Students are more than an SAT score

Perhaps if we have reached the time in which we need to manipulate the SAT score to more adequately identify academic achievement, it is time to find a new tool and process (“SAT to take into account adversities students face,” May 20). Perhaps it is time to re-evaluate the ways in which we try to label our youth.

There is a wealth of unidentified capacity within our nation’s students, and we are failing them with a manipulated number that supposedly reflects their academic value. There are a variety of ways to describe intellectual prowess and ability. Relying on one numerical score made up of verbal and mathematical subtests does an injustice to the skill sets so needed for a diverse workforce. Perhaps a grid of factors influencing the ways we demonstrate intellectual strengths and weaknesses should be the basis of evaluation. The theory of multiple intelligences by Howard Gardner suggests the consideration of the areas of linguistic, logic, kinesthetic, spatial, musical, interpersonal and intrapersonal intelligences.

Let’s redesign the ways in which we identify and communicate intellectual assets. And while we are at it, let’s ask ourselves why these “limited spots” in highly sought after educational institutions are so valued? Educational opportunities designed to meet the needs of our future workforce can be met through a variety of venues, including independent study, entrepreneurship opportunities, academies, travel and apprenticeships. It’s time we lessen the focus on the elite Ivy League experience as the preferred pathway to the future.

Jane Gordon, Lutherville-Timonium