth, and access B) They might have a lack of access

C) She does not agree with the SAT C) They might have a different
background
D) She is good at taking the SAT
D) All of the above

3 4

What were the factors stated in her The term access most nearly means-
advantage over the SAT?
A) Able to obtain resources
A) Wealth, connections, status
B) Ability to learn about something
B) Intelligence, personal skills, status
C) Unequal opportunity
C) Wealth, personal skills, and access
D) None of the above
D) None of the above
Answer Key: Practice Test 1
Passage 1

1. D) 3. )
2. A) 4. D)

Passage 2

1. C) 3. C)
2. A/C) 4. B)

Passage 3

1. B) 3. C)
2. D) 4. A)
 Oppressive Elements
of the SAT

The SAT has a format that is not ideal to accurately measure

success in college. Due to its foundations in IQ and intelligence
measuring, it has flaws that have yet to be rooted out. This is
due to the oppressive nature already existing in the American
education system. Lower-income schools, which are comprised
of people of color, tend to have lower test scores. This is largely
due to the U.S’s history in segregation. The education system
segregated students based on race which relied heavily on
economic status. Although de-segregation ended, the roots
remained and students were unable to leave the positions they
already had established themselves in.

Thus, the cycle of oppression continued. Students are born into

low-income communities, forced to attend low-quality schools
that offer less opportunity which makes it difficult to succeed,
and therefore perform poorly on standardized tests. The SAT is
one cog in the machine called the education system. It works to
keep it functioning yes, but it works in the way that the
education system has always wanted it to. Just as the education
system kept a piece of its oppressive past because of its essential
foundations, the SAT has also yet to fix its fatal flaws.
 How The SAT
Can Improve
The most significant changes emerging include colleges going test-
optional. With the Varsity Blues Scandal and new research, as
many as 900 colleges have given students the decision of whether
to send in their scores or not. This offers students who may have
other achievements in excellence that would otherwise not be
considered due to mediocre test scores. Another opportunity for
students is the new addition to the SAT the adversity score.
Perhaps the most note-worthy solution is to abolish the SAT.
Standardized tests are not accurate in measuring what they intend
to. The SAT serves as a means to assess a mass amount of student’s
knowledge under a time constraint. Student’s knowledge varies
vastly based on their economic background, prior knowledge and
individual abilities. A single test cannot measure the capacity of a
student’s intelligence because intelligence does not exist as simple
as it is made out to be. Ideally, the SAT should be exchanged with
an assessment that simply displays math, reading, and writing
standards based on the school population. Additionally, the test
should be tailored to the student’s abilities and can appropriately
challenge them. This will not only narrow the measurements, it will
be specific to the student. Again, it is difficult to measure
something so abstract and diverse. Students should be measured
based on their achievements in school, individual skills such as
leadership or communication, and what studies show is a more
accurate representation of success, GPA.