Last month, it was reported that ‘adversity scores’ will be added to SAT scores to level the playing field and give certain students a better chance of getting accepted into college. An adversity score is a measurement of one’s socio-economic status. Only college admissions officers can see this score and it is not available to students or their families.
上个月，据报道，为了达到公平竞争的目的，并让某些学生有更好的机会进入大学，SAT分数中增加了“ 逆境分数 ” 。 逆境分数是衡量个人社会经济背景的一种方式。只有大学招生人员才能看到这个分数，学生或其家人不会被告知。
How does it work?Scores are assigned based on factors related to a student’s neighbourhood, high school and family environments. From the student’s neighbourhood environment, data such as crime, poverty and vacancy rates are factored into the score. In the high school environment, admissions officers will look into whether a student receives free or reduced price lunches, among other factors. Income, education level and the marital status of the student’s parents are factors that fall under the family environment. All these are put into a black box where a number will be determined, ranging from 1 to 100. Fifty represents ‘average adversity’, and the higher the score, the more the student is deemed to be suffering hardship in their lives.逆境分数是如何测量的？逆境分数是基于与学生所在社区，高中和家庭环境相关的因素分配的。在学生所在的社区环境，诸如犯罪率，贫困率和空置率等数据都会被计入分数。在高中环境中，招生官员会考虑学生的午餐是免费还是打折的，还是有其他因素。学生父母的收入，教育水平和婚姻状况都是影响家庭环境的因素。 所有这些都被放入一个黑盒子中，从中将会确定一个范围从1到100数字。五十代表 “ 平均逆境 ”，分数越高，学生被认为在他们的生活中遭受的困难越多。
The problemDespite its good intentions, it appears that the adversity scoring system is receiving its own form of adversity. The announcement was met with backlash due to certain factors, such as race, not being included. It has also caused controversy because of the way it’s being implemented, with some calling it an unfair way of measuring applicants ‘adversity scores’. The algorithm can miss certain important factors. For example, it assigns more ‘points’ to those who live in lower-income neighbourhoods. There are those who are from working-class families who have managed to save up enough for a house in a better school district, but that doesn’t mean they don’t face adversity and hardship.争议尽管逆境分数的出发点很好，但似乎逆境评分系统正在面临它们自己的逆境。由于某些因素例如未列入的种族，该公告遭到强烈反对。此外，该方法的实施也引起了争议，有人称它是测量申请者“逆境得分”不公平的方式。该算法可能会遗漏某些重要因素，例如，它给居住在低收入社区的人分配了更高 “ 分数 ” 。还有些人他们来自工薪阶层的家庭，设法攒钱在更好的学区买房，但这并不意味着他们没有面对逆境和困难。
According to Forbes, “On the surface, the new policy is a major concession to the obvious, nasty correlation between impressive scores and affluence and other privileges. As such, it’s a probably a good, right-hearted idea and few would argue that knowing more about a student is a bad idea.” The article also stated that factors such as neighborhood crime rate, neighborhood poverty rate and high school performance are not serious indicators for a student’s actual circumstances.
根据《福布斯》报道，“ 从表面上看，新政策是对高分与富裕和其他特权之间明显，令人讨厌的相关性的重大让步。这本身可能是一个好的想法，很少会有人会争辩说更多地了解一个学生是一个坏主意。” 文章还指出，诸如社区犯罪率，社区贫困率和高中阶段的表现并不能很好地反映出一个学生的实际情况。
The TIME reported that the score misrepresents reality by omitting race. “Differences in the life experiences of white and African-American children — even children who live in the same neighborhood and attend the same school — start early. African-American children are 3.6 times more likely than white students to be suspended from pre-school — a disparity that, according to Yale researchers, is linked to implicit bias among early childhood educators.”
据《时代周刊》报道，由于忽略了种族，该分数歪曲了现实。“ 即便是住在同一街区，上同一所学校的孩子们，白人和非裔美国儿童的生活经历的差异也会早早开始。耶鲁大学的研究人员称，从幼儿园非裔美国儿童被停学的可能性就是白人学生的3.6倍，这种差异与幼儿教育者的隐形偏见有关。”
SAT逆境分详细解读
本新闻解读首发于2019年6月29日，选自：Study International
原文链接：https://www.studyinternational.com/news/are-adversity-scores-for-the-sat-the-right-way-to-go/
作者：Study International
文本难度：★★★★☆
话题难度：★★★★☆
SAT(Scholastic Assessment Test)
是由美国大学委员会（College Board）主办的一场考试，其成绩是世界各国高中生申请美国大学入学资格及奖学金的重要参考，它和ACT（American College Test）都被称为美国高考。SAT考试成绩是申请美国大学本科入学资格及奖学金的重要材料，不同学校具体要求不同。考试分为阅读、文法和数学三部分，写作后改为选考。由ETS承担其命题及阅卷工作。但是它们只是录取学生时参考的材料之一，不起完全决定性的因素，其成绩有效期为2年。
美国大学理事会(CollegeBoard)首席执行官David Coleman在接受采访时曾说，“这是为了找到那些能充分利用现有资源的年轻人。这个改变有助于大学看到那些分数可能不那么高的学生。当你看到他们所处的环境时，你会感到惊讶。” SAT逆境得分，你怎么看？
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