Further Comment

Abstract

The article by Warner V. Slack and Douglas Porter entitled "The Scholastic Aptitude Test: A Critical Appraisal" (HER, May, 1980) makes a number of serious and strongly worded allegations challenging the utility of the Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT), the veracity of interpretive manuals and reports of research on the test, and the integrity of staff members of Educational Testing Service (ETS) which develops and administers the SAT for the College Board. It presents no new data or information based on independent research, even though the abstract of the article refers to "findings" and the authors refer to their "analysis." The article is a pastiche of familiar charges supported in the main by highly selective use of published information and statements concerning the SAT, and by unsupported attributions of unworthy motives to the organizations that sponsor and develop the test. It is characterized by a strident tone and by the use of half-truths, out-of-context quotations, and misinformation—characteristics that will be familiar to those who have closely followed the recent political movement to discredit tests used in admission to institutions of higher education.