ABSTRACT
Ever since scores on standardized tests have been used to assess cognitive abilities, knowledge, and/or skills, domains from which intelligence is inferred, Black test takers have been deemed deficient in these regards relative to White test takers. The evidence for the deficiency inference is that between-group comparisons of mean scores have virtually always shown lower test scores for Black test takers as compared to White test takers. Such disparities present dilemmas for college admissions committees which must decide whether to admit Black students with low test scores and thereby increase campus diversity even though such admissions may be perceived by unsuccessful White applicants and courts as “reverse discrimination.” In this chapter, the author uses SAT racial-group mean comparisons to illustrate how failure to address the effects of the disproportionately large numbers of White test takers relative to test takers of color has contributed to three statistical myths about Black test takers. The myths are (1) subtracting a Black mean score(s) from a White mean score(s) reveals the magnitude of the intellectual gap between the two groups, (2) the stability of the magnitude of the gap is attributable to Black test takers’ intellectual deficiencies, and (3) disparate racial-group sizes do not affect interpretations of test content. Based on statistical analyses refuting these myths, the author recommends that college admissions committees avoid using standardized test scores to evaluate applicants of color because of inherent statistical bias that favors White test takers and disfavors groups of color.
