Persuasive Essay Sample: The SHSAT Should Be Abolished

đź“ŚCategory: Education, Learning
đź“ŚWords: 1135
đź“ŚPages: 5
đź“ŚPublished: 12 February 2022

The Specialized High School Admissions Test (SHSAT) is a test with two sections, math, and ELA. It consists of 114 questions in total, and it is taken by eighth and ninth graders from New York. It's a system used to determine admissions to one of the eight elite Specialized High Schools and around 30,000 students each year take the SHSATs. Out of the 30,000 students, only 5,000 get accepted into one of the eight schools. It sounds like a solid, fair system of admissions, but in reality, it caters to a certain group of people and should be dissolved.

Many unknowingly think the exam is fair and solely measures fundamental knowledge, nothing else. In reality, not everyone in New York receives the same education, leading some to do better than others on the SHSATs. " A 2017 study by New York City’s Independent Budget Office found that black and Hispanic children not only start out behind their Asian and white peers on the annual ELA and math exams in third grade, but they continue to slip further and further behind each year. (Jeffries)" White and Asian students already get an advantage when they're in elementary school compared to their black and Hispanic counterparts. This could explain why there is a low black and Hispanic admissions rate. This would not be the case if everyone had the same education and were taught at the same pace. One may argue that free programs such as Dream are there to help kids prepare for the SHSATs, but speaking from experience, Dream did not prepare me at all. I got accepted into the Dream program and rarely attended the classes because they weren’t worthwhile. As an alternative, I had to self-study and ask my family members and friends who had taken the SHSATs. I even talked about it with other students who also had Dream, and they even said it wasn't helpful, not to mention most of what they taught at Dream wasn't even on the actual SHSATs.

Not to mention, there is also a suspiciously huge lack of diversity in admissions. As stated, "The overall percentage of black and Hispanic students in New York’s eight so-called Specialized High Schools was essentially flat compared to last year, at around 11 percent. The city’s school system as a whole is about 70 percent black and Hispanic. (Shapiro)" New York’s school system is made up of 70% black and Hispanic students, so it doesn't make sense that only 11 percent of them get into a Specialized High School. Some may argue there is a Discovery Program to help with this issue, but it barely achieves anything. " Black student enrollment increased by 109 seats and Latinx student enrollment by 169 seats. This brings the total percentage of black students who received offers to Specialized High Schools to 5.2% and Latinx students to 8.5%... The number of seats offered to Asian Pacific American students increased by 498 seats. (New York City’s...) "In total, only 278 seats were offered to black and Latinx students through Discovery, compared to the 498 seats offered to Asian Pacific Americans through Discovery. Specialized high school student bodies are already made up of more than 50% Asian Americans, so if the Discovery Program is providing more seats to them, then it is not helping with the diversity.

Another argument is that if the SHSATs get abolished, it will cause the students' education at those schools to suffer. This is not the case, in fact, the students' education will be fine. According to Veiga, "The education department says that students’ state test scores would slip slightly: incoming students would go from an average level 4.1 to a 3.9 (out of a possible 4.5). The grade point average of admitted students would hold steady at 94."The education department is the one providing the SHSATs and they even said that removing the SHSATs and admissions to Specialized High Schools won't weaken the students' education or knowledge. In addition to that, another study shows that attending a Specialized High School compared to a "normal" high school is no different. "Students with similar qualifications who attend high school elsewhere end up with comparable SAT scores and college admissions offers, they find...But the findings do underscore a key misconception about why students who attend those schools do well. It’s not because the schools are offering something entirely unique; it’s at least partially because the process selects students who are primed for academic success. Many may think that removing the SHSATs and Specialized High Schools will worsen students' knowledge or intelligence. This notion is due to their reputation for being top high schools, but as the study stated, if students are already excelling academically, then they will continue to excel and not because they go to a school with the word "specialized" in front of it.

There can be a solution since the test itself isn't the problem; the system is. The test’s basic job is to grade your knowledge, but because of the system, the SHSATs are unfair. Instead of removing the SHSATs as a whole, the Department of Education (DOE) can work on bettering the education kids in New York received. If everyone learned the course material needed to get a good score on SHSATs, then there would be no issues or complaints about the SHSATs. As stated. "For students who score at the top levels of state-mandated standardized tests that start in the third grade, there are no enhanced academic offerings in elementary or middle schools to help them maximize their potential. Currently, black and Latino elementary school students are much less likely to take the exam to qualify for "gifted and talented" programs than white and Asian-American students. Instead of focusing on the SHSAT, the city must commit to, and invest in, identifying high-potential students at a younger age, and then nurture them and prepare them for the rigors of the test and for the curriculum in the specialized schools – where ninth-graders are immediately exposed to college-level coursework. (Walker) " If this was a thing in the first place, then there would be no need for a Discovery Program and there would be no argument about whether or not the SHSATs would be abolished. Informing kids would also help immensely since not everyone knows about the SHSATs and many find out about them too late. For example, my middle school teachers never informed us and when I asked my classmates if they were going to take it, some of them didn't know what I was talking about. If they had that information, they could have taken the test and gotten into a Specialized High School.  

The SHSAT and current system are unfair and should be changed or abolished. The SHSATs keep New York City’s school system more segregated, with only 11% of the 70% of black and Hispanic students offered a seat at one of those eight Specialized High Schools. People may say it's impartial and grades you on your knowledge, but it doesn't. If someone has more resources and money, then they'll most likely score higher than someone who is at a disadvantage. Programs like Dream and Discovery may help, but they have room for improvement and frankly, they don't help. Alternatively, the DOE should focus on bettering the education elementary and middle schoolers get and offer everyone equal and free access to SHSATs tutoring.

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