This is perhaps the most concentrated consideration I have given to education and its role in building society.
Yes, you read the title correctly. I attempted the SAT. What is the SAT?
The SAT is the acronym for Scholastic Aptitude Test. It is widely used in the United States for admitting students into college (or university). According to Wikipedia:
‘The SAT is wholly owned, developed, and published by the College Board, a private, not-for-profit organization in the United States. It is administered on behalf of the College Board by the Educational Testing Service, which until recently developed the SAT as well. The test is intended to assess students' readiness for college’.
How did I come about the SAT? Well, I got access to the practice paper from a student who attends a school in my city which is run based on the American curriculum. As a result of an interaction, I was endeared into making an attempt at it. Afterwards, I was assessed by the student, using the assessment template provided by the student’s teacher in school. I attempted the test paper for Reading Test.
The Reading Test is a part of the four sections of the SAT. It contains 52 multiple choice questions to be answered in 65 minutes. In my attempt, I performed poorly.
In 65 minutes, I answered just 23 questions (see the answer sheet I used in the photo). The test paper I was given had incomplete content: 24 to 31 was missing. The last number on this very test paper was 42. With an incomplete paper, I was able to answer just 23 questions in the time meant for answering 52 questions. However, it should be noted that I had no prior practice to this very attempt. I had never attempted the SAT before. And my performance should not be a surprise as such, because, like every other exams, one must familiarise himself with the dynamics involved in undertaking the exam in practice before the main exam. Adequate preparation in familiarising with the examination demands is the purpose practice tests serve.
In spite of my poor performance on this very first attempt, I was intrigued by a few things from the content of the Reading Test. These observations are what informed the subtitle of this piece. I will share just a few of my observations, perhaps they will make the case in point clearer. The case in point is the role of formal education in building society: a case study of this SAT test paper.
An exposure to scientific studies. In one of the passages, the questions were drawn from a historical study on the relationship of “the press and each American president from George Washington to Ronald Reagan”. I was startled. I was startled on seeing this because I quickly recalled that history is not duly integrated in schools in Nigeria. In fact, at a time, it was scrapped out from the curriculum, informed by a bill set up for debate. The approach used in the SAT, in my opinion, breeds political awareness amongst students. And I want to believe this is not the only exposure to the American socio-political conditions that the American student is been exposed to through school.
An exposure to history and national consciousness. Another passage was an adaptation of the third inaugural address by Franklin Delano Roosevelt delivered on 20th January 1941. The first line from the passage reads: “A nation, like a person, has something more permanent, something larger than the sums of all its parts”. The rest of the content buttresses on this proposition. Now, tell me how effective that statement was on your perception of what a nation is. It arouses some sense of curiosity and can make one reconsider what he thinks about a nation, especially as a Nigerian, given the agitations for secessions we have had in recent history.
More on the scientific studies. A data set was given which is from a supporting study to the one aforementioned. The following multiple choice questions were asked based on the data. And that was to provide a factual conception of the topic in view. And these combinations are deliberate. From Wikipedia:
‘SAT Reading passages draw from three main fields: history, social studies, and science. Each SAT Reading Test always include: one passage from the U.S. or world literature; one passage from either a U.S. founding document or a related text; one passage about economics, psychology, sociology, or another social science; and, two science passages’.
Besides this fusion, History is been taught as a separate subject in the American schools. History was perceived not so important by some law makers in Nigeria. Sickening. I am very ignorant of Nigeria’s history and it doesn’t help. I have an arousal to know better and that is why it bothers me that I had no exposure enough to it before now.
The SAT equivalent in Nigeria is JAMB. Besides JAMB, I have written several exams in my about two decades as a student in Nigeria. I cannot say I have had such intriguing exposure to the history of Nigeria or a spurring towards national consciousness during my exams or studies in school. Memorised facts which vanished after exams in Civic Education or Social Studies was just it and some reading texts in primary school of very few notable individuals in Nigeria’s history were all I had. There could be more. Imagine having an inaugural addresses been sampled for analyses in general exams for all students in Nigeria and such other approaches.
Well, I cannot say for sure if this approach by the College Board in the U. S. achieves this drive towards national consciousness but I tell you that during this SAT attempt I had a long glimpse at the history (and should I say the philosophy?) of America as well. Try out one SAT attempt—specifically the Reading Test—yourself and see the result.
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I may be an American but I feel excluded from the system as well. Everything in the USA is not actually, American, including our government, like the rest of the world, oligarcies have taken over using copacetic political talking points assumed to be taken for granted.
I once edited the Wikipedia biography of Maine Governor James Longely because the Wikipedia biography omits his most significant legacy- establishing the corporate state and the centralized economy. I was told I had not provided an acceptable reference. My references were directly sourced from statutes and histotical documents obtained from the Maine Legislative Library. I was told a direct source is unacceptable, I must reference an online journal that certifies that which is obvious from reading the actual legislation and historical government reports.
I have been writing my own research blog for years, Based on my own publishing alone I was recruited by Humanities and Social Sciences Communications to do reviews. HSSC is an international academic peer review site. Now I am thinking of applying as an editor but all the other editors are associated with academic organizations. It is intimidating. I am familiar with the way the system works but I found a paper published by HSSC ,which, if what is said therein is actually practiced, HSSC's editors would include people like myself - but there is always that If.
If you do not know HSSC, you should check it out. You may find some useful resources.
I find your observations very interesting but your sentence structuring needs some work.