Learning in the Shadows and in the Light of Day: A Commentary on "Shadow Education, American Style: Test Preparation, the SAT and College Enrollment"

Autor/in	Grodsky, Eric
Titel	Learning in the Shadows and in the Light of Day: A Commentary on "Shadow Education, American Style: Test Preparation, the SAT and College Enrollment"
Quelle	In: Social Forces, 89 (2010) 2, S.475-481 (7 Seiten) PDF als Volltext Verfügbarkeit
Sprache	englisch
Dokumenttyp	gedruckt; online; Zeitschriftenaufsatz
ISSN	0037-7732
Schlagwörter	Stellungnahme; Enrollment; Criticism; Research Problems; Test Preparation; College Entrance Examinations; Psychometrics; Test Theory; Minority Group Students; Ethnic Groups; Disadvantaged; Socioeconomic Status; Selective Admission; Measurement Techniques; Definitions; Public Sector; Private Sector; Models; Research Methodology; Scores; Social Class; Racial Differences; Educational Benefits; ACT Assessment; SAT (College Admission Test) + Suchen Sie Ihr Suchwort? Einschulung; Kritik; Forschungskritik; Aufnahmeprüfung; Psychometry; Psychometrie; Testtheorie; Ethnie; Socio-economic status; Sozioökonomischer Status; Bildungsselektion; Messtechnik; Begriffsbestimmung; Öffentlicher Sektor; Privater Sektor; Analogiemodell; Research method; Forschungsmethode; Social classes; Soziale Klasse; Rassenunterschied; Bildungsertrag; Assessment; Eignungsprüfung; Eignungstest; Hochschulzulassung
Abstract	Buchmann, Condron and Roscigno argue in their article, "Shadow Education, American Style: Test Preparation, the SAT and College Enrollment," that the activities in which students engage to prepare for college entrance exams are forms of shadow education, a means by which more advantaged parents seek to pass their privileged status along to their children. By providing their children with shadow education, advantaged parents help them achieve higher scores than they otherwise would have achieved and further increase the differences between the exam scores of more advantaged and less advantaged children. In this commentary, the author focuses on the main contribution of BCR's article: the application of the concept of shadow education to SAT and ACT test preparation. He argues that BCR's conception of shadow education is flawed in two important ways. First, some of the activities they consider as "shadow education" are not shadowy at all; they are widely available free of charge to most students. The only true forms of shadow education here are private test preparation courses and private tutors. Second, the way they operationalize the concept of shadow education makes it impossible to discern the extent to which these true forms of shadow education contribute to student test scores or postsecondary destinations. The author offers an alternative interpretation of BCR's results. He suggests that shadow education in preparation for college entrance exams is a relatively ineffective means of improving test scores but nonetheless quite important in terms of its psychic benefits. (Contains 5 notes.) (ERIC).
Anmerkungen	University of North Carolina Press. 116 South Boundary Street, P.O. Box 2288, Chapel Hill, NC 27515-2288. Tel: 800-848-6224; Tel: 919-966-7449; Fax: 919-962-2704; e-mail: uncpress@unc.edu; Web site: http://uncpress.unc.edu/
Erfasst von	ERIC (Education Resources Information Center), Washington, DC
Update	2017/4/10